Good evening.  I'm your worst nightmare.  Nothing I do or say will make sense to you.  Shocked, you will awaken, then be glad it was all just a dream.  Within minutes you're back to still being on your device, enjoying more bad news working to convince your subconscious it is good.  So good you need more.  So good you can't put it down.  So good you'll cheer for atrocities and show all your friends.  So good it'll tell you the world is ending.  So good all you can do is stop, share, and 'like' it.

^{But before we get started...}

Make a choice.

Which form of oppression suits your style?

1. This side telling you you'll live if you do this.
2. That side telling you you'll die if you do that.

That's it.  That's all you get these days.  Pick one.

Do not delay.  Act now before it's too late.  It's all the same but that's a secret.  That's not a fence, it's a two-way mirror, so let's get on with the show.

Fear not.  Within a month you won't even notice your mind missing a few pieces.  The parts you must forfeit.  Your thoughts.  Your old life.  Your belongings.  Leave those at the door.  Choose your new head.  Place everything else in the locker including the key.  Close it shut.

Here's your screen.  Do you see it or do you see what's on it?  If you've done everything right, there should be no noticeable difference.

Now you're in.

I have you. You're mine. I'm going to make this the best day of your life. Death. The numbers. Death on the rise. Look at these numbers. Death. Rising. Death. Numbers on the rise. Death. Sickness. Death. Falling. Stand outside. Get in line. Push. Anger. Pepper spray. Weapons. Yelling. Screaming. This is good. This is great. Yelling. Death. Control. Photo. Opportunity. Get more. Do something. Do this. Do this. Do this. Do this. Don't do that. Death. Control. It's coming. It's coming. It wants you. Tell everyone. Now. You're helping. Do it. Save the day. Death. Control. March for me. March. Dance you little fuckers, dance. I will save you so smile for my camera! Burn things! Burn things! Smash!

Truth with a capital 'T' is meant to be worshipped by followers and has nothing to do with honest 'T'.  Truth wants to be believed.  A lie does not care.  Maybe that's why they'll tell you the world is forever ending and full of bad things; but all they do is sit there, and say it with a smile.

What do soldiers do in a war?

They take orders.  Nothing else.  An individual mind, complete with one of the various random sets of beliefs provided to humanity by other humans over the years, plays absolutely no role in who wins or loses.  Killing another mind is not murder on the battlefield.  All doubt is cast aside.  Pulling the trigger offers a sense of pride.  You did the right thing and there's nothing wrong with that, said both sides, who apparently disagree on everything.

"There's a war on for your mind."

In other words...

"I want your mind."

An original thought is created from nothingness.  A regurgitated chant comes from someone in control.  A warmonger for instance, or a cult leader.  Once a mind becomes a mouthpiece, word spreads.  Door-to-door.

"Hi.  Have you heard about how your lord and savior, Bill Gates, is trying to kill you?  Would you like some reading material?  No?  Well fuck you then.  You must be one of them!  Those people!  Those people out to kill us!  You're a murderer!  I'm totally not insane!  This is real!  We're all gonna die!  Can you not see how good of a person I am!  I bought this shirt online from the Truth!  It even says Truth!  $29.99!  I support the Truth and I know Bill Gates better than anyone because I actually did my research like I was told to!  I'm simply handing you Truth and you deny me!  You should be ashamed of yourself for not accepting this!  Anyway.  I'll just leave these documents in your mailbox.  Is your neighbor home?"

^{(A little heavy on the sensationalism so far?  Bear with me.  It's an experiment in thoughts.)}

The Press

Did you know all news media, regardless of source, follows the same set of rules, and one doesn't even need to spend thousands on an education in order to make headlines?

Simply place some information here and hope people see it; pick up a camera and record the world's randomness.

Those within the current cults on both 'sides' will tell you their media, or how their information is presented, is somehow different, better, more reliable than that coming from those they've been conditioned to oppose.

The pull.

Can you imagine what it would be like to be conditioned to dismiss any and all information coming from sources automatically stamped with a label of disapproval before each instance has been studied thoroughly?

Most within the cults won't notice all information is mainstream.  MSM for instance is one label applied to anything one has been conditioned to dismiss by default, much like the logo on the sports jersey representing the team one hates.  Yet the main stream of information those same individuals flock to is typically applauded by default, even though they were told numerous times to question, everything, and despise mainstreams.

Social media; mainstreamed.  Independent sources; mainstreamed.  Alternative sites; mainstreamed.  Anything and everything, at the fingertips, under the noses, and one link share away.  Placing a label in front of the word 'media' does not somehow miraculously morph the media into something other than media.

Some sources might not be as popular as others but that's not the point, and nothing is stopping anything or anyone from growing.  Being 'deplatformed' for presenting news media is a joke nowadays and you need look no further for proof of that claim.

The push.

Anyone within a cult reading this far will automatically paint this information as villainous, vile, indecent, and just plain wrong; provided they disagree.  The writer is the enemy.  The writer is an operative/agent of doom.  The writer is on the other side of the walls and cannot be let in.

The cult member will begin experiencing the seven stages of grief and do everything in their power to shut it down, up to and including reaching out to other cult members in order to be cleansed.  All of which is common for all cult members to experience once confronted.

Not one cult member in the history of cults knew they were in a cult.

