Thursday, April 20, 2017

Truly sick of being manipulated


Or maybe I should say, sick of people trying to manipulate me. I'm also sick of watching the people I care about fall for societal brainwashing. It's all around us.

It's in commercials. It's in crowd mentality. It's in politics. It's in organized religion. It's in media news and entertainment. It's even programmed into supposedly non-conformist, non-conventional thinking now.

That subtle undertone that plays off our emotions, fears, anxieties and more to the point where it's nearly impossible to shut it out or be influenced by it has got us just where it wants us..

Nearly.

But we don't have to listen. We don't even have to expose ourselves to it. We can choose to shut it out. We can choose to think independently.

We forget that. Right? We get so caught up in dealing with the day to day struggle of the environment we live in that we forget that we have the ability to create and experience something better.

A big part of my peaceful path journey involves surrounding myself with better input, better thoughts, interacting with mentally healthier people, taking more constructive actions and so on.

As I travel further down the peace path, I hope to break free from or at least close my ears to all the subliminal manipulation preventing me from doing so.

Is that an impossible dream? Maybe. It may involve living an entirely different lifestyle, away from mass media, social networking, etc. for a while. Or maybe forever.

Am I, by choosing to stay away from media manipulation, also condemning myself to a life of complete ignorance? And is that amount of ignorance really bliss?

My life has always been centered on knowing. I've always been a seeker of truth. So, I want to know what's going on, still. I just don't want all the slanted views that seem to permeate nearly every source of “news” out there.

Is shutting out the media altogether a viable long term solution?

In the past, I've gone by a simple rule. If someone profits monetarily or otherwise from the “news” they are spouting, it's more than likely their truth is jaded. That policy has served me well. However, it still leaves me open to experiencing those manipulative attempts.

Which not only disrupts my peace but makes me feel as if something is going to slip though. You know. Catch me unaware. Brainwash me despite my cautionary habit of unbiased, multiple source research before belief.

Perhaps taking a temporary break from media influence might be a solution. By removing myself from the constant barrage for a set period of time, then coming back to it, might I be better able to see things for what they truly are?

Might that give me more power over slanted information, hidden agendas and such?

I believe that it would. But surely, as time goes by, that initial heightened sense of awareness would fade, leaving me once again open to manipulative suggestion.

Which brings me back to making a gradual, permanent change in what I choose to expose myself to.

I remember growing up in the days before the internet when we only had 2 TV channels to choose from. It was a much more peaceful life for sure. Of course, I was a child, so my world was a different one. As an adult, I likely would have known about and seen things differently.

Of course, the brainwashing was still in place then and not that much different than it is now. It's just that the manipulative didn't have quite as many avenues by which to manipulate us. They also weren't quite as practiced as they are now. Therefore, it was more difficult to influence us.

Funny though, they managed to accomplish their goals anyway, didn't they?

At least some of them.

They still played on our fears and emotions. They still knew what buttons to push. If not, the world would not have been molded into what it is today by the powers that be, would it? It wouldn't be serving them as well as it does. And it does serve them well, doesn't it?

So, full circle then. I really don't know what actions I will have to take to kick the manipulators out of my life. Going back in time certainly isn't a solution. This kind of thing has been going on for centuries.

But if you haven't heard from me in a while, I guess you'll know what I decided to do. Because I do know that mass media and online social networking is a clear avenue of manipulation. So clear, in fact, that some people don't even see it as such.

Damn, they're clever, the powers that be.

That's OK. So am I.




1 comment:

  1. I'd say choose outlets that seem to be more about facts than slant, but go into everything with open eyes.

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