The Golden Age of Spectacle

"The most useful expert, of course, is the one who can lie." Guy Debord

Oct 03, 2025

∙ Paid

We’re living in the golden age of Spectacle: whatever substance remains in politics is lost in the endless parade of outlandish political theater, finance is dominated by staged spectacles of media-savvy CEOs announcing the next trillion-dollar product, and online, all the world’s a stage for everyone’s spectacle.

French philosopher Guy Debord outlined t…

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to Charles Hugh Smith's Substack to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.