Who doesn’t like a buffet? Double helping of this, pass on that, give me 3 of those, and lets not forget dessert, uh better make that two. Buffets appeal to almost everyone, because they present a plethora of choice, which grants the power to choose, and you don’t even have to live with the consequences of those choices. Don’t like the way the chicken tastes, don’t eat it - and just go get another plate. There is very little on earth more soothing to the Psyche (ego) than consequence free, exercise of power.
Much like the buffet, social media delivers the very same “consequence free exercise of power”. Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Instagram; they are all the same. The social media delivery mechanism you choose, hardly matters any more than which buffet you go to. They all offer platforms where you are presented with choices of who to like, friend, or follow. All the while algorithms work in the background to find you more of what you like, without having to sift through dissenting opinions. All social media platforms offer a “We thought you might like (insert video, celebrity, news story, etc…)” - always cooked just the way you like it.
Somebody from across the political aisle hitting you with too many uncomfortable truths? Just click unfollow, and you can go right back to the psychological and emotional safety offered by the fellow members of your chosen tribe. You never have to undertake the difficult task of questioning the validity of your own beliefs when you surround yourself with the like minded. On the flip side, ever felt the sting of disenfranchisement by getting Unfriended? That is the pain of imaginary, yet powerful, psychological walls going up. Them on one side of the wall, you on the other.
This is the curse of social media, when you get right down to it - they are instruments of division. The perfect tools for the ruling class “to gift” the plebes. A Pandora’s box of divide, conquer and rule. Brick by brick, those walls are going up - one unfriend at a time. As usual, the plebes are the ones doing all the work laying the bricks. Their pay? A hit of dopamine and a small taste of power every time they hit the like button, share that, or downvote this. While the plebes are quick to appreciate the erected barriers keep out the unwashed, non-believers….. they do not recognize the walls they erect are every bit as confining as a prison cell.
Once corralled into smaller like minded herds, the masses become pliable, and thus more easily controlled. How does the ruling class control them, you ask? Simple, take whatever the news story of the day is, intensely narrow the focus and ramp up the emotional hysteria. Consider the George Floyd/Derek Chauvin debacle. The media was quick to push the narrowly focused “White cop, Black victim” racism hot button. Suddenly, everyone was on one side or the other. The real issue (the proliferation of the police state) was never addressed.
Its no different with Covid. While Bagholder is certain 90% of people could tell you, with authority, covid has killed “600,000” people. How many of those people could tell you, at a molecular level, exactly what Covid does to your body. My bet is none as the real issue will never be addressed. Dozens of stories are available about the merit of the vaccines, but I struggle to find any story about how Zinc, Magnesium, vitamins C & D will help prevent infection by strengthening your cell walls and supercharging your immune system. Social media companies have managed to Narrow the Focus down to ….. Vax or Anti-vax, all the while ramping up the hysteria with 600,000 dead, ad nauseam. These are all just more bricks for peoples self built prisons. Oh, you’re Anti-vax? Better flex my muscle and unfollow you.
The powerful feeling you get picking and choosing on social media, just like picking and choosing at the buffet is ALL FAKE. The feeling is real, the choice is not. The "choices" were made by our rulers, long before they were presented to us as "choices”. The buffet owner decides steak or hamburger, lobster or fish patties, and chicken florentine or chicken fingers. Your choices, by the time they get to you, are hamburger, fish patties, or chicken fingers. Social media works the same way. Sure you can follow only others who like chicken fingers, and unfollow those who like fish patties. But at the end of the day, it is the social media companies who decide what goes on that buffet. It is not by accident the “Taliban” have a Twitter account, and former president Trump does not.
Make no mistake, social media is a tool used by the powerful to corral and control the masses. Just because you can choose to color your prison wall with the light blue bricks of Twitter, or the crimson red bricks of Youtube, does not alter the fact you are a prisoner, even if it is self-imposed. Are you really free if your only choices are how to gild your cage?
Oh well, at least its chicken fingers night in Shawshank USA.
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