House Of Mirrors

Even with the decades of conspiracy conditioning that my mind has undergone, I never accepted the idea that all news reports were propaganda and lies. I'd scour all available sources to find the facts and come to a reasonable conclusion.

After the COVID confusion and now the election, I too can now agree with the extreme position that it's all BS and unworthy of my attention.

If factual reporting is like seeing the world through a perfect mirror, then the reports we are getting is a house of mirrors that distorts and twists the world.

I'm not going in the Funhouse any more. I totally reject It now and refuse to subject myself to the MSM any longer.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

Took you long enough.

That's what my oldest brother would say.

a reply to: HalWesten

originally posted by: MichiganSwampBuck
That's what my oldest brother would say.

a reply to: HalWesten

I'm so sick of the news reports, when I hear my GF watching it, I kick out the jams. I know I'm retreating into my own world, but nothing good happens when you leave the farm.

originally posted by: MichiganSwampBuck
I'm so sick of the news reports, when I hear my GF watching it, I kick out the jams. I know I'm retreating into my own world, but nothing good happens when you leave the farm.

Not just the news, but people in general suck more and more all the time. I hate being around most of them anymore. I feel like I'm becoming a hermit which is not good because prior to some health issues I was actively playing music and part of that enjoyment for me is watching others having fun while we're playing their favorite songs. I miss that terribly. My mood is not good most of the time these days. It's a little better since the constant political BS is off the TV but we've turned away from network TV for the most part and have been watching movies or series on Hulu. I play a lot of Solitaire on my PC. Too many negative things have happened this year and it's affecting my son a lot since he's in the concert audio business and can't work there right now.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

When “All the worlds a stage, it’s tough to walk out of that theater.

Check out Plato’s Cave Allegory

I no longer have internet access except through a smart phone, so I stopped diving down the rabbit holes. I'm doing my own thing now, balls out so to speak. Screw this corrupt world and it's propaganda, my loyalty is with myself and those few who are left that can be considered friend.

I can almost guarantee you if the media never hyped up Covid-19 we would barely remember it even existed by now... that fact our world is susceptible to such devastating fear tactics is very concerning to me. These psychopaths have full control over the global psyche and there is nothing they wont do to maintain their power. Meanwhile a bunch of so called "intellectuals" have been convinced Covid-19 is a new Spanish flu and will ridicule, mock, and deplatform anyone who dares to question the mainstream narrative, while believing themselves to be the wise and humble heroes just doing their part to save lives. Most of those people are so far gone into this fantasy land there's no hope of them ever finding a way back to reality, and that's what scares me most... that the world will never be allowed to go back to normal.

Wife used to watch the news every night. About a year ago she said "I just can't watch anymore. I don't trust them."

originally posted by: MichiganSwampBuck
I'm so sick of the news reports, when I hear my GF watching it, I kick out the jams. I know I'm retreating into my own world, but nothing good happens when you leave the farm.

I hear ya. I hate leaving the farm these days.

I've been meaning to post about recently outing myself as a non conformist. Long story short... it didn't go well. What shocked me most was that my oldest friends, all very well educated, came down on me like a ton of bricks for questioning the political aspects of the corona virus. I was duly referred to media sources that they believe to be unbiased and all I could see was bias in them. I spent hours going through them and all assumed their position to be right and highlighting the importance of shutting down what they call "fake news" ie anything not mainstream for the good of society. Nowhere did this "unbiased" media allow a discussion of anything alternative, no platform allowed for a scenario of what to do if there was even a grain of truth to what they so disdainfully call conspiracy theory.

Also, none of the media articles had any meat to them. Much fluff, little science, which is odd for these university types. Someone, fortunately not a close friend, even said I wanted her to kick the bucket and equated me not believing masks were working to me insisting I not wear one and that I don't believe the virus is real when I said nothing of the sort. They all just read what they want out of my post and lost it on me.

Sorry for this rant. I'm burnt out with people these days.

I use to read newspapers and magazines then research things at the library. The evening news a nightly routine, now I don't even trust the local news and weather. Not sure what is available at the local library these days.

a reply to: mikell

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

Decades ago I too found cause to question news presented by the main stream media. One of the conclusions I arrived at as to why the msm was so unreliable was that all outlets had at their core a driving force that only demanded honesty to the degree that it was ''profitable''.

