Have you Joined Satan’s Message Boards?
Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart
Gossip. When I was a teenager attending high school, the
world was a far, far different place.
My freshman and sophomore years were spent in a Catholic
high school. Boys and girls were separated by the primary entrance to the
school. We could only communicate with members of the opposite sex before and
after school, or at rallies for the football team. The only time we saw each
other was when we passed each other on the lobby stairway. Notes were passed
and hidden, to be read later. Some of the notes contained “gossip” about other
students and the teachers.
When I left St. Bernard High School, I attended Venice High
School. Public schools were far different. Dress codes were very lenient, and
with the exception of gym classes, everything was co-ed.
We didn’t need to pass notes, and the amount of gossip was
plentiful.
My brother and I were raised by a single mother and her
parents. Many of the principles and beliefs I have today came from them.
My grandmother was adamant about the evils of gossip. She
constantly warned me, urging me to ignore anything I had not seen for myself or
verified. She said that most gossip was composed of lies and could hurt a lot
of people. I wish today’s children and their
parents shared my beloved grandmother’s admonition.
THE BEST AND WORST OF LIVING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
My observations tell me that communication is a lost art in
2026. Instead of talking to each other, everyone is staring at their wireless
phones. They are texting or reading social media.
Of all the great inventions in my nearly 80 years, wireless
phones are surely the most incredible and useful of all. However, at the same time,
they are the worst. They are similar to the use of illegal drugs, including
alcohol. Used in moderation, they are unlikely to result in great harm.
However, when they become an obsession, the truth, facts, and even lives are in
danger.
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Threads, Nexdoor, and all
other social media apps eventually become addictive, equal to the use of heroin.
Unfortunately, these websites have no filters and few controls.
Their operators use the First Amendment to allow anyone to say anything without
verification. It is a proven fact that Russia’s use of social media was
influential in the results of the 2016 election.
I’M NOT FORGETTING THE EVILS OF THE BOOB TUBE
Even worse than social media is the second most addictive
and legal “drug” in America: television.
Second only to cigarettes, television affects the lives of
nearly every man, woman, and child in America. In October of 1996 newspaper
mogul, Rupert Murdoch, along with Republican strategist, Roger Ailes, began
broadcasting Fox News. Its slogan was “the News, Fair and Balanced.”
I remember the negative publicity. A couple of months later,
I decided to watch Fox’ most popular show, “the O’Reilly Factor.”
Bill O’Reilly’s guest was a liberal Democrat. I don’t
remember his name. Each time O’Reilly asked his guest a question and believed
that his response would be honest and in opposition to his and his network’s
stand on the issue, he would talk over the response, never allowing him to
answer a single question.
After I read more articles about the policies of Fox, I was
convinced that the purpose of the entire network was to act as a propaganda
machine in support of right-wing extremism. It was Rush Limbaugh on television.
The truth was of no importance. Ailes’ philosophy was “sensationalism
increases viewership, and increased viewership, brings increased advertising.”
In other words, he used our government’s philosophy of “profits before people.
Today, all television “news” adopts the immoral practices of
Fox. Remember, Trump has the support of America’s 989 billionaires/oligarchs.
All television and print news organizations are owned by billionaires in the 21st
century.
WHO CAN BE TRUSTED TODAY? WHAT CAN THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
BELIEVE?
As I move closer to becoming an octogenarian, my greatest sadness
and my greatest fear is that I no longer trust anyone with great wealth and the
power to control my life. That includes the federal government, all three
branches, our military leaders sitting on their enormous behinds in the
Pentagon, all law enforcement, the entire judicial system, corporations, and
most of the men and women standing behind their pulpits.
Most of you who read my rants know that I believe that
because of the damage his actions caused to the quality of life for all
Americans, and to the once Grand Old Party, and the reason for its demise,
Ronald Reagan was the third worst president in history.
However, I firmly believe he was on the right track when he
said: “trust but verify.”
The more research I do, the less likely I am to trust
anyone.
Op-ed by James Turnage
Follow my blog and be an informed American
My 10 novels are available on Amazon’s free Kindle App
Sources: psychologytoday.com: The Harm Done by Social Media
publichealth.columbia.edu: Just How Harmful Is Social Media?
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