It has been said that if you make a lie big, simple, and keep on saying it, eventually everyone will believe it. At first this sounds like a load of BS; you could never convince me to believe the sky is green. Though science proves otherwise. Examples have been shown throughout our history and more specifically by Adolf Hitler himself, who accurately stated, “Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.” He convinced the entire population of Germany that their very neighbors were parasites; that the Jews were nothing but evil. He did so by brainwashing the people through the media and notorious speeches. Today, we fall through the same trap and are entrenched when watching hours and hours of television. Such immense broadcasting of information makes it extremely easy for the elite/government to share simplistic lies all throughout the media. A specialist of mass brainwashing by the name of L. Wolfe further expounded on this idea:
“As Tavistock’s researchers showed, it was important that the victims of mass brainwashing not be aware that their environment was being controlled; there should thus be a vast number of sources for information, whose messages could be varied slightly, so as to mask the sense of external control.”
She elaborates on the idea that the content spread is so nonchalant that the person is under the impression that they have the choice of what to believe between various messages. However, little does the public notice that the same repetitive statements are hidden behind different masks/slogans and being gradually imprinted into their mindset.
A New York Times article called, “How Much Do We Love Tv? Let Us Count the Ways,” said the average westerner spends about “10 hours and 39 minutes” a day consuming media content — be it watching TV, surfing the web, using an app, listening to the radio, etc. We are wired all the time. Think about it… how long can you go without your phone?
The entire population is addicted.
The most unsettling part of watching television is what the Department of Defense calls the SSSS — Silent Sound Spread Spectrum. SSSS is a technology that uses subliminal programming, transported through Ultra-High Frequency broadcast waves, to plant inaudible messages directly into the subconscious human mind. Since the frequency is at a point where humans are incapable of perceiving sound, there is no defense against it. The frequency that is used for television and radio broadcasting, UHF (100mhz), is exactly the carrier wave SSSS was designed to utilize. Now whether or not the government is using SSSS remains a conspiracy theory, for the U.S. government denies it. Though what remains true is that SSSS is fully capable of working and potentially could be used to affect the entire nation through the recently constructed HAARP and GWEN towers.
Onto a more factual note, just the other day for my SM131 class I was reading a business textbook further insinuating the idea of television brainwashing. According to the textbook, Business and Society, by Archie Carroll, Jill Brown, and Ann Buchholtz, “More often than not the businessperson has been portrayed across the nation’s television screens as smirking, scheming, cheating, and conniving ‘bad guys.’ The Economist magazine summed it up nicely in its recent article in which it has declared that ‘businessmen are always the villains.’” Hollywood has made it clear they commonly demonize business people. If shows/movies like Law & Order, The Social Network, The Great Gatsby, Mad Men, Horrible Bosses, Criminal Minds, Empire, Billions, and Damages don’t convince you enough of this ideology, look at the Lego Movie that just came out… the villain is called President Business. Hollywood and its minion media portray corporations as solely profit-seeking enterprises that have no redeeming values when in fact, they do.
Warby Parker, for example, an eyewear company, partnered up with the non-profit VisionSpring to ensure that for every pair of glasses sold, a free pair would be distributed to someone in need. Patagonia, a clothing company, both inspires and implements solutions to the environmental crisis. On Black Friday, Patagonia donated 100% of their sales (a record-breaking $10 million) to grassroots organizations aiming to create a positive change in the world. Though, this positive information usually isn’t in the media; instead, it’s usually the dirty and deceiving face of business being portrayed. No wonder everyone calls Questrom kids snakes.
In no form am I saying one should boycott television forever, but perhaps it’s time to lessen its usage? Maybe go apple picking with your friends, spend a day at the beach and soak up some sun before winter draws near, sail across the Charles River, say hi to the person you’ve had a crush on in class because those moments are real and time is fleeting. Most notably, you’re creating experiences that ultimately create who you are. When watching television you’re just watching someone else’s life — and typically it’s a life that’s been idealized.