Folks, I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit and want you to think about it as well – money can be made and power gained when there is fear, uncertainty, doubt and division. Politicians, special interest groups, the media, entertainment — they all know this. There is a reason they all go into overdrive when something happens, or maybe even tehy manufacture – they can attract people and make money — often power as well. What I want you to always bear in mind is that these groups accumulate power and wealth by exploiting a division in society – not by healing, or solving, it.
| There is more money to be made exploiting fears and divisions in society than there is solving them unfortunately. |
Think about it – there is little incentive for many of these groups on either side of a debate to solve a problem. I could be talking about liberals vs. conservatives, pro-gun vs. anti-gun, pro-police vs. anti-police, vaccine vs. anti-vaxxers and so forth. In any of these examples, look at when something happens – one or both sides of the division immediately emails their constituents, goes to social media, publishes articles, releases a video or whatever. Let’s look at mass media, politicians and special interest groups as three prime examples of this.
Mass Media Loves To Sensationalize Fear
For mass media – their money comes largely from ad revenue and to some extent subscribers. Fear sells. These media outlets make money by having sensational/scary article headlines and stories to draw people in to make money. For example, a study led by Bruce Sacerdote of the National Bureau of Economic Research found that 87% of US COVID coverage in national media focused on the negative while international media was 51% and, interestingly 53% in regional media. [Here is a NY Times article about the study — a quick Google search can get you a lot more pieces if you want to see other opinions].
Media is a strange beast in general – they cover topics based on what will draw people in – especially their target market of readers – few outlets court everyone – think of the media outlets that are more conservative or more liberal for example. They know what attracts these people and what buttons to push. They make money based on ads and the more people who go to a web page because of a sensational title or a topic that worries them then the more money the media outlet will make.
By the way, with web pages, media executives knows who clicks on what, how long they spend reading a given article and how much of it they read plus any ads they click on. If a topic is popular, such as something exploiting fear and/or division, they write more about it and pump up the topic to get more viewers because this makes them more money. At some point people become numb or lose interest and the media outlet must move on to something else to make money. COVID, Toilet paper shortages, fear for the ketchup supply … the pattern happens over and over.
Politicians Love Divisions
Politicians love a divide. Exploiting an existing divide or opportunity to create a new divide is where they remind people why the politician is needed or even be viewed as thought leaders. This gives them publicity, power, and the ability to solicit donations both above and below the table not to mention books, speaking engagements and interviews that then further benefit the politician and the media outlet. In addition, there are occasions where exploiting a divide can serve as a diversionary tactic to draw peoples’ attention from other things where it is not wanted.
Special Interest Groups Know There Is Great Money To Be Made
Politicians, of course, need to be convinced and then gives rise to the special interest groups who want to do everything discussed above to get your money to fight for the cause. By the way, those special interest groups can draw in a ton of money and once they remove all of their management fees, only pennies on the dollar actually go to whatever cause they are aligned with.
Conclusion
Let me end the post here – you get the gist. Precious few people and organizations are altruistic driven by a sincere need to help people – I wish more were. Fear and division make a variety of people and organizations a ton of money and power. You’ll notice I did not name single out one group or take political sides – they all do it regardless of sides and some groups more than others.
I hope this post gives you something to consider. The burden is on you, unfortunately, to try and sift out what is real and what is not. Be very careful what you buy into, who you support and how much – the truth is out there so do some reading and decide for yourself – don’t let others decide for you.
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