I refuse to participate

"Reality exists in the human mind and nowhere else" (George Orwell, "1984")

Perception is 9/10 of reality. 

I did not coin this phrase. It came from an old sci-fi novel, if I remember correctly. I do not remember the title of the book. I read it in the 6th grade and that phrase, the essential truth of that phrase, just stuck with me. I find it almost shockingly relevant in the times we are currently living in.

I will not lie to you. This is nothing more than an opinion piece. I do not watch the news, even in passing. I am always the last to know about the latest tragedy, be it a bombing or shooting or protest. This is by design. I don't have the stomach or the patience to dig too deeply into all of the ugliness, pettiness and bullshit out there in the world today. I choose not to participate. Hell, I refuse to participate. I don't need anything more than bullet points when everyone around me is inundating me with their opinion ("It's a fact!!") based on their perception.

I'm aware that there is a danger in not being informed. My mom, God bless her, is tuned in 24-7, and it consumes her. I'm not judging her; that's her prerogative. She gets onto me about the aforementioned dangers of not being informed. She knows things the moment that they happen. She also buys into a lot of online bullshit that's out there to either a. make you look like a simpleton for a laugh or b. throw you off the trail of the real story. I'm not knocking my Mom, for the record. Millions of folks on BOTH sides fall for it every day. You can't trust what you read on the internet without doing 8 years worth of fact-checking on every simple statement anyways.

The simple fact is that the media controls the story in the same way that (stealing an old cliche here) history is just "his story". You're told just enough to make you feel informed while altering your perception of the story. That's the key: it all comes back to perception. If you change the perception on a large enough scale then you can change the reality as a whole.

Go out there on the wonderful and glorious internet and dig around to find out what a small percentage of powerful companies (like GE, Disney, etc) control virtually everything that you see and hear. It's all documented and nobody cares. When you partake of the news media you are choosing a flavor. You can have Red or Blue, Right or Left. I've not yet found a flavorless news source. If you know of one I'd be curious to hear it.

Everyone has an agenda. It's simple human nature. My agenda is to be a good father and husband, make some money, enjoy myself as much as possible, & spread this blog around (what can I say? I love gratification and the sound of my own bullshit). Each side of the media has their own agenda. It might be Hillary taking your guns or warming up a new 3rd Reich with Trump at the head. Doesn't matter, really. The best part is that one hand doesn't know what the other is doing. It's come that far now.

So, I will happily sit out here in Fantasyland with Jon Snow and John Cena and Freddy Krueger and Pennywise the Dancing Clown. The plot will continue to unfurl without my being constantly tuned in, you can bet your ass on that one. Those behind the curtain are safely entrenched back there and this blog post (or your Tweet) won't deter them in the slightest. They'll keep doing what they are doing. I'll stay armed and stocked and prepared, should someone decide they don't like life enough to stay the fuck away from my kingdom.

There's nothing wrong with organizing and protesting and trying to make a difference when a real problem presents itself. You might want to be sure that the problem you're kneeling for or raising your fist for isn't one that's being blown far out of proportion by Napoleon the Pig. If you ask most folks I believe you'd find that (like me) they don't give a shit what color you are or who you vote for. Most people are just trying to do unto others.......

It's that damn Golden Rule again. Uh-oh.