We are so screwed

By Dan Barber

It seems that from the number of FB posts people are more interested in what they are having for dinner than being interested in why other people are going hungry.

I suppose social media is allowing people the opportunity to escape this bleak reality by counting the number of “hits” or “likes” on what they post.

I’ve also noticed that more and more people don’t much give a damn about serving other people unless there is something in it for them. Our society has turned itself upside down because we the people have allowed the wrong people to manipulate all of us. I get messages all the time from enterprising individuals inviting me to sign up for their service (at a monetary cost) which promises thousands of “hits” or “likes” for my posts. I’ve never believed in buying friends or even asking for recognition…neither of those options is worth having.

I have become jaded with a pessimistic outlook rather than an optimistic hope. The older I get the crankier I become. Perhaps it’s because of our upside down society. I apologize to anyone trying to be nice to me and I just nod and smile without returning a genuine nicety, it is becoming harder for me to separate patronizing bull stool from genuine politeness.

On this day, I mourn the death of Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream. With President Obama, we had a promise of something better… of hope and change, but it turns out our first black President was still just voted into office based on the color of his skin…not the merit of his character. Because of that, our entire society is in danger of collapse.

In the news today, I’ve read that just 62 people are wealthier than half of the world’s population combined. How did that happen? Interest-free loans to the world’s largest banks from “we the people” and blind trust in some of our media and politicians to protect us, that's how.  .But it gets worse because we’ve failed to learn from history by allowing economic policies based on fantasy and lies we may face another depression worse than we faced earlier in the 20^th century.

The only way we can recover is to study many sources of information. 

One example of blatant bias is "New Yorker" writer; Jane Mayer's effort to demonize one political ideology in her book “Dark Money” through her connection with the liberal media. 

If one is to inform readers about the history of wealthy dynastic families and how they affect politics today it is important to address all of them not just cherry-picked favorites. 

This is how the media can endanger our freedom in America. We need an honest debate between ideas not propaganda in an attempt to empower a tyrannical government. We the people must look at all sides of issues to decide what's best for us. When the media fails to honestly inform and in the process looses all credibility who are we going to trust. If Mayer wanted to do a history lesson she should have mentioned that Roosevelt’s family seed money for their wealth came from the Opium trade in the Orient; the Kennedy family seed money for their wealth came from rum running during prohibition; currently, the Clinton's political and family wealth is likely from influence peddling with foreign governments through their foundation.

My tip to keep from being manipulated is to pay attention.