How the Media is Killing Society

How the media is killing society:

1. People like good production value. They like good acting. Look at the popularity of The White Lotus. Or The Game of Thrones. To most people, the “news” seems credible, because it’s executed well. They’re liars, but they’re highly capable liars. Rachel Maddow is not a good person, but she’s good at what she does.

2. People were not trained to think critically. Government schools and most private schools condition you to be part of the pack. You are taught in groups, or classes, not individually. The goal is the average, or the norm, not achievement of your own potential. This leads, in adulthood, to a mentality of group think. In practice, this means replacing “What’s true?” with “What does everyone else seem to think?” I never knew how prevalent this was until COVID. It was shocking and staggering, even to me. 2020-2021 unmasked EVERYTHING.

3. The people in the media are the same as the people watching the “mainstream” media. They lack independence and critical thinking. Just like their audience. However, they, the members of the media, do have a leftist agenda. In fact, they are SO leftist they don’t even realize they’re leftist. To them, it’s a combination of virtue and objective truth. Their biases and outright lies seem self-evident, to them. They sneer at dissension, something they rarely encounter outside their elite blue states and cities. This results in the spectacle of sheep teaching sheep; sheep reinforcing sheep. Today’s establishment media: an elitism of ignorance and naivete masquerading as sophistication and truth. Most don’t see it. They just absorb it all, uncritically call it “news,” and go about the business of their lives.

It’s not hopeless. But the situation is daunting. More than most of us know. It’s incredibly uphill. Trump’s surprising victory in 2024 proved the media is not omnipotent. But it’s very, very present. And, because of those 3 points above, people will continue to default to whatever the media wants. Trump has an uphill battle, and his successors will have it even tougher. Ignorance has morphed into hatred, and it’s not letting go. It will not go down without a fight, and I am talking the fight of this century.

If the media stopped being leftist, it would have an impact. Indeed, we have more nonleftist media than ever before. It started with National Review and Ayn Rand’s Manhattan living room discussion groups in the 1950s and 1960s. It evolved into Rush Limbaugh, Fox News in the 1990s and 2000s. And today: alternate media (translation: nonleftist) is a force. It’s so much a force that Donald Trump got two terms (really, three terms) as President. Never underestimate the power of human potenial in the exercise of free will. We all have the capacity to think and know the truth, independently and against any odds. We all have this inner superhero, when we choose to activate it.

Good news: Critical, objective thinking is making a comeback. But we have a long tough road ahead for America, for truth and for civilization itself. I love Ayn Rand’s quote the most: Those who fight for the future live in it today. Thanks to the future we are creating today, the world has become a better place.