You say you're a good person, but do you really care?

I am a deeply passionate person when it comes to trying to end cruelty against animals. Animals do not have the option to voice their own opinion, at least not in words humans can understand. I do not think it is OK to murder an innocent living animal for either food or fashion.

Hundreds of years ago, people went hunting to feed their families. What they caught they ate, and they used all of the animal to best suit their needs. I’m not saying this is acceptable, however I do think it used to be a little more humane than it has evolved to today.

Companies mass produce animals for the strict purpose of being murdered. Not only do they kill but they do it in the most inhumane ways. They do not care for their animals, and they do not feel any compassion toward them. They treat animals as a piece of property. Much like the history of slavery, animals have become the new outlet for neglect and abuse.

There is no reason to murder animals at all. People believe they need animal meat and by products to survive. The reality is if companies were to stop the mass producing and murder, the overall health of the population would actually improve. With all the knowledge we have on health and nutrition, millions of people have proved that humans do not need to rely on animal meat or by products to survive. So why are we still killing for food? The answer is simple; humans are selfish creatures who care for nothing and no one but themselves.

Participate by separate.

I used to be against the use of facebook and held off getting it for over a year, after most of my friends had it. Even with the constant remarks about how awesome facebook is, and how I should get it, I knew it really wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Before I got it, from what I heard, I found it to be a creepy communication device that connected and informed you of people’s lives you either did not know or things you have no interest in knowing. I also thought that if I did get it, I would be just as addicted as my friends seemed to be, and I just wasn’t into that. Eventually, I gave in and started to connect with this online world I was not used to.

Now, nearly everyday I log into Facebook to check the latest updates in my friends’ lives or to be an update in someone’s life. It allows me to leave a comment to a friend, browse their pictures, and further invade their online personal life. Facebook’s many applications are also available to keep users occupied when they have little else to do, or when their procrastination skills kick in; as mine often do. An application I used to frequent was the Bumper Sticker Application. The tiny yet sometimes amusing pictures with witty captions used to hold my attention for much longer than I had planned.

Facebook has recently become one of the things I rely on for communication as I have moved away from home, and my cell phone charger is no where to be found. It is easy to stay in contact with my best friends who have gone to different schools, with my sister who I no longer get to see very often, and arrange get-togethers with people closer to me. Sometimes facebook can be a good thing, but most of the time I find it to be a waste of the time that could be better spent doing things elsewhere.

I find even though Facebook has become a main device for helping me keep in contact with friends, i feel its disconnecting me from the rest of the world. Its use has been overused.

Fight the urge to belong.

A popular example of culture jamming is the movie Fight Club.

Fight club aims to point the finger at major corporations as the downfall of the current culture. Its message is to prove that growing consumption is resulting in the degrading of not only people with little amounts of money, but also on our ability to decide for ourselves for those of us with some money to spend. The consumer world is not only stealing our money but our intellect as well. It shows how we are oblivious to ourselves as consumers. We do not understand the power of our purchase, and the responsibility we have to stay informed consumers.

Right now my wall is plastered in newspapers, many of them littered with advertisements. Even when I try to escape to a place of relaxation and comfort, I am constantly surrounded by marketplace competitors. Now, I know I could take down these papers and throw this argument in the trash, but I shouldn’t have to. Newspaper were set to inform, not persuade.

The papers are there for a reason completely unrelated to this topic, however, it also may help to wane the effect advertisements have, at least on me. We are constantly bombarded with advertisements of products or lifestyles everyday. I hope that by bringing them into a place I recognize as a relaxing atmosphere, hopefully I will breakdown the effect the adds have on me. Either I will want to purchase the product as many people often do, or I will become sick of seeing the image, as I often do; this will make it highly unlikely for me to purchase what they are selling. I’m hoping this will help to desensitize me to the effect of the corporate world.

Fight club’s idea was to bring down the major corporations that seem to be running the world, making it again possible for people to think for themselves without worrying about debt and which company owned them.

We will never actually be free from these companies as in fight club, but we can become more aware of the hold they have on us.

Major corporations are only clever pickpocketers.

"we are spray-painting the Invisible Man in order to make him visible again" - Toxic Sludge is Good for You.

We are oblivious to the way public relations and major corporations function as gatekeepers to our bank accounts and our basic ways of thinking and interpreting the world around us. The Public Relations representatives serve as invisible men leading us to make decisions that aren't our own, or aren't those of our best judgment.

Wake up to the world of reality. We are brainwashed pieces of machinery, operated by major corporations looking for money. We want what we do not need, and need what we do not want. This in turn has made North America unhealthy physically, mentally, and emotionally. We are becoming commercial androids set out to buy anything and everything we do not need for any purpose but to satisfy our needs.

We are programed to think that we need what we want, and not want what we need. As much as we try to deny the impact commercials have on us, with variations of the slogan: BUY! BUY! BUY! in our faces everyday, we eventually give in and spend money on frivolous things that will be of no use to us in one year’s time, sometimes even a week’s time.

