People, humane beings, have grown and prospered in the past because they were able to form and act as communities. We are good, really good at that. If you want a modern example of how effective functional communities can be, you can look at the Ukraine. Or at revolutionary war era Americans. Or hunting mastodons to extinction. As communities we do exceedingly well. If you take away our ability to form and act as communities then we lose this. The internet, which was supposed to be a way to be more effective instead has destroyed our ability to act as communities. Our way of building a common understanding has been destroyed by letting people track us and target us with lies.

Who can trust the internet? No sane person would trust the internet. We have fanaticism on all sides. And yes it I do mean all -your side too. No matter which side you are on, your ability to see what you have in common with others is impaired.

Have you listened to political ads on the internet, tv and radio. They are all of a kind "X is betraying you and has sold his/her/its soul to the devil" So vote for Y. There is nothing in those to build consensus or common understanding. There is everything to outrage us, embitter us, and divide us.

This is the problem.

Tracking ads are a social disease that can destroy our society by preventing us from having a society. And yes it is much more complex, but it is also just that simple.