STOP BITCHING AND START A REVOLUTION!
 by Betsy Chasse
My motto for the last couple of months has been “Stop Bitching and Start a Revolution!” (You might have seen our new t-shirts stating this!)
One of the things that triggered this has been the way the film has been treated by mainstream media since the U.S. - and now world-wide - release of the film. I find myself getting frustrated with the fact that most the press has treated this film with incredible hate and anger, with many “journalists” and “reviewers” spouting their own opinions (usually closed-minded ones) rather than attempting to print the facts.
I can understand their disagreeing with the content of the movie. But many have taken a sophomoric approach, attacking us for having the audacity to ponder the concepts of what is thought and reality – while they get stuck in their own limited world. They attack our scientists as not being credentialed. (Did they never hear of Einstein? What letters did he have behind his name? Oh yeah, he was just that nut job working as a patent clerk.) They attack us for misrepresenting the facts – yet they have misrepresented so many facts over and over again about us and the film. Historically when someone dares to ask questions outside the accepted paradigm they are shunned and called a heretic. But nowadays we don't have to burn people at the stake - we just hand them to the press!
Their autocratic attitudes make me I wonder what letters they have behind their names and what credentials they have that makes them authorities on virtually everything in the world - right down to what I should be reading, watching, eating etc. The press seems to have free rein on the facts, reporting them as they see fit – or how the person paying them sees fit. No one questions them when they get it wrong or twist things to other’s purposes. How did these people get so powerful?
I recently had the pleasure of seeing Robert Kennedy Jr. speak about his book, Crimes Against Nature. It’s a great book, and there is a whole chapter on the media and how they seem to have forgotten the once important oath about free and truthful press. For example, lately it’s been uncovered that reporters have been paid by members of the government to write puff pieces for them. Even National Public Radio (NPR) is under attack, with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting considering monitoring Middle East coverage on NPR news programs for evidence of “bias” and the content of other programs for “balance.”
What balance?! The media is all about sensationalism and misrepresentation now. But we can’t blame them – we eat it up – can’t seem to get enough. It’s not just the right or the left, it’s everywhere! The Democrats, the Republicans, the tree huggers, the fundamentalists – they all do it. And I have become so complacent that instead of holding myself and the people around me – including the press – accountable, I simply sit back and allow whatever misinformation to come in and permeate around me. Then I get my chemicals flowing and start my ranting.
But, what am I to do? Some people say “just ignore it” or “let them say what they want. It can only affect you if you let it.” But I’ve been doing “nothing,” turning the other cheek - and it doesn’t seem to be working. I just see how so many people are harmed by the misinformation and deprived, by accepting mainstream press opinions, from an opportunity to gain the knowledge so potentially helpful for their evolution.
Others say “get mad, write letters, get involved!” I’ve done that too. But sometimes the groups I get involved with become just as dogmatic as the person /organization I’m trying to stop. At the Kennedy event someone asked him “If everyone is corrupt – the government, the media – how can we effect change?” Kennedy said, “get involved.” But haven’t people been doing that for centuries?
And then it hit me. I can sit around and complain and rant to my friends about the media as much as I like - but the truth is, I’ve no one to blame but myself. I must have an unconscious, built-in acceptance for this. Or maybe I just want something to complain about. I’ve realized that for me to have a true shift in consciousness in myself and effect any change on social consciousness, I have to change the way I take in information – be aware where I get it from - and not be so complacent that I will believe anything someone says, writes, etc. I have to do my own research. And when someone else decides that sensationalism is more important than the facts, it’s up to me to set the record straight. If not, then I have nothing to say and no rights to complain about the situation.
So, I ask you - what do you think we should do to effect a real change? How do we begin to bring integrity and honor back to our civilization and accountability to our media? I guess I have to start with myself. But what else? I am eager to hear your thoughts.
- Betsy C
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