Is no one immune to the frequent obscenity and sensationalised media influence? As cultures shift their values toward either more nuclear family-oriented conservative values upheld over time, or a liberalised “free thinking” left. It is a shame to observe in recent months the big push from the billionaire class pumping the U.S. election’s coughers ‘til their seams burst. It feels as if the wealthy rub the noses of other classes in it, their obscene wealth. Not since the gilded age has wealth disparity been as high, it is being surpassed. People are doom-scrolling and seeing different parts of the world that they rarely would have in decades preceding the technological boom at the turn of the millennium.

The CEO of Kellog’s notioning that if people are feeling pressures from the cost of living that they should eat cereal for dinner, saying “Cereal for dinner is something that is probably more on trend now, and we would expect to continue as that consumer is under pressure.” News that McDonalds™ recently lowered their prices to coincide with inflation, is this news or is it an advertisement? Are these the people that society looks to in order to feel heard and valued? The mega globo corporate suits who are only seeking money and power? Not our elected leaders? Perhaps they are one and the same.

I’ve never seen a politician go live on Instagram and answer questions. The problem is that A.I. can replicate and has replicated political figures before. Will Sam Altman answer for this? Political hacking, voter fraud, electoral beef in general driving up clicks and streams to generate money for the media, a satirical circus of what respected journalism once meant to the world, to hear the truth and only the truth in the most sparing way, not the most outrageous, unless causing outrage was a goal. The divisions stem from a populus that is bombarded with so much information that does not matter (four years of everyone’s life is spent witnessing advertisement) it makes it hard to pay attention to the things that do matter.

What did I think of Cherry Coke when they came out with it? I thought that it was what sells anything in this world, a fresh twist on a familiar favourite; and no, I did not enjoy Cherry Coke. When I first tasted pickles? It was in the cheeseburger of a McDonald’s Happy Meal™, and I remember feeling so incredibly happy because I had never had a McDonald’s Cheeseburger™ before either. The sour and sharp taste of the McDonald’s pickle ruined all hopes for enjoying the meal enjoyed by so many others. The taste of pickles was my first argument with an adult, when I was very young, it is ultimately the same argument today, but there are nuclear warheads that people are being trusted never to launch. I don’t even trust the left turn of another car unless I can see the other driver’s eyes. This disturbs me to my core and I resent that humanity has not exceeded its propensity for horrors beyond comprehension.

It is nerve-racking, the times we are living through, one could argue that the same amount of occurrences around the world would still be occurring without cameras, yet we are more aware of these occurrences. The fast-food analogy aside, it is my personal opinion that we are too heavily marketed to and saturated by a sensationalist “must be HOT” style of media that makes the ability of adults to act like adults a little more ironic. For example, I am wearing a tie and sitting in an office “quiet-space” pod, but I’m doing it ironically. Recently I have had these questions, do companies see people as more than wallets and cash? No. Immediately I answered my own thought with, “No, they don’t.” CEO bonuses during layoffs is a crazy thing too isn’t it? Why even give a bonus if you’re so blatantly cutting costs by automating and integrating A.I?

I’m starting to think music is the only healing thing in life sometimes. I like a bit of everything in music, I think it sucks that Rage Against the Machine and Run the Jewels were going to have a concert in 2020 and covid shut it down. I saw Stanley Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ last year for the first time. I watched it with a girl I think about sometimes. Damn. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, Russia is recently said to be interfering in the Olympics this year, everyone denies everything of course, the political circus has been undermined by the media en masse because of their collective willingness to shout the failures and whisper the gains made and legislation brought to fruition, victories we rarely hear about on the news, if something is being done to better anything, and I mean fix or improve anything, people everywhere deserve to hear that first.

It is getting hard to find motivation, the young and the stepped on, a neglected generation. A neglected recession perhaps. It is impossible to foresee the future with any accuracy, as all humans do not think as one, there is no objective for our species. Honestly we would all rather watch a movie or hope our team wins. The us and them mentality, corruption and deceit is invisible to the public eye, the public is ultra visible to them, and distrust creeps into the politics of all countries.

I believe that too much of anything is immoral, and that society has long since forgotten its own innocence, the leaders don’t believe in the kids and the kids don’t believe in themselves. Have we treated our time in this world with the affection we offer a stranger? Why is the hot-streak of innovation that humanity is on right now somehow a provoker of anxiety and unrest? I wonder if people will recede into their own company more and more, I hope not. I can’t help but think of the last Olympics™, the conditions that those poor migrant workers had to endure to build those stadiums. Has anything come of that? I haven't heard anything in the news lately. If something is being done, I would love to see that.

I foresee a world not diminished or doubtful in one united purpose potential, a world where no group or colour or creed will come before another. The naivete of an idealist aside, there is nothing wrong with being an idealist right now. To quote the aforementioned band, Rage Against the Machine, “What better place than here? What better time than now?” The more idealists there are, the more optimistic the world can rightly be. Where there is a deficit of dreamers, there is no hope. Largely, people are not getting big ideas for the betterment of mankind from advertisements, pop culture, or the toy in their happy meal.

When you see in the news that young children are working in plastic recycling plants in Turkey, is that going to stop Mattel™ from shoving the new Barbie™ into every stocking they can? No. It hurts to rarely hear a follow-up story to the young children in Turkey, but you will hear all about Barbie™ and we know that this much is true. Meanwhile, all other media from the years 2020-2024 feel like a weak ploy to spend more money, as if consumerism has any shred of dignity left. If everything is sacred, nothing is sacred, and these ads tell us everything will be better if you purchase their seemingly unique product.

Speaking for myself, it is getting a bit much. This frequent obscenity and sensationalised media influence, any disdain toward optimism which is either breeding a more hostile world or the product of an already hostile species. Recently, workers have been laid-off from News Corp™, and it does not calm the disquiet minds of people already concerned about the public being told the truth. It begs the question, are journalists fired for not being “yes” men to the monopolists of the world? Are we all beholden to liars and crooks?