Sol's Culture Wars

It's likely you've never heard of the company, they try hard to stay out of the media limelight. It's likely you may have a dim knowledge of their scope, their controlling assets, their power. But there are certain details very few folks know about BlackRock, inc.  They are the largest investment company in the world, with nearly ten TRILLION dollars in assets under their management. Right, that's not a typo. For perspective, economic analysts estimate there is about forty trillion dollars in total global assets under active management. Thru their IShares and Vanguard groups of funds, and a myriad of other interests, BlackRock manages a quarter of the world's total wealth. How is this even possible?  Not just possible, it's today's reality. Imagine the clout, influence, priority-- plug in whatever advantage you like-- such a behemoth company flexes. Imagine how much political power wealth on this level must command. Imagine the global reach of a company that...

Networks. They're insidious, nearly all. When grossly opinionated, narrative driven CNN captions dopey prefaces to its features with terms like "Analysis", "Investigates", "Fact-checks", "Key takeaways", and other artful terms, this is just more "Opinion" by a wink-nod different name. Don't get duped. Nothing factual about opinion, it's just someone's subjective view.  CNN's almost comical attempts to appear fair and balanced are just disingenuous gestures at best. Networks have agendas, institutional, financial, and most definitely political. So, what about the other side, FOX News? I don't watch that network with any trust either, same partisan biases.

Here, I take a closer look at three potential characteristics of human expression: spontaneity, transparency, and candor. Also, how exactly is our practically rabid media culture an influencer on how we communicate?  It's only too obvious that we're now in a cultural age that applauds surprise. Being spontaneous, in the moment, expressing without filter or forethought sells as a trait. Folks like to be shocked or startled by cleverness and the unexpected, both in words and deeds. For many, personal transparency is more a daily state of being, a built-in style of interacting with everyone. While some folks are not transparent at all, or they feel it's not a good choice, as our media culture emboldens the notion of revealing all in public. Yet, media platforms and their secret corporate schemes defy transparency. Influential media wants everyone else to "tell all", but preserves their strategy to employ narratives and programmed misdirection.  Candor in the public s...