People locked within these cults need support.  Mocking them indecently or aggressively for falling into a trap they didn't see coming could be a sign you're in a cult yourself.  Navigating through peculiar behavior is a challenge for many people; most prefer to stay out of it.

Return to Jonestown.

There's no place like home.

Between a rock and a hard place.

Those advocating for integrity in journalism can see right through the nonsense coming from all directions.

Information has fans?  How can that be?  Even fans of music don't like every single song their favorite genre puts out.

Fans of information are doing cover songs all over the internet; singing along.  Even if it's bad news, they're dancing.

Established sources which in 2021 now includes both the little guy on the internet and the stuff coming out of those skyscrapers; they all latch on to the same topics and sing the pop songs.  This is for money; only money.

In general, most will agree, there's nothing wrong with making money.

The longer you can keep it on the charts, the more money you'll make.  That's the reason why you see an endless stream of Covid material coming from all directions for instance.  It's not about saving lives.  Saving lives and writing about saving lives are two different things.  Once this is 'over' the stories will be about something else; same tactics applied.

Criticizing the two predominant factions in the news media seems to go nowhere.  I'm not talking about the left/right political scene as those are simply subcategories implanted within the two teams that have somehow convinced themselves their approach to informing the masses is different than the other team.  It's the same playing field and both sides have a script prepared to handle one another's arguments.  That same script is applied to outsiders since the two teams are convinced there are only two teams; home or visiting.  It's also a gimmick and breaking character could spell disaster; friendships, community, market, money, security, comfort; gone.

The aforementioned potential fear of loss is typically what shackles a cult member to the floor with invisible chains; that's why they rarely leave on their own even while things around them are taking a turn for the worse or not making any sense.  Plus there's always someone there to remind them everything will be alright.

The proverbial information war.  All that is are two media factions working as one (can't have one without the other) first drawing a line in the sand, creating two markets.  Each market caters to a specific type of mind.  The information is designed specifically for the target.  For those not yet hooked, it becomes a race.  Whichever faction gets to the mind first, wins; now they have a lifelong subscriber.  That subscriber remains due to the injected fear of embracing 'the other side' while AI works night and day offering more of the same created by contributors the consumer "might" like.

The two sides are simply society acting as one, being pushed and pulled in opposing directions.  No different than traffic choosing a lane and staying on their side of the road.

News media acting as one unit divvied up makes a metric shit-ton of money and has all the attention it'll ever need, for as long as the power is on.  All the bases are covered, by design, forever.

Confusion

Welcome to Hive.

Many presenting some forms of news media utilizing this platform are often met with opposition rather than praise; some even go completely ignored.  This comes as quite the surprise to some since other more 'traditional' platforms create the illusion of popularity by placing the information directly under the noses of those conditioned to support it.

Smoke and mirrors.  Imagine feeling successful after being tricked and taking credit for a stunt pulled by a robotic magician you can't even see.

For several years but most importantly over the past decade, society on nearly all fronts has been manipulated.  Warped, twisted, contorted, shoved into a box, where they've become a product of their environment.  From the top floor of that skyscraper all the way down to mom's basement; those creating and consuming were tricked into thinking what they're doing is special.

All for good reason.  There's far more money to be made if the customers are happy.  Strong opinions clashing with more strong opinions creates an environment most flee; never to return.  That's how it's always been.  Go to any club and you'll see security, for the same reason.  It's basic business common sense.  Put the smokers in the smoking section and the non-smokers everywhere else; make money.

Media exists to make money.  The money might not be obvious; it's there somewhere.

Humanity for the past several decades has been in denial of their dark side.  That argument between spouses shuts off the moment the doorbell rings.  Get in an argument with a friend on the internet, and you just lost a follower.  Visit a location online and everyone is happy because years were spent pulling weeds and planting flowers.

Years of conditioning.  Derogatory terms like drama, triggered, trolling, and various others are used to describe the natural state of disagreement; the conversations are frowned upon.  After having it swept under the rug for years, some conversations between opposing forces can appear to be quite shocking.  Others encourage people to start mocking.

Is there something wrong?

Hell no. Society simply forgot or never learned how to navigate their way through difficult conversations/obstacles.  People struggle.  Feelings are hurt.  Things look ugly; as they should.  Plus at times there's an impossible wall of brainwash and cult-like mentality to break down first before anything can be achieved; people also think they're playing team sports and need to win.  All for 'likes' and good job buttons.

I see this as an opportunity for society to advance though.  Minds clashing doesn't need to sound like pots and pans clanging forever.  Someone will learn how to make some good music out of that, eventually, if they keep trying.

Groups forming around ideas all the while claiming it's best to think critically and ask questions, then becoming distraught if they're questioned; they're not being honest.  They're working to protect an illusion; an illusion that once protected them.

That illusion, coming from all directions, based on a group of one, known as society, is stunting growth.  Society is in a jam right now and it seems all people want to do is play mind games.  Not cool.

Someone should probably fix that...

But instead, they'll double down...

Because that's how the game is played.

^{There's no money to be made in telling people what they don't want to hear.}

Have a nice day.

Credits:All art and images seen here were produced digitally, by me.
_{"Gooble gobble, gooble gobble, one of us, one of us."}

^{Images © 2021 @NoNamesLeftToUse.  All rights reserved.}