The Wolf Politik

They feed you on mass media.

I've been a little silent of late. Not for lack of having things to bitch about, but rather due to a surge in my creative writing, on which I've been extremely keen to capitalize. Luckily, the world never changes – there's still plenty to be disgusted about.

Such as our media. Particularly news television, that mangled mess of sound bites and pretty pictures that provides most information to the bulk of our population. But as with everything, the question becomes one of trust. Can you trust the media to give you anything more than what they're told? News isn't about information anymore, it's about ratings, which is itself about money. As discussed briefly in an earlier entry, people by and large don't want to know the unpleasant things. So where's the profit in finding it?

This is the primary reason why protecting the freedom of the Internet is so vitally important. But that's a discussion for a later time. For now, I give you this little-known film by Brian Springer: Spin. It describes itself as a film "about the mechanics of how television is used as a tool of social control to distort and limit the American public's perception of reality".

It's an hour long, but it's an interesting hour. As always, my hope is to make you think when it's all over. Think about how easy it is to skew perception. Think about what the news networks are really saying – or aren't really saying. Think about what they're telling you, find information out for yourself, and make your own conclusions. The only thing on which you can be certain is that when all is said and done, the one person they're ultimately serving is not you.

Initially, I was writing all this in reply to a comment in the previous post by ross_teneyck. I've moved those replies to their own post. I think that there are some good points for discussion here. And, uhm, it's really long too, so.


( LJ cut for length. See? I told you I'd carry on more than a little. )

Greetings. I am Jet Wolf. I am also pissed.

I created "The Wolf Politik" as an off-shoot of my regular, more personal blog. The goal is to keep it all in one place and not to bore (or irritate) the hell out of those who are interested in my more off-the-cuff musings but don't care so much for when I get ranty about government. Cuz make no mistake, I can get darned ranty.

So this is the place to discuss (read: probably bitch a lot) about events in the world that frustrate me, anger me, and, yes, terrify me. I've long considered myself a study of humanity. Sort of a detached observer, making wry comments both to myself and others when the mood takes me. As I've grown up, I've become more aware of the great beasts we name "government" and "politics". For a long time, I simply pointed and laughed, or pointed and rolled my eyes, or sometimes didn't even bother to point. But lately something within me has shifted, ever so slightly. I've existed within a bubble of semi-intentional ignorance for many years. Quite without my permission, that bubble has burst.

Forgive my purple prose, but these past few days I've felt raw. Like my top layer of calloused skin has been ripped away. Things that I previously felt were merely foolish or arrogant have become calculated and sinister. I realized with some shock just yesterday that I have actually managed to reach a deeper level of cynicism, thus proving that some things do not have a bottom.

There's this thing I like to do. I like to make predictions. I like to not just look at events but to look at motivations. I like to figure people out, to cut through to the whys and then use that basis to hypothesize about what they're going to do next. As mentioned above, I've made it something of a hobby to watch people specifically and the people in general. It's a thing. But of late, it's felt like a burden. I've often claimed (and still do claim) that people by and large simply don't like to think. It's just that until now, it's never really hit home how dangerous a problem that is.

This is – or rather, I hope this to be – my contribution toward any hope of a soltuion. It's not all I could be doing. In fact, it's probably the minimum. I acknowledge that. Perhaps if I were a better person, I'd be out there pounding pavement every day, trying to wake people up, trying to snap them out of their complacency. I should perhaps be running for local office, trying to effect change from within. But I know myself well enough by now to know that, at least at this stage of my life, I'm not going to do that. Simply put, I don't like meeting people. I'm an introvert whose lucky she can force herself to the grocery store for toilet paper (and sometimes only when I'm out of napkins too. And my husband's at work and I can't hold it any more.) Doing these things would be the ideal solution. This isn't an ideal world though, so we use the tools we have.

My tools of choice are the written word.

I hope that within the virtual walls of this blog, housed for now by the fine folks at LiveJournal, you'll find something to make you think. Something to make you stop and take another look. I hope to implant a little worm in your brain that will burrow deep inside and lay its eggs. (Not literally. Not until technology improves, anyway.) Maybe you'll take away with you the motivation to do something yourself, be it to speak out (a simple feat requiring more and more bravery in Today's America) or to take more direct action.

To make one person, just one, think and question a little bit more. That's my mission statement.

Greetings. I am Jet Wolf, and I'm pissed.