Insatiable

I have been living overseas for more than a year, and have watched the world through a refocused lens. I don't watch news, nor do I watch very many shows or films. I read news from a few sources, and I take my time. My input habits have changed, and without the constant media input, I have recognized how glutted we are with consumerism. Not just material possessions, though. We've found a way of making people who "like" us equal profit. We've found a way of monetizing everything...everything! "I have an idea about this or that, so I'll make a short video about it, and if I'm really lucky I'll go VIRAL! Then I can be an influencer and show you how I put on my mascara, or open a box full of the newest fad lipstick." As author Dave Ramsey said, "We buy things we don’t want with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like."

In the meantime, our eyesight has become dull as our attention span gets shorter and shorter, and our consumption of information has changed as well. If news doesn't hold our attention for 20 seconds or less, then we just stop listening or watching. Unless it elicits a visceral response, we don't pay it any mind.

That has equalled sensationalism being our drug of choice. I would laugh out loud at some of the headlines I read, but I can't, because I know someone out there will believe the madness that's being spewed forth from mouths of absolute, manipulative imbeciles. Because if you're outraged about space lasers, you won't pay attention when our representatives in congress vote to defund FEMA, or give themselves a raise, or slowly pick away at the fabric of our republic.

The drug of choice is outrage, and we are given daily overdoses of it. It has ramped up to a constant roar, and I'm old enough to have witnessed the uptick.

During the Vietnam era of propaganda, besides COMMUNISM, which fueled two wars, we were to be afraid of Hippies and Drop Outs, and Sit Ins, and over-educated Commie Pinko university students. But underneath all that was a political machine pushing up smoke screens to cover their actions, to cover up war as a profitable business.

A short list of scare tactics...The Indians! The Slaves! The Irish! Women's Vote! Civil Rights Movement! Blacks! Immigrants! Women's Rights! Gay Rights! Black Lives Matter! Abortion! Books! Higher Education! The Threat to Family Values! The Threat to Christian Values! Space Lasers! They're eating the cats! Blacks! Immigrants! Women's Rights! Abortion! Trans Rights....the loop ad nauseam. The use of these issues to convince a populous that they're under attack has equaled an eroding of critical thought.

The talking heads that share their opinion are just so much noise. Opinion is not fact. Opinion is not truth. Opinion is subjective. The anger that these scare tactics fuel is immense, and the ability to see past the rage/fear/reactionary response has dwindled as our input of sensationalism grows. We have to stop consuming it, we have to stop.

The truth(s) of a situation take time to find. You have to search for it. Take the time to look deeper, read further. Stop swallowing the poison.