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Facing Paleophobia

I've been thinking today about my relationship with technology, old, new, and evolving. I've more so been thinking about how that affects my relationships with the world around me.

I'm 51 now, and while in some ways I still feel quite young, I'm finding myself less wanted to relearn how to do things I've already learned just because the new way is new (and therefore supposedly better). I quite like how the late William F. Buckley, Jr. pointed this out when someone commented on his continued use of the "obsolete" WordStar. He told Buckley, "Bill, there's much better software now." To which Buckley replied, "I've been told there's better software. I've also been told there are better alphabets." The old, venerable WordStar was good enough for him. His business was writing, not playing with computers. The old worked fine for him.

When you don't blindly follow the herd into the future, adopting every new technology and way of doing things, you are met with a kind of scorn and derision. I was thinking of calling this derision dinophobia, since I often feel like a dinosaur in today's world. But I think paleophobia works better, especially since it seems to usually exist side-by-side with what I'd call neophilia: obsession with the new. In case it's not clear by now, I'm using paleophobia in a similar sense as homophobia or transphobia; not a fear of the old, but a disdain or outright hatred of the old.

Paleophobia is rampant in today's society (at least in the United States). If you're a neophile, you may not notice it, other than wishing those oddball holdouts would just get with the times.

Facebook is of course ubiquitous, and if you're not on it, you might as well not even exist. If you prefer face-to-face conversations and reading an actual newspaper instead of the new information sources, you're scorned. What, you don't drive a Tesla? Freak.

The worst to deal with is the paleophobia baked into today's government. I am quite happy to do my taxes on paper (okay, I do fill-in PDFs and print them). I'm comfortable with this method. I also feel it is more secure. If you want to steal my tax return (for identity theft, maybe), you *have* to be in the US and tamper with the US mail and risk getting caught. File electronically? I can slurp your data from anywhere in the world, and the chances of being extradited are slim to none.

While personal tax returns can still be filed on paper (for now), some returns are already mandated. Unless you're Amish (or similarly avoid technology altogether), New York mandates sales tax returns be filed electronically (which now may require a painful captcha process). Congress has now mandated electronic filing of the 1065 partnership return if the company has more than 10 filings per year. How long before that exemption is eliminated.

The government doesn't like the old way, and if I do I'm practically an enemy of the state these days. First it's cajoling, then threats of fines. And sometimes the only way out is to go full Amish. But what if I want to allow new technologies and methods, but just on my terms? Out of luck. All or nothing.

The root of paleophobia seems to be a belief that if I like the new, you should embrace it too so I can forget about the old. If you like the new, fine. Just don't try to force me to embrace it, too.

Most of this paleophobia seems to come from those on the political left. I suppose that's somewhat obvious as the right is, by definition, more conservative; the right is sometimes the exact opposite: neophobic paleophiles.

But the general paleophobic call to arms against the old is everywhere: Mandate EVs and ban ICE. Mandate e-file and ban paper returns. Everyone should have a smart phone, smart TV, smart meter; landlines, dumb TVs and dumb meters should be eliminated. Why? Because they're old and new is better.

Perhaps the most annoying part of this is that this mandated uniformity in the march to the future is heralded mainly by people who shout the importance of diversity and inclusion. But it seems diversity and inclusion only apply to traits that are (or should be) largely superficial, like skin color and who you want to go to bed with. When it comes to diversity of thought, diversity of approaches to life, and diversity of preferences, that diversity is frowned upon: You can look different, but you must think like we do.

Paleophobia toward people who are more comfortable with old and well-known is just as hurtful and painful as homophobia is to gay people and transphobia is to trans people.

End paleophobia now.

;Date: 2024-02-12 20:52
;Desc: How preferring the old can make you a target of hatred.
;Tag: Paleophobia
;Tag: Neophilia
;Tag: diversity
;Tag: Rant
;Tag: mandates
;Tag: technology