They pull the strings, you do the moving

Doom and gloom is an integral part of our lives these days and the media ensure we are bombarded with images and words depicting the best of it. The latest bombings in places we've never heard of or been to, storms ravaging areas far away from us, crimes, political strife and general turmoil taking place all around the globe: Most of which has zero bearing on anyone but the people living through it. The media are careful to pack that all into the first 4 minutes of the 30-minute nightly news service at 6pm though; If they didn't get it out the way early the 22 minutes of subsequent sport-reporting could suffer. Heaven forbid. It seems to me that most of what the news feeds people is designed at creating uncertainty, fear and control. Oh, and the desire to go and spend more on credit.

They top it all off with the weather report, (mostly always wrong), and a mandatory warm-and-fuzzy story about a cat rescued from a tree then the whole thing is packaged up nicely with a very toothy smile, (incredibly white teeth essential), from the news reader signing off until the next night. Sound about right? That's what it's like here anyway.

I stopped watching the news about nine years ago and don't read the newspaper either. You reckon I'm uninformed? That's your prerogative of course, however I can assure you I am not. I source my information, that which is relevant to me directly, (meaning from more reliable sources and not some puppet (muppet?) reading a tele-prompter). I think one of the most offensive things I found about the news-readers was the way they frown, raise an eyebrow, or smirk...You know, a particular facial gesture to indicate their opinion about something they have just read. In my mind I'm like, "fuck you and your opinion...Read the news and keep your opinion to yourself so as not to lead or sway the public about the matter at hand." Something like that anyway. Assholes!

Anyway, I wonder how relevant some of the information we are fed really is to our lives. I mean if I live in Australia and a driver loses control of a vehicle in the Favela's of Rio de Janeiro ploughing into an ice cream stand causing slight abrasions to the vendor and causing him to have to apply a sticky plaster does that really matter to me? Could that news really impact upon me and my life in some critical way? I think not. Stories like this, mainly sourced by the newscasters from the interwebs, Twitter and YouTube, could not possibly affect me right? I mean sure, think about all that lovely ice cream that got run over, the poor sticky-plaster-wearing-vendor who has a minor abrasion...Hmm, no relevance to me at all.

See the idyllic image on the right? That's me and my wife with my lovely niece @smallsteps. It was taken only a day after we met her for the first time in Finland. My brother @tarazkp took the image at a lake a short walk from his abode. Nice huh? Just chillin' with my loved ones on the dock; Lake ahead of us, forest behind...You think I was thinking about the ice cream stand and the out of control car, or some volcano that erupted, President Donald Trump or some asshole who exploded a bomb in the market of some place I'd never heard of and cannot pronounce? Well that's a big NO.

You see, in my humble opinion, and after almost 49 years of life, I believe that some of the things we are fed by the media, and indeed feed ourselves, are simply unimportant. It's those unimportant things that can also get in the way of what is truly important in life. We can sometimes allow ourselves to be rendered blind (or senseless) by a procession of unimportant things that squash out the really important ones. Want some examples of important?

• Telling those you love and care for that you appreciate them
• Being the best version of yourself possible, as often as possible
• Showing courtesy and manners towards those you come into contact with
• Building an ethos of (self) ownership and responsibility
• Understanding that expectation doesn't pay the bills, effort does
• Caring for the environment around you
• Finding humility and kindness then projecting that

You know...Things like that. On the other hand...

Facebook is unimportant. I mean seriously...I hear people say that it allows them to stay in touch with family overseas...Well, I call bullshit on that one. I have family overseas and spread around the vast continent of Australia and we manage to keep in contact, mostly daily, without the use of Facebook. That excuse to have it doesn't fly these days. WhatsApp works just as well and without the need to have your life play out on the interwebs for everyone to see. Facebook is simply for people to show off about how amazing their life is and yet in reality it's probably not that amazing. It's a perception only, and a neat way to delude oneself.

It's the same for watching the news to know what's going on in the world. It's a distraction because what the news is telling us is simply infotainment and is usually incorrect, propaganda or just not important to anyone other than the ones actually living it. Of course, this is not always the case. I get that.

I'm not suggesting people simply turn off the news as I have done. Far from it. I'm merely writing a blog that no one will read with the intention of getting some votes on steemit and building my crypto-holdings. However, for me turning off the news and seeking my information from more reliable sources has been a revelation and transformed my life. I am more aware of my immediate surroundings, more in-tune with my life, engage more effectively with people and am more informed about the real issues at hand, not the smoke and mirrors Governments and corporations want me to see.

The media feed off doom and gloom, sensationalism and propaganda. They feed us images of a war-torn country and child-refugee's then flip over to some asshole who turned himself into a "woman" Bruce Jenner was its name I think..as if that matters. They run a hard-hitting story about President Trump wanting to create jobs for American's (complete with the correct amount of Libtard-judgement) and then immediately afterwards another impactful story about which local bakery serves the best meat pie! I mean what the actual fuck! And people lap it up like sheep taking a drink at the water-trough.

Anyway, people will hold to their own beliefs and ethos. If people want to watch the news or fill up Facebook with their cleavage and ass photos or airing their dirty laundry so they can "keep in touch with relatives overseas" then have at it. To be honest I don't really care about those people at all. I care about me, my family and those others whom I respect and value.

There's a saying, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink and I think the same could be said for most people. They know their lives could be better, deeper and more rewarding without some of the distractions like the news and Facebook and yet they just can't let go for fear of missing out on something. The funny thing is that they are probably missing out on their own life and what's immediately around them as a result.

I think there's probably many people out there who would vehemently disagree with me and that's ok too. Some feel that knowing what's going on, watching the news and reading the papers makes them intelligent. Again, that's fine. I disagree though. I think it makes them puppets on strings pulled by Government, corporations and media. I believe filling one's mind with the propaganda served on a platter by media and Governments removes one's ability, or desire, to have independent thoughts and opinions.

I could be wrong though I guess. Oh, I just had a thought...Worse than being a puppet on the end of strings pulled by media would be a puppet with the media's hand jammed all the way up its ass...Unpleasant.

puppet images source