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