After a lot of thought, I think I may have figured out what’s wrong with the world these days.
Being in my 50s, I’m old enough to remember a time when people “got along” for the most part. No one used to hate anyone else for their political views. Most folks lived by the rule that you were supposed to treat people the way you, yourself wished to be treated. The world was a much bigger place, or so it seemed. People treated others with respect. A lot of folks my age, and older, find themselves looking back at the “good old days”, and wonder where it all went wrong. It’s easy to blame it on “the new people in town” or even your friends, and neighbors that don’t share our political views.
Lately, I have come to believe that we are victims of the 24 hour news cycle, and social media. Thinking back on when things started to take a definite turn for the worse, it seems to me that although people have always had differing opinions, there were far less problems prior to all this “information overload”. Somehow we managed to get by with just “the nightly news”, which was only about 2 hours long. Local, and national. Plus, we only got three channels. If you wanted local news, you bought a local paper. If that wasn’t enough, you went to a local coffee shop, restaurant, or gas station to get all the “local gossip”. There were differences of opinion then too, but if you disrespected someone, you were likely to get your ass whipped. Now fast forward to present times. The internet has replaced encyclopedias. Facts are really twisted opinions held up as truth. Now we have “fake news”, which really means “lies”. Our news commentators don’t give you the news. What they do is constantly editorialize, and tell people what to think. Once you’re all “spun up” by television “programming” that comes into your home at light speed.. Carried by 485 channels via cable, satellite, or internet, you are encouraged to “get more information” from social media.
Once you’re online, you find more people who share your opinions, and also “all those other bastards” who we all blame, and want to hold accountable for “everything that’s wrong in the world”. If you think about it, it almost seems this has been a planned thing all along. Ask yourself, why do they call it television “programming”? Why the big push to digital TV, and either cable, or satellite? Why does the government want to make sure that everyone has access to high speed internet? Hell, if you’re in a financial position where you can’t afford a smartphone, the government will set you right up with one. Such a deal!
Now, I ask, why does the government care? What’s the point?
The internet, and it’s endless supply of information, (true, or not) has become the most powerful drug of all time. It keeps us busy fighting amongst ourselves, with hate in our hearts, put there by pulling our puppet strings. It’s like pouring gasoline on a smoldering fire. Think about it.. The way it was before. Politics weren’t a constant thing. There was far less violence. Nobody ever heard of mass shootings. People didn’t get “radicalized”, because before the internet, and social media, there was no place for it to breed, and fester. We have allowed this to happen. Think back to how things were before the internet, cellphones, cable/satellite television, social media, etc.... Weren’t those “the good old days”?
We could go back, but we’d all have to break this addiction. It would be as easy as flipping a switch. ~ Scott
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