Politicology Post-Literate Politics—The Weekly
Oct 4, 2025
Mike Madrid, a Senior Advisor at the California Latino Economic Institute and author of The Latino Century, dives into the impact of our post-literate society on political violence. He explores how screen culture erodes critical thinking and parallels it with the disruptive influence of the printing press. The conversation touches on how flattened information flows challenge American institutions and the implications of visible violence on public consciousness. Madrid emphasizes storytelling and high-quality discourse as tools for navigating cultural upheaval.
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Screen Revolution Threatens Deep Thinking
- The screen revolution is reshaping thought: attention, memory, and analytical skills are declining as visual, short-form media replace deep reading.
- This shift risks undermining the critical-discursive foundation that supported democracy and complex institutions.
Too Much Cheap Information Lowers Quality
- The abundance of cheap information reduces attention and incentives to engage with high-quality material.
- Too much available content fragments focus and undermines the market for careful reading and long-form argumentation.
Democratized Media Flattens Local Democracy
- Democratizing information flattens local-first political structures and concentrates nationalized politics.
- That flattening erodes checks and balances rooted in localized civic life, destabilizing democratic mechanisms.
