… cruelty now becomes more refined and that its older
forms henceforth offend the new taste; but the art of wounding and torturing
others with words and looks reaches its supreme development in times of
corruption: it is only now that malice
and the delight in malice are born. The men of corruption are witty and
slanderous; they know of types of murder that require neither daggers nor
assault; they also know that whatever is said
well is believed.
- The Joyful Science, Book One, § 23, by
Friedrich Nietzsche, 1887
Does Twitter come immediately to mind? The mainstream
media?
And this was written 130 years ago!
Wow!
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