Ancient Greek pottery depicting Hoplite Phalanx battle in hand to hand combat.
Sad. Simply sad. The way we are going as a country. I’m personally sorry for bringing it up but theer’s little relief to living life and trying to understand what is happening. How quickly things are changing.
Drivers seem dangerous, flying over lines and running stop signs. People in business feeling slighted and lashing out with little cause. Unhappiness reigns. Being the winner and on top seems to be the only acceptable choice. Win. No cost too high. But why? Emotions running very high. Deep divisions in our countys’s ideology.
As we fall deeper into disfunction, it’s worth pointing to the facts that we are in a cyber war.
We listen to media on tv. Who’s on Facebook, tik tok? There are other platforms that may affect you, too. Twitter. Truth Social. Then there’s 4chan, 8chan now called 8kun, you may belong to those, but I doubt it. There are many facets to the attack we are under and these platforms all have their way of being in your every conversation, the photos, the shopping and connecting with friends. There is disinformation present we are aware and are careful of the well crafted untruths which are a mix of lies and enough truth laced in to make it all seem fine. National news next to the wedding photos and new baby, so convenient. It, the influencers and the influence is everywhere.
You’re induced to try huaraches from Peru and a shower cap that never comes. You bite but get bitten back just a little. For some it’s their predilection to be something. Do something. Be part of something that get themselves in the chatrooms discussing and thinking and planning. 8chan was brought down and renamed (a little like Facebook did) now 8kun that is run from Russia. It’s been shuttered and opened again and is likely the nest of dissatisfied humans bent on destruction of everything. It is extremest, it is hateful and it is running quite well spreading white supremacy and is connected to mass shootings without question.
Shutting these sites are near to impossible as is managing what is referred to as the dark web. The internet is a truly non existent place that we call can access with a device. The Dark Web exists in the same way but the device you need to get there is modified or simply different. It’s easy to think about it like a radio. If you have an AM radio you get AM just great but, you can’t hear FM stations.
What we are living through is in part due to an unregulated internet. Young, unstable people, people who have a bent towards criminality or simply looking to belong are easy targets to manage, befriend, and control. How else do you get people to be transported like so many cattle in a U-Haul? Then there are folks that would like to see things go wrong for the democratic life we have enjoyed for so long. They are there too.
Can’t seem to talk about things going wrong, without mentioning guns. Specifically assault weapons of terrible destruction. They are bad and with some time and perseverance, they will be severely regulated or gone. One can dream, however, I’d like to see the dark web and guns both be regulated for the same reason as they are two parts of the same dastardly plan. Sell guns to everyone. Target everyone with an extra dose of “white supremacy” and a dash of “you will never have a life” with a push towards the “blaze of glory” if only you were brave enough. Send it out to the tens of thousands, in secret, and see which little fishy bites, but, only when you think it’s the right time. Like a holiday or before an election. Sounds paranoid. So does so much we have lived through and have assimilated. Election fraud, rampant lies about covid, the unfolding multifaceted January 6th coup plans. Is it so impossible to think that “OldGeezer 89” is Russian operative pretending to be a bar tender in Michigan?
Cyber war. Sounds like super heroes duking it out. Batman - kapow! Robin- “Take that!”. Cyber by definition is a culture of computers, a virtual reality, but, the actors are quite real and we can see they are no heroes.