Today it all came to a head for me when I saw this...
I think we have officially become a failed state. And I blame the hypnosis of the US Media for much of it.
The US Media is an advertising delivery business
Let's start to break down the difference between "entertainment" (or the offensive term "info-tainment") with business. The media industry is not in the business of giving you entertainment anymore. They haven't for a very long time. They are in the business of delivering advertising into your brain. That is mission #1.
How can they do this? They have to put the most attention oriented content on the airwaves. Content that is offensive, divisive, fake, conspiratorial, shocking, horrifying, etc. The stuff that makes you stop what you are doing and pay attention. Because it is all about attention.
The old saying in the newspaper industry was, "If it bleeds, it leads".
This has morphed into a world of distorted reality where the media can hypnotize a public to elect a guy that for decades we know has been the worst possible representative of the values of the United States, from relationships to failed businesses, to conspiracy theories to downright egotistical lies and obvious signs of psychological faults. Yet he was on TV. Yep, the masses that voted for this guy did so because he understands media and how to use it. He is a marketing genius.
If you look at the statistical voter trends, the bulk of the voting public followed the media like hypnotized lemmings. I'm not saying that those that voted for Trump in 2016 for President are not smart, honest and hard working Americans. I'm saying that they become subjected to media hypnosis. The same could be true of those that voted for Hillary Clinton. Again, the media will spin this into a two team sporting event because they know that this is how they can garner attention. Thankfully we have a system of government in the United States that is based around a constitution and multiple branches of government that can keep things in check here. This is the saving grace that I believe will save the United States from falling into chaos like a banana republic country, overtaken by a dictator.
This is nothing new
The use of the media has been a powerful weapon in the arsenal of any state for hundreds of years. The most noticeable use of this was through the Politburo in soviet Russia. This agency continuously spread fake information to the people through its government controlled media channels, with the express purpose of keeping the populace in a state of repression. It was common in the 1980s to have media TV repetitively state that the crop harvests were wonderful, meanwhile the people were starving of a lack of food.
This use of media to control public opinion can go so far, and in the late 1980s we saw the total collapse of the failed USSR. Yet the methodology of this era was also considered an external weapon against adversaries. By using this method, and the patience of it taking a long time to work, initiatives that were put in place back in the 1980s have been playing out for the past 30-40 years.
This video is from an ex-KGB agent who defected and pretty much explains the technique:
"Ideological subversion" is a technique used to change mass opinion towards a goal that you want. In a world where there are no rules for political campaigns, from attack ads to slander, it has progressed even further with these techniques and the US media have been willing participants at the expense of the US citizenry.
Does it get worse or better?
I honestly do not know how you "un-hypnotize" a population. Unless the US media loses its for profit direction, I can't see that this will get better. Once you start to see the profits from using these techniques in terms of selling ads on TV, and shareholder value skyrockets, how can you turn away from this?
The strange thing is that if you want prime time network TV news coverage, you walk away depressed and feeling like you can't be safe in your homes. This drives the public to purchase self-defense products (guns, etc.), mistrust their neighbors and start on a journey towards becoming "preppers". How you can be a productive society with this baggage is beyond me. But due to a lack of productivity, the media can spin US economic data and make it look like everything is just fine and we are continuing on a path to prosperity. DJIA numbers are NOT representative of US economic health, nor are participating labor statistics. It is all nothing different than USSR TV in the 80s, where the news media proclaimed, "Comrades, the crops are booming this year", while you look out your window to see a drought stricken land.
Until we, the people, realize that we are being lied to and realize that maybe we made a mistake in our perception of political options - I'm not blaming anyone here; we were hypnotized, we can't change this direction.
How do you keep your sanity?
As difficult as it may be, you have to switch off from the media. Try this experiment - can you detach from the media for 7 days? It is hard. I mean you will get media influencing your social media fees, like Twitter, Facebook, etc. You will find it hard to avoid media while waiting for a plane at the airport, or working out at the gym. But you must. You must for your own sanity.
And when your work colleague starts a conversation of what they saw in the news and how they "feel" about it, you have to know that they watched a fictitious show and their feelings are real, but about something that either never happened or happened in a totally different manner than was portrayed to them. You can't argue against their perception, because that is how they feel and that is going to lead to a defensive posture on behalf of the other party. But you have to rise above the conversation and realize that it goes nowhere if the pretense of it is flawed to begin with. It would be better to talk about the football.
It takes a huge amount of self-discipline to see through this. Even the strongest willed of us have trouble with it. The US media is addictive and just like it is hard to start a diet, ween yourself off carbohydrates and sugar addiction, break free of alcohol or drug addiction, the same can be true of losing the perception of media and breaking free of media addiction.
We spend about 3 months of each year outside of the USA and it is so noticeable just how peaceful and relaxing that time is - mainly because you become "un-tethered" to the US media. Spending months in Mexico, for example, means you don't have US TV broadcasting into your mind all the time. You lose the negativity and sense of helplessness that comes with a day in the life in 2018 America. You can't completely distance yourself from it - the Internet makes sure of that, but you can govern how much of it enters your life. This is the wonder of international travel. You can escape the clutches or at least make it manageable in your life.
If you really want to challenge your belief system, consider this video and the message it sends. It is real and something that I think more US and Canadian citizens (as well as any other western country that is subject to media hypnosis) should consider.
Good luck.