We are asleep to our own discretion and free thought. It takes serious self control and self management to not feel the pull advertisements have. Most major companies already have their hands in our pockets, we just help return them full.

November 28^th 2009 is a day where we are encouraged to spend no money at all. No shopping, no quick coffees, no gas, no candy, no haircuts. Spend NOTHING. Take a day to think about all the money you spend on inessential items daily. Add up the total for a week, a month, a year. Then think about how many people don’t have the option to buy even the necessities life demands.

Be aware of the commercial world around you.

If the cliche ‘money makes the world go round’ is correct, does that make money god? Is that why we aspire to be and idolize people with fortune?

Rampton, Sheldon, and John Stauber. Toxic Sludge is Good For You: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry. Monroe: Common Courage Press, 1995. Print.

Determining who can use what belongs to everyone.

The internet is a public domain controlled by the private interests of companies who claim to own the public online world, therefore being able to charge money for access to its’ networks.

Net neutrality was designed to help eliminate any conflict between service providers and the accessibility of other networks. However, there are still many problems with accessing the internet and the availability of some content. There are issues connected to not only the service providers allowing access to certain content, but also with the copyright laws attached to the uploaded content. With net neutrality, everyone is supposed to have to same ability to access the same content on webpages, and file share at their own will. The only problem with this is that people are trying to access sites that may need to be additionally paid for or they are sharing files that are protected by copyright laws.

Public and private interests are being controlled and censored by both copyright holders, and the service providers. There is no longer freedom of the internet. It is owned and controlled by those who had no part in making, but those who can dish out the most money to reserve the rights to distribute it. There are now limitations of freedoms to make and post what you desire. You have to watch out for either copyright laws searching to make their next buck, or service providers looking to empty out your wallet in order for you to have the rights to access the information everyone should have the freedom to know.

It is unknown to me why it is OK to tape a television show and watch it as many times over as desired, however, when you try to access the same show online, it is either nowhere to be found or you must pay to view it. The internet is controlling freedoms we used to have.

The internet as part of our culture had been adapted into a necessity of daily life. We used to think we were able to explore and find information at will, however, walls and barriers have been put up within the networks and what used to be free culture, or so we thought, is indeed not free at all but chaperoned.

What is real is fake. What is fake is real.

The Rick Mercer Report is a show that can be considered fake news. It has clips of real news, adding a punch line on the end. It also runs down the week’s events in politics and then either points out where political parties went wrong, or makes fun of them in some other form of comedy. The show also creates fake sketches which air some times as commercials (like mad TV), or they recreate actual scenes, but add their own comical spin to make a serious situation/ event seem humorous.
It is important to have shows like these around to remind people that news, no matter how heavy it is, can be seen in a different light. Life can be comical, it just depends how you look at it.
Also like John Berger’s Ways of Seeing, how something is portrayed depends on the way we will see it for ourselves. Depending on the way we see it, what is real can be fake, what is fake can be real.

To do or not to do; is there really any question?

Cognitive Dissonance
This is the feeling of uncomfortable tension which comes from holding two conflicting thoughts in the mind at the same time.
Dissonance is often strong when we believe something about ourselves and then do something against that belief. If I believe I am good but do something bad, then the discomfort I feel as a result is cognitive dissonance.
Cognitive dissonance is a very powerful motivator which will often lead us to change one or other of the conflicting belief or action. The discomfort often feels like a tension between the two opposing thoughts.
- Changing minds and persuasion

The media creates cognitive dissonance every day. Whether it is television commercials persuading us to buy a Tim Horton's donut when we know we really shouldn’t be eating it because it is bad for us, or a magazine article listing the facts about how recycling is positive but then you go and throw your water bottle in the garbage. The media is present in every decision we make, consciously or subconsciously, it is creating dissonance whether we like it or not. However, the way we decide to act is up to us. Referring to John Berger’s “The Ways of Seeing”, we can make different assumptions about what is good and what is bad by the way we perceive something to be.


Works cited

"Cognitive Dissonance." Changing minds and persuasion -- How we change what others think, believe, feel and do. 13 Oct. 2009 .

Got Healthy?

Women with mustaches? Very attractive. The next time you see an advertisement for milk companies keep in mind the next bit of information:
I recently read a book that helped me to justify why consuming meat, dairy, and animal byproducts are harmful in ways not only directly linked to animal cruelty, but also to human health problems.
Facts:
- “Dairy products have been linked to acne, anemia, anxiety, arthritis, ADD, ADHD, fibromyalgia, headaches, heartburn, indigestion, irritable bowel syndrome, joint pain, osteoporosis, poor immune function, allergies, ear infections, colic, obesity, heart disease, diabetes, autism, Crohn’s disease, breast and prostate cancers, and ovarian cancer” (Freedman. 58-59).
- “Not one study found dairy to be a deterrent to osteoporosis” (Freedman. 58)
- “Dietitians and nutritionists are cheerleaders for the dairy industry” (Freedman 59). They get paid to tell you dairy is good for you without revealing all the facts.
- “Most doctors know nothing about nutrition… doctors receive less than three hours of nutritional training in medical school” (Freedman. 60).
- “Dioxin, one of the most toxic substances in the world, is often found in dairy products” (Freedman 60).
- “Contrary to popular belief, they [cows] do not need to be milked-ever.” (Freedman. 56)
- “Cows milk, by design, grows a 90-pound calf into a 2,000-pound cow over the course of two years. It allows calves to double their birth weight in forty-seven days and leaves their four stomachs feeling full. (Freedman. 56)
- Why cows milk not an elephant, zebra, or gorilla? “Using the animal that produces the largest quantity of milk but is more easily housed than an elephant means more money for farmers. It has nothing to do with health or nutrition” (Freedman. 57)
- “Consuming high amounts of dairy blocks iron absorption, contributing to iron deficiency” (Freedman. 61)
(For all these interesting facts, and dozens more, pick up a copy of Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. I promise you won’t be disappointed.)

