Mainstream News

[RossE]

Wow.

The more aware I become, the more the truth of the news on TV, in newspapers really makes itself obvious to me.

What is going on? All news channels are basically dedicated to scaring the shit out of people. Dramatic music, dramatic headlines, dramatic language, negative word use, constantly negative stories about death, rape, murder, criminality, protests, cancer, bombing, terrorists, sex abuse, child abuse, exploitation, drugs, politics, alcohol. The professional, serious outlook, the recurring slot it's given on TV so that viewers know when it's on, so that its important: the centrepiece of the evening line up. Hey, we even have breaks during films and TV programmes to have a news segment, because it's so important you know how much shit is going down in the world.

It's amazing how it is so obviously designed to hit your sensitive spots, make you concerned, make you scared, make the world seem like a scary place. It's not designed for informing people, for spreading important things which benefit our lives and help us navigate the world. It's more like a show, a show designed not for entertainment, but for fear. This show is broadcast on national TV 24/7, lapped up and discussed by so many people at work, at home, with friends, with family.

What's even more mind blowing is that the people creating the news don't really seem to notice that this is what they're creating, and those who watch it are so, so involved with it that they believe this stuff matters, that the things discussed on the news have a reality to them, that they're more than just a mere drop in the ocean, which is actually all very beautiful. 

You know, I actually quite like keeping up to date with things. The amazing things that are going on in the world. I would probably watch something which promotes such a message. It's just mind blowing to see this type of show being widely considered to be factual and informative. It's a farce, really.

If I could offer any advice to everyday people about improving themselves, I would say to cut this nonsense out of their lives. Instead of watching the news at 6, if you really have to watch TV, watch a nature channel instead, even live sports is better. It's poison, it poisons your world view, your ability to be peaceful and free, and perpetuates the delusion that we call reality.

This was a rant inspired by Leo's 30 ways video and my 5 minute viewing of the news last night. Rant over  

Edited July 7, 2017 by RossE

[bworkman708]

"What's even more mind blowing is that the people creating the news don't really seem to notice that this is what they're creating." 

I'd say the exact opposite actually. This has continued for so long because of how easy it is to manipulate the masses. The average person does not question the validity of the information they receive via television, internet, word of mouth, etc. If this holds true, why not create narratives that keep these people in a perpetual state of fear? When people are afraid, they're more apt to listen to authority even more so. Rinse & Repeat. 

This is me simply thinking on their wavelength of course. 

[Loreena]

Mainstream news is very toxic. I was addicted to it for a while. This was last year when the elections were on. I had to finally pull the plug.  I only watch occasionally now.  

The media is very manipulative and overbearing. But You gotta watch sometimes To know about major events across the globe. 

But don't give into the rhetoric that is fed to you.  

I watch National Geographic and Animal Planet.  Thats a good dose of watching for me.  

History channel, Id,  Discovery,  Oxygen are good options. 

[Leo Gura]

5 hours ago, RossE said:

It's amazing how it is so obviously designed to hit your sensitive spots

This is true not only of the news, but of virtually EVERYTHING sold in the marketplace. Take a close look.

It's very hard to make a commercially viable product/service without doing this.

This is the true evil of rampant capitalism.

[Pav]

"We have to create culture, don't watch TV, don't read magazines, don't even listen to NPR. Create your own roadshow. The nexus of space and time where you are now is the most immediate sector of your universe, and if you're worrying about Michael Jackson or Bill Clinton or somebody else, then you are disempowered, you're giving it all away to icons, icons which are maintained by an electronic media so that you want to dress like X or have lips like Y. This is shit-brained, this kind of thinking. That is all cultural diversion, and what is real is you and your friends and your associations, your highs, your orgasms, your hopes, your plans, your fears. And we are told 'no', we're unimportant, we're peripheral. 'Get a degree, get a job, get a this, get a that.' And then you're a player, you don't want to even play in that game. You want to reclaim your mind and get it out of the hands of the cultural engineers who want to turn you into a half-baked moron consuming all this trash that's being manufactured out of the bones of a dying world."

- Terrence McKenna

[RossE]

@Leo Gura Thanks, I'll have a closer look into that. I have come to realise just how unhealthy most of society really is for our human machine.

It's difficult to reconcile - a lot of spiritual teachers emphasis pure love and acceptance, but when I look at this stuff, it's so obviously born from a place of ignorance and of cultural patterns and conditioning that it's hard to love and accept. I don't feel emotionally triggered by it per se but I feel disillusioned and something within me knows it's all a farce.

[RossE]

@bworkman708 That's true, I think there probably is that knowledge to an extent. I just don't think these people - even down to the cameramen - realise the effect of such negative information on themselves and the world. If they did, something within them would click and they'd feel morally unaligned. In my opinion.

[pluto]

There's a reason its called te lie vison

Tells lies to your vision.

 

You literally become what you constantly feed your senses on a daily basis, hence the term "what you focus on grows".

[ctro]

Challenge yourself! Try to go a day/week/month without any kind of (mainstream or non mainstream) news source. 

I did this for 3 months once, and the results were awesome. My focus was 100% on things I really cared about.

[RossE]

@ctro That's a good idea! 

I amn't strict with it, but I do rarely watch TV or go seeking out news. 

[Leo Gura]

On 7/8/2017 at 1:31 AM, RossE said:

@Leo Gura Thanks, I'll have a closer look into that. I have come to realise just how unhealthy most of society really is for our human machine.

It's difficult to reconcile - a lot of spiritual teachers emphasis pure love and acceptance, but when I look at this stuff, it's so obviously born from a place of ignorance and of cultural patterns and conditioning that it's hard to love and accept. I don't feel emotionally triggered by it per se but I feel disillusioned and something within me knows it's all a farce.

It will get worse before it gets better.

But as you get deeper into this work, and you fully grasp the depth of your own ignorance about reality, you will end up with a very deep compassion for the ignorance of our culture. Because you will understand that there is no "it". It is YOU!

You are the ignorance you abhor.

The infinite love of God will wash all that out of your heart. If only you can glimpse it for but 1 minute.

[Revolutionary Think]

On 7/7/2017 at 1:35 PM, Leo Gura said:

This is the true evil of rampant capitalism.

I thought you said good and evil don't exist