For many of the empires throughout history the measure of their power came through expansion. Covering vast distances was the reflection of their power, claiming land and stretching over the globe. At their heights, they bragged that the sun could not set on their empire. In modern times there are few traces of them left. The control and the power have had to adapt. Land area is no longer the measure of control. For that we turn to manipulation of the people. The empires have changed their tactic. They do not spread wide, they spread deep, infiltrating every area of an individual’s life. And the method by which they do this is simple. They control our national attention.
The mainstream media has had a near-monopoly on national attention for some time and it uses misdirection as its source of control. For example, the most recent controversy has been the suspicious death of Jeffrey Epstein, a death which was overshadowed by a very convenient news cycle covering Greta Thunberg’s crusade against climate change. By turning the national attention toward Greta, the mainstream media effectively made us to forget Epstein almost entirely. Though his story was important – a corrupt international network of pedophiles who are in control of the country seems important – the parade of news outlets focused on Greta and her empty pleas for action on climate change. The public has been manipulated to change topics every few weeks so that no real effort can be placed anywhere.
There have been several cases of shootings taking place following large political scandals. I am not suggesting the government sends these shooters to commit these atrocious acts but I am suggesting that the mass media takes advantage of these crises in order to shift public attention from their mistakes to something which is meant to distract. The violence of a shooting is immediately threatening and of the utmost importance to many. The shift of attention feels natural in these cases, not to be questioned. The origins of these stories are not to be questioned and they disappear as quickly. Our national attention changes so much and so often that we cannot move forward. We have been programmed to waste the majority of our efforts in communicating simple stories because, more often than not, the intrigue has already faded on important stories and has been hurried on to the next scandal. If we cannot focus then we cannot achieve anything. This has been purposeful.
A populace who spends themselves in worry and concerns cannot spend themselves in action. They cannot even spend themselves in reaction, as the news cycle is rushed along too quickly for them to process and interpret all this information. It is designed to rile us up enough to have us talking tirelessly of it and it is quick enough to move to the next topic before we can communicate a solution and act toward a resolution. The smokescreen this causes is helpful to a government who does not want its people free enough to take real, tangible actions. And our actions would most often be against the government, if we ended up following the trail of breadcrumbs back to the cause. The news cycle, scandalizing even the most petty and unwarranted of stories, muddies the waters which otherwise would expose corrupt government actions and political scandal which are far too common.
Our attention spans do not only prevent us from remembering political scandal. It also has us forgetting our present conditions. Taxes are forgettable and that is why they are dangerous. Government actions are minute and forgettable and that is why they are dangerous. We are moved in small increments toward the government's total control. These increments are small and insignificant. If the government confessed its final aims, we would have no choice but to rebel. As long as it is made comfortable, it can be forgettable.
We must learn to hold those responsible accountable for their actions. We must not be distracted by the next popularized scandal. We must not allow them to lead us around in circles, forgetting what was important in exchange for the momentary controversy. Remember the things they do not want you to remember. Hold yourself accountable for remembering what has happened and do not let yourself be led by your fickle attention. The national attention span must not be controlled so easily. To rise above this influence, we must remember. Remember what is truly important and remember that we can do something about it.