All were riddled with commercials that were only held to the slimmest standards of integrity. In order to fit the ''news bits'' into pre-programmed slots so that the commercials could be run, the news needed to be presented in small ''sound bites'' that could catch the ear of a viewer only to the degree that they would be free to digest the next set of commercial messages.

It was the commercial messages that were important not the news itself.

This was across the board, from TV outlets to newspapers and magazines et all. While promising to provide ''news'' it was the other thing that they provided that kept them in business. Commercials. Advertising that emanated from one of the most underhanded industries in American history. Madison Avenue.

A question arose in my mind. If the advertisers wanted to promote ''news'' that would attract viewers and readers, would they also NOT PROMOTE news that wouldn't attract the demographic that would be interested in their product?

That answer was simple.Yes, advertisers promoted news that would attract their desired costumers to the news presented.
And as the advertisers held the purse-strings that kept those news outlets thriving, those news outlets would tamper with the news to cater to the needs of the advertisers.

Of course, like you, my observations have come to me over the decades so that what we see in front of us now is a vast maturing of this advertising/news industry. So mature that now whole swaths of entertainers entertain with renditions of the news that keep their costumers coming back for more and more and more. This industry also ''hires'' entertainers who ''believe'' the news they are entertaining with.

So what do we do. Do we just chuck the msm entirely? In favor of what? That is the big question here I think. Do we just go to smaller venues, venues that also have at their core the need for revenue from advertising? From all of the links provided to ''alternative and conservative'' news providers I still find to a very large degree, advertising. Me,personally find no reason to believe that there is any more honesty from these outlets as there is from the msm.

Rather than dumping the msm entirely in favor of these smaller outlets, it might be wiser to utilize both. Pay attention to both yet hold them both to higher standards of personal evaluation. Rely upon ourselves to disseminate the news rather than allowing any ''outlet'' big or small to disseminate it for us.

This of course includes ATS.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck
Well you seemed to have summed up my earlier reply much more succinctly than I did.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

It wasnt that long ago that the media (tv news, websites, etc.) presented somewhat factual events and merely attempted to manipulate how people perceived those events.

Now.. It is frequently outright lies.

Coupled with the long established perception/belief control, this is a serious problem. Not only do some believe rampant lies across the board, they have an entire belief system setup around it as a catalyst.

If "you" can actually get someone to buy into this manufactured paradigm, literally everything outside of it will appear false. Very dangerous on a small scale, as we have seen throughout history, but even moreso on large scales supplemented by modern technology.

I dont believe that the answer is to eschew modern technology, in fact I believe that is nearly as detrimental as someone who is fully inculcated by the Digital Veil. But thats probably a whole 'nother conversation.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

I'm not going in the Funhouse any more. I totally reject It now and refuse to subject myself to the MSM any longer.

The MSM is often very off center from facts and truths.

Unfortunately, the internet and social media, often have no connection with truths or facts, so if the MSM can be compared to a Funhouse, I don't know what to compare the internet to. Maybe soy? Depending on what flavor you throw in it, depends on what fake product you end up with?

Social media, forget it. Most websites, they're full of it too. Talk radio, a lot of crap there as well. There is no good sources it seems.
a reply to: NightSkyeB4Dawn

Amazing things happen when you ignore the "news".

The only thing worthy of informing you is experience. Focus on the life you want to live, not how they tell you to live it

Many here feel the same way I do, and that's a good thing.

I too stopped watching MSM on the tube, sometime in October. My peace of mind has increased greatly.

The MSM is simply propaganda and official narratives. The truth and countervailing thoughts are suppressed and censored.

We really are in Orwellian times.

It's a shame about loss of friends and family noted by several posters. I've experienced the same thing. Otherwise rational and intelligent people have suddenly become fearful and superstitious of a virus about as bad as the flu.

Mass hysteria induced by the media is rampant.

originally posted by: MichiganSwampBuck
I no longer have internet access except through a smart phone,

Eehh? You still have internet access mate. Lol.