To stand shoulder to shoulder with my countrymen against the injustices of the world, were thoughts of a little boy who was raised to put his hand over his heart for the flag; that the differences of liberals and conservatives would be put aside for the greater good, when the time came. Was it naivety of a young boy, or did times really change? A pessimist, or a person with poor memory diluted by heavy use of social media might say that it had always been so – but if that were true, why do the enemies of the United States work so hard to divide us?

A U.S. Grand Jury Indicted the “Internet Research Agency," a Russian " troll farm” of many thousands of cell phones and fake U.S. profiles which made conservative internet pages and liberal groups, to share memes and opinions which would incite division, and “to provoke and amplify political and social discord in the United States.” That was recent, whereas back in the 1980s, KGB Archivist Vasili Mitrokhin – who was stationed at the KGB headquarters in Moscow – smuggled vast amounts of confidential Soviet data, some of which pointed to KGB operations whose goal was to incite racial tensions between black and white Americans.

The soviet journalist Yuri Bezmenov studied at the Institute of Oriental languages in Moscow, where many of his peers went on to supposedly become spies. He worked in-tandem with the KGB to spread propaganda and disinformation for many years. After his defection he said to interviewer Edward Griffin,

“The main emphasis of the KGB is not in the area of intelligence at all. Only about 15% of the time, money and manpower is spent on espionage and such the other 85 percent is a slow process which we call either ideological subversion or active measures… or psychological warfare.”

The Soviet Subversion Model was studied at the Joint Special Operations University in the United States. Part of such a model’s intent is to shift cultural values over long periods of time, so that people don’t even realize they believe in something that is counter to what they used to.

Like how the conservatives used to so strongly believe in freedom of speech for everyone – damn the consequences. But then we have a conservative government who is prosecuting people for saying negative, and even horrible things about Conservative Commentator Charlie Kirk. But it is not just them. Just the other day I spoke with a girl that I used to mentor at a past job. She was so bright, and so intelligent, and then she went off to college. In our discussion, differences in male and female movies preferences came up and then with some venom, she said nearly to the word:

“Most men are horrible, awful people.”

I challenged that, and she doubled down on just how repugnant “most” men are.

“And there aren’t many bad women too?" I questioned back.

"Oh of course there are many bad women, but there are more bad men who are worse to a heavier degree.”

These not well reasoned opinions weren't those she held years ago, before she went off to college.  Not when she had multiple good brothers and a good father.

And when working with children and their fathers come to pick them up, I see man after man who has just got off of a long day at work; many are quiet and patient and are polite. Many who hug their children with smiles. And when I go out to write in coffee shops, I don’t see men lasciviously staring down women or shouting loudly and crudely. That isn't to say awful men don't exist, but the places where the worst of male can be seen is social media, where Russian and Chinese bot farms re-share the worst videos from a white man, or a black man, or a “karen" from this political designation or the other. The words of Politicians are often taken out of context and then poorly researched articles have ‘clickbait’ headlines.

No, it is my assertion that political, and social division in the United States is greater than it ever was when I was a child. The Thales Group asserts that over 32% of all internet traffic is made of malicious traffic or, ‘bad bots’. That means on average, every third meme (or video) that you see was created (or re-shared) to shift your opinion, or the opinion of your children. To reinforce the stereotype of the ‘fat, mean conservative’ from the Bible Belt, or the ‘drug addled, purple haired liberal’ from Portland, Oregon.

Furthermore, with German Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s assertion that “stupidity” is a social disease, in part brought about by social pressure which shifts a person’s beliefs subconsciously – so that they, the recipient, may not be ostracized by their culture group – brings us back to just how depraved social media and doom scrolling is. Not only do you risk losing your attention span by scrolling down Facebook feeds, or YouTube shorts, but you also risk the health and soundness of your own thoughts, and those of your children.

Would not an image flickering a thousand times before your face, put that ‘still’ in your mind? Or ten thousand? How about a song, played on repeat?

“Not me!” Claimed the conservative, thumbing his chest in pride, while he forgot that his neighbor next to him, born under the same American flag with the same soil of Lady Liberty between his toes as was with his liberal neighbor. ‘Freedom of Speech” is nailed to his kitchen wall like those dumb ‘live laugh love’ signs you get at Hobby Lobby, all the while he scrolls through Facebook, mindlessly burning away hours of what is left of his evening as the enemies of  his country put every third meme or video or comment in front of him to slightly, post by post, shift his opinion so that he starts believing “freedom of speech" means not for everyone – just for him. 

And the liberal, who forgot that her father, and brothers, are also included in their sweeping generalizations of “most men are horrible." Is ‘most men’ just over half? Or, if there were two brothers and a father, is that one third? That the time they too spend being socially pressured and conditioned by every third image or post with their nose down on Instagram, fail to look up and see many men around them just trying to live their lives?

For how many of you, Dear Reader, who will read this and nod your head at the idea that your neighbor, or that guy you hate at work is being slowly brainwashed to hold different cultural values than they did ten years ago, by negative or positive reinforcement from a malicious government?

I never write for those who won't read or listen. There is a war against true information and values that Americans are losing, and fixing it starts with you: what you allow your children to do and see, and what you allow yourself to do and see.

In around the year 100 A.D., stoic philosopher Epictetus said, record in Discourses 2.23.18:

“You become what you give your attention to. If you yourself don’t choose what thoughts and images you expose yourself to, someone else will.”

Austin Petak is an aspiring novelist and freelance journalist who loves seeking stories and the quiet passions of the soul. If you are interested in reaching out to him to cover a story, you may find him at austinpetak@gmail.com.

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