*(Academic post written here as high char limit).*

Im starting to put together thoughts/sources for identity and culture that impact ideas about democracy and roles as (young) citizens in wider society. A big part of this - in my view - is how online culture has almost totally superseded 'real life' culture for many people under 30. People who by and large where born after the first tech pivot of late 90s. This culture was also prevalent before that, for example the Ghost in the Shell series, P2P scenes or the storylines of A Scanner Darkly all lead to online meme proliferation.

> In *Steal This Film (Two)*, The League of Noble Peers appears as "Vague Blur" explaining:
"People always ask us, who are The League of Noble Peers? And we tell them: You are, I am, even your bank manager is... insert yourself here, because we all produce information now, we all reproduce information, we all distribute it..."

- An old blogpost of mine (2019) https://penworks.net/blog/laughing-men-and-data-libertarianism

Kirk and his assassin share the same Extreme Online life
- https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/sep/15/charlie-kirk-shooting-memes-internet-culture
- https://trending.knowyourmeme.com/editorials/guides/what-is-the-notices-bulge-owo-whats-this-meme-the-phrase-inscribed-on-the-casing-of-the-bullet-fired-at-charlie-kirk-explained

The League of Noble Peers
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_League_of_Noble_Peers

#kirk #msm #oldmedia #onlineculture #culture #democracy #memes #academia #academicchatter