Obama says drift towards extremism 'not inevitable'

Barack Obama has informed an audience in Glasgow that hope is worth fighting for despite sizeable challenges facing the modern world.

Key points

• According to Obama, during his presidential campaign in 2008, when social media and technology was gaining traction, he had seen them as a beacon for hope.
• Obama, who was president until 2016, remarked there was a "critical balance" that must be struck between free speech and regulation.
• But the former president, who has already spoken in Belfast and will appear in Manchester on Thursday night, remarked that a drift towards extremism was "not inevitable".
• He reflected on his time in the White House and examined the political and social challenges facing the US and the wider world.
• According to The former president, he still stands by the quote and argued that hope is an active "almost theological" choice residents must create.

Meanwhile, the 44th president of the United States remarked online platforms had shifted over recent years to focus on content that stoked anger and fear, but he believes a drift to extremism is "not inevitable".

For context, the comments came as he addressed an OVO Hydro crowd of 12, 150 individuals while in conversation with British journalist and author Sathnam Sanghera, part of three speaking dates in the UK.

But he remarked the same positive forces and tools that could mobilise residents around democracy or human rights could additionally be employed by hate groups. He remarked they "connected people for good, but also for ill".

"It turns out that the reptilian side of our brain really gets attracted to anger, fear, resentment and the sense that someone is out to get you, " he remarked.

"So a lot of social media and a lot of our information is informed around that."

He continued: After World War Two, at least in the United States and certainly in Europe as well, the federal administration noted 'we're going to set up some rules as we've seen what propaganda can do in the hands of somebody like Hitler.

"We can see how major lies and misinformation can distort and enrage and incite violence. So we're going to hold these folks responsible'." "We have not chosen to do that."

According to But the 65-year-old, the world and its leaders are going to need to find mechanisms and new institutions to allow rigorous debate and disagreement while helping residents sort out basic facts.

He remarked: "If I had a blame pie for why politics is so polarised and why we're seeing a rise of populism in many places, it's because of that information that is going into our brains every day."

Obama remarked this resulted in young residents feeling discouraged, and that "it's not a healthy diet that our brains are on at the moment".

He continued that he feared this could become even worse with AI making it hard to distinguish between what is true and what is not, something he believes will produce democracy hard to function. Obama notes residents forget lessons from the past.

Speaking regarding hope, Obama was asked if he still believed in a Martin Luther King Jr phrase he quoted years ago, concerning the arm of the moral universe being long, but ultimately bending towards justice.

He remarked: "It is a decision about how do we face and embrace this finite amount of time we have on the planet."

He informed the audience he believes it is healthier for residents to believe that change is feasible.

"I think when we act on that basis, it doesn't always work out, but over time things do get better, " he remarked.

Obama additionally stated there seems to be a cycle in humanity where individuals forget lessons learned from the past and start to take things for granted.

"We start thinking 'maybe using language in public from our politicians that fosters hatred and scapegoats certain people – immigrants, Jews, or blacks or gays – that's just talk, it's humour'."

He remarked residents forget where that can lead to, with them becoming less tolerant.

Obama informed the audience that the world is going to be dealing with "big challenges", but he stated he thinks "we can be better" and that making the world better remains worth fighting for.

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