I know a great deal is happening in the world today.  Attitudes are changing, some good, some not so good.

In this mash of over stimulation and feeding of opinion, from every form of media and friends, how do we get the whole picture?  The TRUE picture?

Truth is relative, that’s a given truth be told. So much of what we believe is influenced by those around us, our friends, neighbors, educators, religion (if we attend), media and if we read, books. Sadly most of it comes from a combination of media and peer pressure.

Peer pressure is something we just can’t seem to avoid. We’re like cattle or perhaps sheep off to slaughter. Friends are an integral part of living and heaven forbid we disappoint friends. So that leaves MEDIA. MEDIA is the most damaging. TV especially because more people watch TV than listen to radio, in periodicals or the daily paper. Why people believe what they hear on TV as gospel is beyond me. Most of it is “he said, she said” anyway.

I recall an interview a few years back of an actor who had for several seasons or perhaps years, had played a villain on a long running soap opera.  He said in the interview, how surprised he was at the number of people believed it was for real. He was frequently being chastised on the street for being so bad. One day, he says, a woman literally came up to him from out of the blue and hit him with her purse.  The audience of course laughed, but what a sad commentary of how “our” belief system is influenced.  That’s why commercials work and why certain ones are aired at certain times and channels for a specific target audience. That’s also how our children’s minds get formed without us even being aware.  That’s how it is though.

How many people rely on media for their information?

TV news anchors and various talk shows constantly skew their information and cut and paste to present information to fit their own agenda. Now social media is in the mix and how even more impactive that has become.  Because now it’s the man on the street, showing us “live” as to what is going on.

Tell me, has anyone stopped to think how it is that someone just “happened” to see and shoot something as it unfolds from beginning to end and in it’s entirety without prejudice?  Who on earth is ready to roll all the time?  It’s hardly likely unless the event was contrived in the first place. Think about that. And the public believes it? Incredible. Generally if you see something happen, it takes more than a few seconds to get your camera rolling and by then you probably missed a good chunk of important information. It’s hard enough to get a good reel when you plan to shoot it. Trust me.

Low tolerance, high tolerance. It all goes awry when it comes to personal beliefs.  For example, someone may say they are tolerant of this or that and appear for all practical purposes to be so until someone who has an opposing ideology attempts to present theirs. Suddenly their “tolerance” is out the window.  What it really boils down to is so and so has no right to their voice if it conflicts with mine. In other words mine is right, theirs is wrong.  Period.

It’s human nature to hear what you want to hear and if you dislike someone you may be even more inclined to isolate the incriminating or what you want or need to indict them. Sometimes people don’t bother listening or hearing the whole message.  Oh, but wait!  Perhaps the whole message wasn’t shared, just a little this and that. Perhaps some media power that be edited it to discredit  one or uplift another.  How would you know?

There’s no doubt that if we want the truth, we have to go hunting for it and like hunting, it takes work and patience to find truth behind the stories that are being told.

I understand we are all under time restrictions, but do your best.

If you don’t take care, what you see is not necessarily what you’re gonna get. You could be in for a surprise.

We as the human race can be so foolish but for this country’s sake,  lets not be. Our future depends on it.

Do your homework folks.