In my 10+ years writing for The AIMN, the world has changed significantly. Governments worldwide have shifted to the right or have other undemocratic systems, from forms of grey communism to outright dictatorships.
The rise in the advocacy of female equality is fighting a brave fight, while men are blindly chasing everything narcissism offers. But are we becoming better nations, more caring, more equal, more just and less corrupt?
In Australia, I care about how we are managed as a society, including those things necessary for social cohesion. All communities are controlled by laws, systems or regulations, including the philosophy of whatever party is in power at the time.
The word ‘manipulated’ is used repeatably in my text to emphasise the point, so read on and please contribute to the comments section.
I contend that the world changed significantly in the period of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. There was an abrupt turn to the right of politics, which worsened people’s lives. The conservatives within their parties sprang into action and also headed to the right. When one looks back, it not only changed our lives, but it opened the doors to mass manipulation.
In debating some of the following issues with colleagues and friends, I have also noticed and agree with the observation that:
“… the Fox [and Sky] viewership is marked by a sort of collective personality disorder whereby the viewer feels almost like they’ve been let into a secret society.”
In the US, President Reagan took away responsibility for social services from the Government budget and gave the money to the churches to do what the bureaucracy did. Religion entered politics, and the US political system slowly fell apart.
Conversely, in England, Prime Minister Thatcher determined that there was “No such thing as society”, and their country also began to fall apart. Thus began the days of the two-income family. A decline in marriage with more divorces, bigger houses, and empty hearts. And a proliferation of kids with single parents. Ask any state schoolteacher, and they might suggest that around 70% of their pupils come from single parents.
Poverty has increased worldwide to the extent it is today, yet those of a conservative ilk insist they have done nothing wrong; “American exceptionalism still exists“. Later, an era of Trumpism developed when the masses became manipulated to the point where one wondered if they were ever educated.
Yet he hopes to overcome many lawsuits and have another crack at the presidency. His lies and hatred for those who desire equal opportunity and fairness know no bounds. He is manifestly the most incredible narcissist in the world of politics.
“Because they mistakenly believed in their own righteousness,” Churches have manipulated people into believing love and morality are exclusively religious.
They never allowed their own immorality to stymie their self-righteousness. Added to this, the manipulation of minors by some men of the cloth was exposed, and the whole world turned against them.
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Sometimes, it is good to stop, think, evaluate and formulate one’s own opinion instead of being manipulated by the media and other vested interests.
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We have become obsessed with celebrities and the media, who – with the help of the media – manipulate us into believing that people of little virtue, talent or character are somehow important. More often than not, they have acquired notoriety through wealth or influence.
The battle for wealth, whether corporate or individual, has intensified and divided us into sections: those with and those without.
We have been manipulated into competitive living (making money for money’s sake) while, at the same time, we have forgotten how to laugh or even volunteer. Now, what was the name of that family across the road? We need to comprehend the difference between manners and civility.
Well, our kids don’t. Narcissism is rife, and men are particularly prone to it.
Enormous advances have been made in medicine, and future discoveries will increase enormously. Artificial intelligence has arrived on many fronts. They will further change a world now stressed out with advances in technology.
More drugs are available for many illnesses, but the large drug companies manipulate who gets them and the price paid. The vaccines for the COVID-19 pandemic are a case in point. A vaccine was found in record time, but the wealthiest nations were the most advantaged.
Acquiring a wage has become a necessary function of survival or at least having a reasonable standard of living.
There is much less wellness. Mental illness, at last, has been recognised. Still, men have succumbed to domestic violence, where men manipulating women has become a pastime, resulting in at least one death each week in Australia.
Record amounts of money are thrown at the problems, but no evidence of success results.
Australian Aborigines are a case in point. The voters were so manipulated at the recent referendum that they were confused between right and wrong or didn’t know the difference.
“If you don’t know, vote no.” (Seriously.)
The right of politics manipulates women to maintain a perceived physical, academic, corporate and sexual dominance. History records their manipulation and the ongoing incompetence of extremist right-wing Government. Those of Howard, Abbott, Dutton and Morrison. In Australia, we have experienced the extremities of these men, their ignorance and corruption, to the point that their parties should not be allowed to stand in the next election in their current form.
People may live longer but, in my observation, are less happy, and the incidence of mental health has become a social problem.
We mumble a lot without saying much, we seldom love meaningfully, and the joy of sex has degenerated into casual opportunism where women are manipulated.
It is a time of enormous profits, little leadership, shallow thinking and superficial relationships. It is a time in which technology is making extraordinary advances, but our intellectual reasoning seems only able to appreciate its capacity for good with the word ‘profit’ attached.
We are conquering outer space and diseases yet polluting our environment and souls. We have been so foolish as to allow ourselves to be manipulated by the fools who, once proven wrong, repeat the dose at every opportunity.
We allow ourselves to be manipulated by exaggerated, flamboyant rhetoric designed to heighten a sense of alarm or simply gain our attention. Think Andrew Bolt, for example.
The First Nations referendum was another example of this nefarious manipulation of our democracy. The uneducated on this crucial matter was exploited with propaganda to vote no, and its unfairness was wrong, but the conservatives say it’s just politics. They always do.
Unscrupulous people manipulate our social behaviour, and the young fall victim to the persuasive influence of debilitative drugs.
We know beyond doubt that climate change has surpassed all predictions, yet few countries remain concerned. Gloom is upon us because they lust for power and wealth.
And the purity of our playtime, our sport, has been manipulated by the corrosive effect of gambling money and drugs.
And the cheats, in turn, manipulate us with their lies.
Because of the rise of far-right Neoconservatism, I am currently reviewing my thoughts on the future.
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My thought for the day
We dislike and resist change in the foolish assumption that we can make permanent anything that makes us feel secure. Yet change is, in fact, part of the very fabric of our existence.
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