And don't forget to use encrypted messenging apps like Signal.
And do your research into which apps, programs, etc have the best encryption.
Yep it's the association for sure
But also a factor (for those that know) is that companies will pay for their ads to run to specific demographics of people based on the data that a advertising platform (Twitter, YouTube, Tinder, Facebook, etc) has gathered to determine specific things about you as a person.
It's the whole concept behind targeted ads. You pay for eyes that will see it and are more likely to purchase your products due to that demographic data. Or at the very least, view your website for traffic that can be used to harvest more data about you so that it can be sold to other companies.
As someone who grew up in rural Washington on the threshold of populated Washington, yeah shit gets pretty fucked really quick in those rural areas.
It was a really religious area as well so that really didn't help. The local religious people have a strong belief in having as many children as possible as soon as possible. The running non-joke (because it's common) about it is the first kid to turn 16 drives the 3rd van.
Personally I think it's more related to the current recent climate stuff and the failure of the G20 summit to come to an agreement on the climate crisis.
Edit: I accidentally a word
It would take quite a bit of energy to effect things on a global scale but it could cause some issues at a very local level.
