Before mass media, when people were bored they went to events, or just sat around and read or talked.
Among the population of a town or a neighborhood, there might be thousands of people, but there would only really be a handful of types of people. By mixing altogether socially and being somewhat known, people could form natural associations and affinities and pass along cultural knowledge. This still happens today, of course, but it seems likely that this process is attenuated.
That natural cultural activity couldn't compete, apparently, with mass media like TV and radio and even newspapers. The fairly plain and humdrum lives of people in a small town: the real life, flawed versions of archetypes, e.g. a wise old man, couldn't compete with the fictionalized/idealized version on the TV. For example, the Uncle Jessie character on the Dukes of Hazard could replace real life Uncles for many people.
The phony archetypes and narratives of TV and movies replaced the fairly boring real life versions in no time. An alien story line replaced the story line of a people. The actors know a handful of tricks to draw attention and keep it for a while, while the real life people are just interested in living their own life rather than "playing" a role.
The dead culture, and dead social life is a very serious problem. It's way more dangerous than the oligarchy, or the commie SJWs. A whole nation of people is lost, and has no direction. It's pretty sad and amazing.
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