13. Ersatz

Ersatz


[er-zahts]


Noun. Describing an artificial substitute for something, usually of inferior quality; simulated or imitation.

I just heard Father John Misty's "Real Love Baby" on the radio and that's where I'm starting because it was the first thing that popped into my head when I thought about writing from the word "ersatz."

I don't know where the term "ersatz elevator" came from and I'm going to resist the urge to look it up right now, but I think it's from some YA fantasy book I probably read. Or maybe it's a short film by some art students I know? Either way, what a terrifying concept. To get into an elevator only to realize it's not really an elevator, and worse, you're trapped in there.

There are so many ersatz things in our daily life: other people's emotions, the words people write on social media, social media itself (what are its more nefarious purposes besides connecting people?) I think people know it's used to collect our data and they really don't care. I read somewhere that data is more valuable today than oil. That blows my mind. We've entered an age where people could be cyborgs, and products could just be ploys to control or use people in some way.

There's no substitute for quality education and critical thinking. We must never let corporations take over schools and do horrible things to their quality they way they already have. We've gotta stop the ersatz takeover.

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