Programming-page 150
Breaking the Illusion
CLICK BELOW 👇
The 1985 Tears for Fears hit song Everybody Wants to Rule the World made a prophetic challenge for the rest of us with surreal but cautionary lyrics. The song evokes an uneasy netherworld of evanescent forces that appear outside of Mother Nature.
“I can't stand this indecision
Married with a lack of vision
Everybody wants to rule the world”1
What are they doing? Who are these people that I can feel but not see? In the 38 years since the song toped the pop charts the same manufactured anxiety continues to pester our consciousness.
Day in and day out we are bombarded with real and subliminal images from eighty inch TV sets and pocket sized phone screens to advertising messages in the airwaves mixed with various addictive triggers or jingles designed to keep our “eyes on the screen”. Most are commercial enterprises wanting our business but there are other forces mixed in with the ads.
At times as I am watching or listening I hear something out of place that sounds like a subtle political theme but no one is running for office. I have been searching the Internet when I click on an reference or art site and there is a flashing banner on top promoting a war effort in a far-off country urging me to support an indecipherable cause: seemingly out of nowhere.
Even plain old commercials are mixed with conflicting narratives that sometimes make my head spin causing a temporary confusion or cognitive dissonance2 which is a technique of both programming and propaganda. Yet I’m just listening to the radio in the van driving to work and someone is messing with my mind. This short video does a great job of explaining how the process works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09maaUaRT4M
This picture would be depressing if it was not for the existence of easy to use remedies for programed stress coming at us from all directions at once. To remove stress in your life many advisors say we should just turn off the media altogether or at least go on a media diet.
For instance I have not watched national media news programs in years unless they happen to be on in a waiting room or similar situation. I follow local radio news and opinion about what is happening in my community. I pick out a few news apps on my phone that don’t agree with each other in the hopes that some of the opposing programming will cancel themselves out and I’ll get something like a clear picture.
We watch some entertainment shows but are weary of embedded messages conveyed through the storyline that are subtly promoting the agenda of the writers or production company (Netflix is one of the worst). Gratuitous sex or violence is a common technique used by directors to capture people’s attention then shape opinions. By combining modern media techniques with behavioral psychology the media has built a awesome platform for the people who “…want to rule the world”.3
I read spiritual books and listen to lectures about art and literature and concentrate on positive themes. Going to negative subject matter and joining the “dark side” is very easy in our world today. Remaining positive is definitely a challenge but the process of thinking through what we put in our heads is an important part of resisting programming from unwanted outside sources.
VIEW THE WHOLE UPDATED WEBSITE: CLICK HERE
Writer(s): גלט תומר,Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley, and Chris Hughes.