I do not watch the “news.” Not only do I find it depressing, but I find it very divisive. On the rare occasions I find myself in a place where I cannot control what is on the television (and the “news” is on), I do my best to study it. To dissect it. I have noticed that every 30-minute “news” episode I come across follows a similar pattern: 4-5 stories that deal with mayhem, destruction, or some other “doom & gloom” aspect of human nature; followed by a feel-good story. I must give credit where its due, and the mainstream media almost always end with a feel-good story. It is not about how you start, but how you finish. So, kudos MSM (acronym for Mainstream Media that I will use for the remainder of this piece).
I cannot help but wonder why the MSM focuses so heavily on the “doom and gloom” aspects of humanity, however. I will use a metaphor to help explain my thought process. Let’s say you are on a diet and doing your best to be as healthy as possible. You eat a Big Mac, fries, milk shake, and chicken McNugents every day, but you top it off with a fresh garden salad. Would you consider this a healthy diet? Sure, you ate a fresh garden salad. But that is not enough to offset the completely unhealthy, hedonistic feast that came before the salad.
The same principle applies to your mind. If you constantly feed it garbage (in the form of negativity), you will more than likely end up anxious, depressed, angry, and contemptuous. I realize that horrible things happen in this country and the world. But there are also good things happening. And I, for one, would rather focus on the latter. One prime example of this is the story found in the video below. Warning: the video is not graphic in any way, but some may find it emotionally intense.
I came across this incredible story surfing the Internet about a year ago. What a hero Keanon Lowe (the coach who disarmed the gunman) is. He is a symbol of love, bravery, and hope. For me, Keanon symbolizes the kind of man I want to be. His display of compassionate confrontation is a beautiful thing. It appears this story was featured as one of the short “feel good” segments you find at the end of most MSM news episodes. Most likely, it was not covered in excruciating detail for days, weeks, even months afterwards. I do not recall the MSM mentioning it back in 2019 when it happened. At least not to the extent they mention negative stories. Why do you think this is?
I honestly believe that the MSM does everything in its power to keep the masses in a constant state of fear and paranoia. And they are doing an incredible job. From the gun debate to the vaccine debate, the MSM is constantly pitting us against each other. Drawing the proverbial line in the sand by using labels like Democrat & Republican, vaxxer & anti-vaxxer, ANTIFA & Alt-Right, masker vs. anti-masker, etc. This animosity is ruining friendships and tearing families apart. I find all this tiresome and quite sad. But the video above depicting an incredible display of love & humanity rejuvenates me. That video and others like it solidify the notion that everything is going to be alright. It proves that we CAN be there for each other and shows the incredible power of a hug. I long for a 30-minute news program that features 4-5 stories like that. In the meantime, I’ll watch that video on a 30-minute loop before I turn the “news” on.
Have you ever seen The Hunger Games movies or read the books? If not, I highly suggest them. Full disclosure: I can only suggest the movies as I have not read the books (yet). To give you some context, the Hunger Games is set in a dystopian America where the divide between the poor & rich is incredibly large. The charming, beautiful, and talented Jennifer Lawrence portrays the savior of the lower class, Catniss Everdeen. Donald Sutherland portrays President Coriolanus Snow, the evil leader of the country who will do anything to keep power. This includes controlling all the media outlets to subtly spread biased messages in the form of patriotic nationalism. An effective form of brainwashing if you will.
There is an interesting moment in the first or second (I cannot remember which) film in the series. President Snow is discussing Catniss Everdeen with his top advisor. They are discussing the social momentum she is experiencing and how she is becoming a threat to the State. President Snow explains that Catniss must be contained for the good of the State. In reference to Catniss’s hopeful message, President Snow expresses that “The only thing stronger than fear is hope.” Think about the clip below the next time you watch “the news.”
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