Opinion | As the concept of vaccine certificates began tickling the fancy of certain segments of the public last spring and summer, opponents reliably invoked Orwell in response to what came to be called “freedom passports,” “green passes,” or other such cute names.
The public intellectual that came to my mind, though, was Marshall McLuhan.
McLuhan coined his renowned maxim, “The medium is the message,” in 1964’s Understanding Media, which became a bible of sorts for a subculture of college-aged nerds and beatniks who were coming to terms with a new era overwhelmed by mass communication.