Critical Thinking: Why Is It So Easy For The Mainstream Media To Divide People?

One way to look at the current age would be to say that it is the age of division, due to how fractured so many countries have become. In the not-so-distant past, countries were primarily fighting each other and now, some people within countries are fighting each other.

Although there has been violence and destruction, one of the main ways that this is taking place is through words. Along with what takes place offline in the real world, there is what takes place online in the virtual world.

A Disharmonious Environment

To say that social media is somewhere that is full of conflict wouldn’t be accurate; however, there is certainly a lot of drama being played out on different platforms. Therefore, while someone could avoid a lot of drama if they are only connected with certain people/accounts, there is still a strong chance that it would seep into their feed.

There are numerous people and accounts that are against something or someone, and what takes place online naturally has an effect on what is taking place offline. One influences the other and vice versa.

Two Ways

Thus, what is taking place online doesn’t exist in a bubble; it spreads all over society. But, even though it wouldn’t be right to point the finger solely at social media, these platforms have given people the chance to both express things that, in the past, would have often been kept to themselves or just the people they knew and connect to people that have the same views.

Considering this, to say that social media creates conflict wouldn’t be right, yet it does provide an area where it can flourish. Nonetheless, if social media didn’t exist, it is highly unlikely that all conflict would disappear.

The Big Deception

Not only are some people from different races fighting one another, some people from the same race are also doing the same thing. Further, many men and women are also fighting each other as opposed working together.

What these and other conflicts do is create the impression that human beings have fewer things in common than the things that separate them. The things that are different and separate them end up being the main point of focus and the things that are the same and bring them together end up fading into the background.

The Culprit

When it comes to why there is much conflict, and if the effect that social media has is put to one side, it would be easy to point the finger solely at the mainstream media. As time has passed, these sources have changed some of its targets but the outcome is the same.

This source always provides a reason as to why something is the way that it is. It doesn’t matter whether it relates to a media source that is associated with the gutter press or a media source that is perceived as being for those who are ‘educated’, they all have their targets.

Perception is Reality

Along with the mainstream media, there is also the impact that the entertainment industry, the education system and even corporations have on who is seen as the enemy and why the world is the way that it is. Each of these sources has a different way of concealing what they are doing, which enables them to condition people without their conscious mind suspecting a thing and questioning what is going on.

The media presents its propaganda as the truth and makes out it is simply ‘informing’ others, the education system can do the same under the umbrella of ‘educating’ people, the entertainment industry can do the same by creating the impression that it is just providing ‘entertainment’, and corporations can do the same through ‘corporate responsibility’. Through bypassing someone’s critical faculties, it makes it easy to influence them and therefore, define how they perceive reality.

Another Angle

Now, to see the mainstream media, and the other sources, as the only issue would be the easy option. This source would be the perpetrator and anyone who gets pulled in and falls for its divisive messages would be the victim.

But, what if there is more to it than this? What if there is something about the human mind that causes someone to be pulled into the divisive content that this source pumps out on a daily basis?

A Deeper Look

Having an ego-mind is part of the human experience and this part of them wants to avoid pain and to experience pleasure. Also, this part causes them to see themselves as just a passive observer of their reality, with them being separate from everyone and everything.

Taking this into account, when a source says that ‘fill-in-the-blank’ is the reason why something is the way that it is, it gives someone’s ego-mind a reason as to why their life is the way that it is. This will stop them from having to look into what part they might have played, to avoid pain, and to maintain the illusion of separation, as they won’t have played a part in what is taking place in their own reality.

A Defence Mechanism

When someone is unable to face something, they usually end up pushing it out of their conscious mind and, after a while, it ends up appearing in their external world. In other words, what someone is unable to face inside themselves ends up being projected into the external world and the outcome of this is that they can end up being victimised by their own inner baggage.

Ergo, if this was something that was widely known, there wouldn’t be the same desire for an external scapegoat. In general, people would deal with their own ‘dark side’ or ’shadow’ and this would stop so many people from falling into the trap that the mainstream media, and other sources, set and allow them to experience life differently.

The Collective Unconscious

Once an individual has pushed something out of their conscious mind it doesn’t just go into their unconscious mind; it also ends up feeding into the collective field. Of course, if human beings were actually separate, this wouldn’t take place.
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If, for example, a large part of humanity is carrying trauma around being violated, something external will have to manifest that is in alignment with that trauma. An event or situation could then manifest that causes a lot of people to re-experience all over again the experience of being powerless victims.

Conclusion

What this emphasises is how important self-knowledge is as this is what will allow someone to embrace their own power and not to get pulled into the victim/perpetrator dynamic that is so common in today’s world. When someone is in touch with their own power, they won’t be interested in having power over others or allowing others to have power over them.

Lastly, blaming these external sources for what is going on in society is effortless and allows someone to experience an emotional release; what it won’t do is allow them to create a different reality. One will be coming from a place of resistance and what this will do is cause them to sustain what is currently going on.

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Oliver JR Cooper
http://www.oliverjrcooper.co.uk