These advertisements make drinking cow’s milk “sexy, attractive, and alluring” when in reality there is nothing attractive about it.
“The dairy industry spends hundreds of millions of dollars every year to market their products. Average consumers don’t spend their time perusing medical journals, but they do read magazines and watch television.” (Freedman. 59)

"The business of the advertiser is to see that we go about our business with some magic spell or tune or slogan throbbing quietly in the background of our minds" - Marshal McLuhan
As my last blog stated: QUESTION EVERYTHING!

Works Cited

Barnouin, Kim, and Rory Freedman. Skinny Bitch. Foster City, CA: Running Press Book Publishers, 2005.

"Marshall McLuhan Quotes." Famous Quotes and Quotations at BrainyQuote. 13 Oct. 2009 .

Question Everything.

Media is the various vehicles that deliver information to people. Mass media therefore must then refer to various vehicles that deliver information to large audiences.
Since the mass media send information to large amounts of people, a large amount of people know or have heard the same thing. Does this make information legitimate or true?
My grade 11 media studies teacher continually taught us to always “Ask Why.” For any given situation, story, or everyday life encounters, a staple 2 words were drilled into our heads: “Question Everything!”
I did not even begin to grasp what he was talking about until near the end of the semester. Throughout the course he used to tell us particularly out of the ordinary stories every couple of days; and he was the type of character you would never know if he was lying or telling us the truth. Near the end of the semester he told us to think of all the things we might question within the classroom. He then reminded us to “question everything”. Later on he told us he had never told a story in class that was 100% true, however, since none of us thought to question the teacher, we all went on believing every word he ever said. He told us not even half of his stories were true. Suddenly the whole year came together; and I started to “question everything.”
So although the mass media may affect the largest amount of people, it does not mean the majority is always right. If you question everything, you will find the answers you weren’t looking for.

Operator. Operator?

“Human beings live in two different kinds of environments. One is the natural environment and consists of things like air, trees, rivers, and caterpillars. The other is the media environment, which consists of language, numbers, images, holograms, and all of the other symbols, techniques, and machinery that make us what we are” –Neil Postman.
When the media environment collides with the natural environment it creates the environment we call technology. Technology is no more than the extension of our natural abilities.
The extension of the ear by the telephone has impacted how our culture has grown and is able to communicate with other cultures around the globe. I personally think the telephone was a great invention, however, what has developed as a result of trying to improve the telephone’s technology may not be so great.
The cell phone is a recent development to the technological world, branching off from the traditional telephone. Many people think technology is a wonderful thing and is improving our world every day, however, not all technology is good technology. Texting on cell phones has degraded our ability for communication face to face.
I will admit if it weren’t for texting I may never speak to some people. I am the type of person who relies on texting rather than a phone call as form of communication. This in turn has broken down my ability to communicate verbally. I get nervous and anxious when speaking with people.
The telephone’s purpose was to increase communication. However, the cell phone that was invented as an extension of the telephone is functioning as a tool to lessen the need for verbal communication.

Work Cited

Postman, Neil . "The Humanism of Media Ecology :: MEA Proceedings." The Media Ecology Association. 12 Oct. 2009 .

Contributor to the online forces.

If you have a working internet connection, one or more fingers, and a functional brain, you are blog worthy. Blogs are no less than people’s personal feelings regarding the planet, how it functions, and the people that walk it.
Setting up a blog for me is probably the closest I will ever come to actually sharing a personal opinion with anyone. Ironically, being published over the internet, my personal thoughts are being shared with over one million people worldwide. I tried to figure this out and asked myself: Why do I feel more comfortable sharing with over one million people rather than just a select few face to face? I’ve managed to come to the conclusion that I am an introvert because I am always too afraid to share what I have to say for the fear of being judged, of my words being wrong, sounding stupid, or just unimportant. Blogging allows for faceless opinions, without staring at judgmental eyes.
Setting up a blog allows me to read and reread my points carefully, choosing just the right wording, and publishing when I am satisfied with the choices I’ve made.
For me, blogging is my contribution to the public sphere. Blogging reminds me that everyone does have an opinion, whether they are conflicting or not, everyone is entitled to their opinion, even me.