Man is born free, but he is everywhere online. As Trump, just a few days into his presidency, signs one executive order after another in a murky blend of transaction and retribution, he acquires the uncanny nature of a human computer mouse. Click him and, if he is your man, you satisfy an impulse. Trump is a participatory president for a participatory culture.
The internet has made the country furiously impatient with reality. You want to restart a relationship with a friend from second grade, leaping over the boundaries of time and space and mortal change? Click. You have the urge to buy, gratify, gamble, lie, cheat, prey upon, ruin, all without leaving the comforts of home? Click.
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