https://www.thefp.com/p/the-riots-in-france-and-the-west

We’ve stuffed ourselves to the gills with the good things that we’ve created. But we are still human beings—the one species on the planet that yearns for meaning. And we don’t know where to turn next. In a different age, many would turn to their faith. But in the West, religion has been on a steep decline that crosses the rising rate of mass protests in an X pattern. So aimless activists protest and riot and embrace causes that they hope will bring needed shape to their moral lives.

It’s worth noting that the symptoms of our cultural overabundance go beyond the political. What is the sudden surge of interest in virtual reality but an unapologetic declaration that we’ve grown bored with the world as it is? The AI hype, too, heralds a kind of surrender. As if we’ve decided to let the gadgets take it from here.