We hate the propagandists. They’re so destructive. Brainwashing us to believe their narratives. We have to fight them with our talking points and push our narrative.
Do you see anything wrong with that thinking? Would the pitchmen really have that much sway if the citizens weren’t so willfully ignorant? Do we have to create our own false narrative to counter theirs? Or should we just present the truth?
First of all I just want to make clear. I am not one of those people, trying to do push my views on you. I am presenting my ideas for you to consider and I would expect that you don’t hang on my every word. It’s up to people to use their consciousness and think for themselves.
But let’s clear some things up about the people who try to mold the thoughts of the masses through programming. They don’t think they’re doing anything wrong. They see themselves as advertising executives who use everything at their disposal to train you to buy what they’re selling, whether it be news, ideas or products.
And we have to understand that the programmed masses are not innocent bystanders. They willingly and passively gobble up the information being fed to them. If there is a campaign by the media to push a nonsensical narrative, there will be a large part of the population that will go along with it no matter how stupid it is. And they will be so committed to defending the story, so fanatical, that they will fight anyone who doesn’t agree with them.
Let’s leave aside the traditional T.V. and radio programming and look at where the battle for minds and souls is taking place, the internet.
I got to thinking about a time when I was addicted to internet news and commentary. I would sit for hours checking out different sites to see what was going on in the world. Right from the start I noticed a lot of these people were negative. They were drumming the message about how “This guy is bad or that group is horrible.” I was being bombarded with a steady stream of angry commentary. There were lots of problems, “look at what they’re doing to us.” Nobody resolved anything.
You know the feeling I had after this? I would say a feeling of anger and powerlessness.
Some of the things that I noticed: everyone was committed to their theories, whether they were mainstream or fringe. They had only one point of view and wouldn’t stray from it.
The content creators pumped out negative messages, arguing with and attacking each other.
And what do you believe? Who is telling the truth? You can’t be sure. There are a couple of reasons for that. You don’t have unbiased information because sources are corrupted. And what is the character of the personality delivering the content? Is he or she being paid by someone to push a viewpoint?
And then there’s the rumors. Any day now they are going to arrest certain people. And the person is still roaming the streets.
You start to realize that you are caught in a maze of disinformation and brainwashing, so you have to pull yourself away from it and look at your own life.
You have to focus on something that you can control, that makes sense, that makes you feel good. What about your story? Isn’t it more interesting than some random person on the internet, or some politician’s comment? Shouldn’t you be improving your life? How about taking an interest in what you’re doing? Your spirituality, family, and finances?
So a really practical solution I found was to cut back on my consumption of media to less than an hour a day. And even then, the negativity gets to me. I feel really good when I don’t look at that junk at all. I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything, because I haven’t seen every crank and crackpot out there.
If you struggle with this, I would suggest you treat it like any other addiction. Do some soul searching to understand what it is that is creating this addiction. It could be that you are feeling depressed and you need something to make you feel better. Ask yourself, will this make me happier? Being confronted with problems you can’t do anything about? Or can I find something good I can do, such as watching a movie? Schedule a certain amount of time per day that you allow yourself to consume media, such as an hour a day, and try to stick to it.
Do some research about addiction and the causes. Read about how certain industries use psychology to understand and manipulate people to consume their products or even get them addicted. Gambling is a great case study.
When you’re trying to break a bad habit it’s really hard if you don’t have something good to replace it with. So find something you enjoy, like playing a guitar, and spend more time at that. It will make you feel better. Just like if you can turn to the more inspiring information on the internet.
If you still want to consume news, try to go to news sources or interviewers that are reporting honestly and presenting all sides of an issue fairly. No matter what, just keep your thinking cap on and read between the lines of a story to get as close to the truth as possible.
Use your discernment. Learn to trust yourself. You’ll be healthier because you haven’t given your mind over to people who may not have your best interests at heart.
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