Our True Religion: Capitalism... As our Attention Spans Shrink, the Attention Economy Thrives on Your Distraction
The Real Religion of the U.S. - Capitalism
From increasingly younger ages, we are programmed to consume. More, more, more... faster, faster, faster! Money is our god. We are obsessed with ourselves and social media is the vehicle for self affirmations. It drives our attention spans into the ground and is constantly fighting for every second of it.
Just Keep Swimming
We are swimming in a sea of information, and the scarcest resource is attention. Abundance of information leads to scarcity of attention, the management of which is now the single most important determinant of Present Day success - welcome to the Attention Economy.
We consume content at an increasingly alarming rate. Many of us use multiple content sources at a time. We're watching TV and on our phones.. or worse, talking to someone and checking our phones.
When will we stop referring to them as cell phones? They are pocket computers that are glued to our hands. The average Millenial checks their phones over 150 times a day.
We are addicted and enslaved to our phones. Many of us no longer know our own minds.
Toxic Social Media
Major Social Media companies use our data for their profit. Facebook shows zero concern for privacy, and has repeatedly shown they will do practically anything to keep you "engaged". Facebook is toxic, don't continue to be their product.
Or Snapchat.. it's hard to tell what's an ad from an actual snapchat you received from someone. Also, they are cataloguing all of the geographic data from our phones and selling them to the highest bidders.
If you're as fed up as I am about being capitalism's bitch, be the change you wish to see and convert your friends & family to decentralized social media platforms like Steemit or dTube.
And It's Not Just Social Media, it's Across Multiple Media Platforms.
The media wolves will do anything and everything they can to obtain one more minute of your time via the attention economy. Reporting on issues that are oftentimes purely divisive.
When it comes to the news, it oftentimes feels like fact is blurred with fiction.
Corrupt leaders fuel racism, xenophobia, civil rights, and policies that have proven to fail us, like the war on drugs(too much has been spent and too many lives have been lost.) However.. what do all of these divisive issues have in common? Money. The Money Hungry elite continue to stuff their pockets with as much money they can.. the military industrial complex, Mass Incarceration(New Jim Crow), etc.
As we continue to fight amongst ourselves, the rich get richer. Pure, unregulated capitalism mixed with social media is destroying us. Peeling back one layer of democracy and freedom at a time.
We have been pitted against one another on issues that seem to stand the test of time. Black vs. White, Left vs. Right etc.. and unfortunately, there's no money in peace. We continue to sell our safety to corrupt leaders who use technology against us, keeping us in a constant state of fear.
Social media feeds are filled with news that promotes this constant state of fear. Because fear is a limiting factor.
With technology as our catalyst, we are being catapulted further into the information age. Technology is simply a tool, but we need to start re-evaluating the way it is being utilized in society. Will we let the elite continue to herd us, or will we use it to create our own destiny?
This attention economy naturally extended onto the internet, and now it has quantized our souls as patterns of buying, viewing, and reacting. It's downright demonic if you think about it, a system designed to transmute conscious awareness into trinkets so that rich sociopaths may lord over the rest.
Call to Action
Understand that in order to get attention one has to give attention. Don't get me wrong, I love technology just as much as anyone else.. but there has to be a balance. Stay present, stay conscious. Be the ever-alert guardian of your inner space. Don't be the Elite's product.
I think we need to figure out what society we want first. The future we want. And then figure out the technology and tools to use to help get us there. Because if we’re a tool-making, tool-using species that uses technology to solve human problems, then the real question is this: what problems shall we solve?
Thanks for reading! Would love to continue this discussion in the comments
You make good points. Frankly, I agree with a lot of them. But it's a hard thing 'not to be the Elite's product.' They designed the system, and they made it so that it's increasingly more difficult to operate outside it.
That's why people are aggressively flocking to the crypto space with such fervor. For the first time there's an alternative, a way out. But if we are not careful, this too will become a trap.
"But if we are not careful, this too will become a trap." You are exactly right. It's as if a battle is going on between good vs. evil and it's reaching a critical point.
"They designed the system". You do know it's just normal people that build businesses right? There is no "Elite". New people are getting rich all the time. People at the top are changing on a yearly basis. We have more free time than ever before. There is no trap we have it better than ever before.
That's highly optimistic. New people are getting 'rich' all the time, but they are just 'rich' compared to the average person.
The real 'Elite' are people we haven't even heard of - why make their appearance public? Dig deep into the Federal Reserve and who controls the money supply.
Again it's still flawed. People are being more empowered for everyday that goes. Money is becoming abundant so it will eventually be pointless. It won't give you an edge in the new economy since you have the power with all the powerful technology we give to humans.
And no not just the average person. We have more billionaires all the time coming in! There is no real elite even massive companies are being disrupted all the time. And now with the Blockchain even the massive "behind the scenes" bank guys are being disrupted by geeks.
Anyone pulling your strings? Are you locked in a cage? No you are a free person and can go do whatever you want. Go build a business or whatever. Never in history has it been so easy as it is right now to start something.
I don't know where you live, but money isn't flowing abundantly to anyone and everyone who wants it... Technology is powerful, but it's not 100% fair and equitable.
Yes, everyone has the free will to start their own business/venture, but not when they are born into lower socioeconomic statuses that disenfranchise them from the start. Just because it's possible doesn't mean it's simple or financially feasible.
If you look at technology progress then you could clearly see we are moving towards abundance for all. Zoom out a little and you will see it very clear. Everyday you could see that it's getting closer. Because of technology becoming cheaper. Yes clearly you still need to work and be humble and smart. But it's getting easier all the time.
Babysit the whole world is not what we should focus on. Focus on building successful companies first then we could start to consider larger ideas. But most should start with building their own company first. And yes it's easier today than it was yesterday. Since technology is always making our life easier.
Long gone are the days when 'Me and Mrs Jones' have a 'thing'
going on. Now it's a toxic media attention deficit scam
Like Pawns in a Chess match
This is a thoroughly brilliant post. I'm only sorry that I seem to have discovered it just after the upvoting rewards period for it ended, since I can't get the platform to record my upvote.
I won't even try to highlight any of what you've said, because it is all brilliant. Thank you for this article. I look forward to discussing these ideas with you more in the future.
Haha no worries, thank you so much! I'm glad it resonated with you and would love to further discuss some of these ideas in the future. All the best
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