Rage Against The Machine
Rage Against The Machine
Thoughts On How We Are Tortured By Media And Where The Rage Goes
[Words from Stephen Ericson, originally posted as comment here.]
I get into this ...self perpetuating rabbit hole, it's maddening. Everyone is in it and there's no escaping it. How do we know what's real? I know that Mark C. Miller does those 'died suddenly' compilations...right? We know about how bad vaccines have been traditionally. I know that Biden 'lost his patience' with...ME. Because the entirety of the media was blaming the un vaccinated for the spread of the disease. I know that I've seen a lot of reports of young healthy athletes dropping dead. OF COURSE there's palpable rage. It's funny that there isn't MORE! I'm not yelling at you, I'm just yelling. I can't stand that everything that I look at has to be reasoned out and fact checked to death, but the news can report complete BULLSHIT night after night and when they're WRONG...like when they said the un-vaxxed were spreading it...they don't have to issue a retraction, they don't have to stop their misinformation. Nothing. They just keep going, 'get the shot, get the shot, go get another shot, more shots...' It never ends. Even if both of these videos in question are fake, the rage they represent is REAL that I can guarantee you.
—Stephen Ericson
Stephen’s Substack “Paddle Your Canoe” is here and I highly recommend it.
Years before it became “the water we swim in,” we’re talking some 9-10 years ago now, Stephen called me one day and said, “Celia, they’re normalizing pedophilia.” He saw the earliest signs. “I said, “No way. Seriously?”
I still thought it was not “possible,” but did not argue with him.
With Stephen I generally assume he is right and then it is just a matter of waiting.
I can’t feel rage, so right now I am borrowing his.
Dear Stephen,
One of the many difficulties we face is knowing with any confidence how receptive the world beyond the media bubble is to what the media bubble puts out. Just because it repeatedly pumps out a particular message, doesn't mean that message is greeted with open arms and minds right across the board; by some, yes, but by how many and how deeply? Collapsing trust in mass-media outlets is real, 49% of US voters being ready to stand behind any party as long as that party is against mandates is real, Draghi resigning in Italy is real, the fomented Ukraine-Russia war slipping out of Biden and Co's grip is real, etc.
But it is indeed more than galling to watch the perpetrators grinding on and on and getting away with murder, over and over again, while apparently we are not able to do anything but simply watch on passively. The desire for positive results, changes of heart, of policy, for the complete collapse of the narrative is totally understandable – I share it –, but we must acknowledge that we can't tell how much progress we're making, not really. The truth is slow, but it is relentless. And just because the Powers That Be out there don't buckle and fold as we would like, we are fighting back, millions upon millions of us, in millions of different ways, and it IS having a profound effect. We are, as a species, going through a deep transformation, one part of which is bringing all our toxins to the surface for examination and expulsion. It is ugly, it is terrible, it is necessary. I don't see how it could be any other way.
And part of all this is, also necessarily, the pain, the rage, the frustration. Sharing it is vital. More vital still is sharing it as part of how we learn to transform it all into love. This is no small task, and takes time.
So I see your work and words as both vital and effective, and thank you for your courage in sharing them.
I'm certainly aware of all this - how could I not be? - but at this point, I ignore it. (not over it though) It's a dying narrative and a larger paradigm is coming down with it. Time to align with those people going around this mess and looking to create something new.