The politics of the attention economy

Sudan Gurung is a mirror to a generation learning to weaponise attention as its most potent resource.

It’s been a month since the 9/8 protest tried to storm the parliament building, and at least 19 protestors lost their lives in subsequent police firing. Initially begun as a peaceful demonstration against a ban on social media , the collective of concerned citizens soon turned into an agitated crowd and then an irate mob of emotionally charged arsonists and vandals. The violent anarchy that engulfed the country from the very next day—dozens of innocent lives lost, billions worth of property destroyed and a complete collapse of governance—has since begun to be referred to as “Gen Z” protest as if naming so will absolve participants of all their responsibilities.