Einstein wrote in 1949 that the time had come where the rich controlled the means of communication, making it impossible for people to make informed decisions.
There is something called the illusory truth effect. People will believe false information if it is repeated over and over again, even if they know that information is false.
We have been living under a mass media apparatus that fewer and fewer people control as the years go on. Their ability to coordinate messaging and effectively brainwash generations of Americans has been improving. And what’s worse is most of us believe we are not susceptible to it thanks to things like the Dunning-Kruger effect.
There are not quick and easy solutions to this problem as best I can tell. But we should be aware of it. It impacts you all. It impacts your families. It impacts your neighbors. It shapes what we believe about our fellow Americans.
I have used propaganda techniques to raise consumer awareness for at least 3 years now. With about $10,000 from my professional community I challenged corporations that make millions of dollars. If one person can do such things with such little money, then imagine what the people controlling the money can do.
We should be aware of it. It impacts you. It hurts our country. It shapes what you believe about your fellow American.
Our spirit must prevail.
Addendum:
October 2025:
Most of this addendum deleted.
If anyone ever asks what my problem is, it’s that we’re human beings and we’re really good at war. So why not start a war on human suffering? I want everyone to have what I have or better.
I started to hang out in the various New York City and Staten Island subreddits. I long to find people with similar political beliefs here. Now that I’ve seen the power of one firsthand, I’m immensely curious on the power of many.
So I spotted this right after I said I last said I was going to take a writing break.
Malliotakis defends Trump’s comment about immigrants poisoning the blood of our country.
I responded, but I feel this one deserves a “permanent” place somewhere on the internet. Staten Island is deeply conservative. But conservatives suffer from the same problems libertarians, liberals, progressives, and more do. Nobody can be apprised of everything. We must constantly act on incomplete information. And politicians take advantage of our blind spots — including the blind spots of our various news media — to get themselves elected.
So I wonder if throwing this pebble into the lake might one day cause a ripple that people remember. If not, what’s it matter? My life is headed in the same direction as everyone alive today, everyone that has ever lived, and probably everyone that will ever live. I’ve taken the position that we might as well use our time to make the world better. “A society grows great when old men plant trees under whose shade they will never sit.”
You want the next Bezos to be born in your state and bring lots of money to your local economy? Create a system that gives the most kids the most opportunity to succeed. Humans are really, really good at destroying our enemies. There’s no animal on the planet we couldn’t hunt to extinction if we so chose. Why don’t we make our enemy human suffering? Teach our children that the next big frontier is ending suffering in our communities. Kind of like the oxygen mask on the plane. You help yourself first, because you’re no good to anyone dead. Then you make sure the people next to you are okay. And then you can worry about the rest of the plane.
I mean, on a political level, we’re not even really taking care of ourselves. When I was a kid, it was all about respecting the armed forces that defend our freedom. When I was an adult I learned that we don’t really take care of our veterans and never really have. They commit suicide at higher rates than the general population and have roadblocks to care and reintegration in society that should be top priorities for society.
They’re not. Add that to the list of probably millions of things that should be getting addressed at any one moment and you start to realize that this stuff is way too complex to expect a legislative body of 12,500 people to keep up with it, let alone the measly 535 voting members of Congress. It’s painfully obvious they can’t keep up. They devolve into mudslinging any chance they get.
Maybe I’m romanticizing lawmakers of the past, but it seems like in the past there was actually some attempt at bettering society. Gangs were brutalizing gay people so there were laws enacted to enhance sentences for crimes against people for their sexual orientation, race, sex, religion, etc. But when people started targeting cops and homeless people? Nada. It wouldn’t even be hard to cover, just grab something like our NYS hate crime law and modify it to cover people’s employment, employment status, or housing status. I wrote to State Senator Andrew Lanza about that. Guess we’ll see if it ever goes anywhere.
Anyway, my response on social media to the immigrants thing:
Stenonymous commentary on Malliotakis defending the comment that immigrants are a poison in the blood of the United States.Stenonymous commentary on Malliotakis defending the comment that immigrants are a poison in the blood of the United States.
Sometimes I wonder if I am alone.
///
A loving memory of a veteran I knew, gone too soon. Would that I could have taken away the pain.
A deep respect for a family I knew.
You are all the blood of this country.
Addendum:
Stenonymous goes to White CastleStenonymous lets Nicole Malliotakis know there’s work to be done.Stenonymous votes to abolish the senate and let Emperor Palpatine have a little more responsibility.
Shortly after this posted, several readers remarked that Italians were treated like poison when they were first immigrating. This emphasizes my point some.
Another reader remarked that “democracy” is credited as having originated in Greece, meaning “people power.” Having a father from Greece and a mother from Cuba, perhaps the irony will not be entirely lost on Nicole Malliotakis.
“Democracy is credited as having originated in Greece. The word ‘democracy’ literally means people power. It pains me to see those of Greek descent dissing it. -Dyann L. Berndt, CSR, RPR.
Wrote a poem. It’s about America instead of court reporting. This is one of the rare times I’m going to use the blog for something like this. Unfortunately, it’s the only way to ensure it gets picked up by web search services like Google.
For the longest time we’ve faced division in the country. I believe this to be intentional on the part of the ultra rich. They control our media, our social platforms, our transportation, our electricity, our groceries. While we battle each other over silly differences or disagreements, we do not address the extraction of wealth from our country. This is very similar to the hatred of digital reporting in our field. While we wasted time decrying digitals as button pushers, we hardly noticed or cared that the corporations were setting up for our replacement and to create a market glut of reporters where our incomes would fall and their profits would rise.
People on very gradient of the political spectrum are being squeezed. I know this to be wrong. I do not know how it will be righted. But I know it must be.
