Why I Stopped Watching News and Following Politics
You are making their agenda successful.
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Hard Truth First
Okay, first thing first. Who are “their”?
Nobody knows. Everyone refers to them as “The Matrix”, “The System”, or “Elites”.
Whoever they may be, you don't have to know who they are, but you have to know they exist.
There are few entities that are way above the government even in so-called “democratic” countries like the USA, and the UK.
Everyone calls media is fourth pillar of democracy. But it’s not!
There are some guesses as to who they are (they are way above the government):
Blackrock, an asset management company, whose name is not that much of heard in social media and media (on purpose), owns US $9.8 Trillion worth of assets and owns major stocks, bonds, and major banks, media companies not only in the USA but all around the globe including China.
The Federal Reserve, a private corporation (yes this is true, it has shareholders), is legally the central bank of the USA and has the right to adjust monetary policies and print dollars out of thin air. (Not going into the rabbit hole, but if you like to hear how it just prints currency out of thin air faster than you speak a word, comment down below)
The City of London, a private corporation inside the “Bigger London”, has its own police, policies, general law, mayor, army and court and permanent place in the House of Commons. It is suspected that it is controlled by big banks. That's why London maintained its “financial centre of the world” position even though its empire had failed.
And there are many more like Vanguard, and some politicians whom we will never know. You can look at the web and research more about them.
Now before you say what I am saying is bullshit and conspiracy and, in your mind, you are telling yourself that you need to know about the present context, the ongoing things around your city, state, country or the world. Hear me out.
The Human Mind
The human mind was never made to hold a lot of information continuously fed with new information.
Try sitting in silence. Absolute silence. You will get and know more about yourself than trying to feed your mind continuously with new information.
Try walking with no headphones, or phones. And if possible, go to the park, and walk with bare feet under the sun (in limited amounts).
If you are reading this, you already have a lot of information inside you and you need to take action to escape from mental stimulation and quick dopaminergic activities.
If you don’t know what action to take, read the last three paragraphs again. Write down instead. Write your thoughts, document them, structure them, and journal them. Many people will say writing won’t help and it's trivial. But try it. Writing puts you into thinking. If you think and meditate on some ideas and structure them, you will be aware of what actions to take.
Enough of the tangent of talks there. My apologies. News it is.
In an age of information overload, where news and updates flood our screens from dawn to dusk, it’s not uncommon to find individuals who have decided to step away from the constant stream of headlines. I am one of those individuals. A few months ago, I made the conscious decision to stop reading the news, and today, I want to share my reasons and experiences with you.
The News Addiction
Back then, I was deeply immersed in the world of news. My daily routine included waking up, checking email, scrolling through Facebook, and Google and reading the news. Little did I know that I was falling into a cycle of information addiction.
Understand News, social media, even Medium Blogs, and YouTube all are sources of entertainment. View them as entertainment.
First of all, observe how much time you are spending in CONSUMPTION of the news. Does it do you any good? Do you feel productive after watching the news, listening to some politicians, and hearing parliamentary debates? What values does it provide?
99% of all the talks on news channels and media houses are propaganda, negativity and pushing some agenda for one political party or another.
If you want uncensored news, then Twitter (X) is a good source of it nowadays (in limited amounts).
Who Controls the News
Yes, news is controlled whether it is in an autocratic state like China or a “Democratic” state like the USA. The first one I don’t even have to explain but for the latter one, it's quite a complex mechanism.
So, all the propaganda that some hidden corporation like Blackrock, or City of London (Private Corporation), or Vanguard, political parties want to push, they push. Blackrock has influence and enough shares in all the major media companies of the USA.
For instance, in Australia, Macro Business continuously push for anti-immigrant sentiments in the media denoting the housing crisis caused by migrants. But if someone digs up the truth, the net outcome of any immigrant is positive towards the country they live in. They always contribute more than they take.
Facebook, BBC, and YouTube, all follow cancel culture, and their algorithm is such that they promote what they want and cancel what they want. Believe it or not, Facebook played a huge role in swinging the 2020 US Election.
Everything you see is not in raw form, not from the freedom of speech, but it comes from the filter of social media algorithms, government and big hidden corporations (above government) agendas.
Twitter (X) was so much promoting leftist-woke ideas and following cancel culture, before the takeover by Elon Musk.
Information Filters
Rather than mindlessly consuming news, what truly matters today is our ability to filter and manage the vast amount of information at our disposal. At companies like Google, the best employees excel not because they read more news but because they have efficient filters that help them discern what’s important from what’s noise. They focus on handling large volumes of data effectively.
Breaking the News Addiction
Breaking away from the news cycle doesn’t mean disconnecting from the world. It’s about being selective and efficient in your information consumption. You don’t have to check social media or news sites constantly, once a day is often sufficient.
You don’t even have to check once or twice if you have a decent network of people. Often time some news will reach you (yes, there is no shame in not knowing about what's going on all the time). Other people will do it for you. Then, you can investigate further by going into it, if you think that puts value to you.
Conclusion
In today’s world, being well-informed doesn’t necessarily mean reading news obsessively. Instead, it’s about curating and managing the information that truly matters to you. News consumption, while once a valuable skill, has evolved into something different in the digital age. So, consider taking a step back from the relentless news cycle and focus on acquiring the skills to filter, manage, and make sense of the ever-expanding sea of information. It might just be the key to staying ahead in our information-saturated world.
Learning some new skills, hitting the gym, practising mindfulness or taking action on things that you have more control over, but you are not doing, might be a more valuable use of time, instead of news and information consumption.
