There seems to be a disconnect between Americans and their brains, or to be more accurate, their incentive to actually use their brains to think for themselves rather than being told what to think.
While we could cite dozens of examples proving this, and we do encourage readers to feel free to list their own observations below in the comment section (should be interesting to see what everyone notices!) we will highlight a specific example here to get the conversation started.
DISTRUST OF MAINSTREAM MEDIA
Trust in media, according to Gallup, "remains at historical lows," with 60 percent of the Americans surveyed distruting the mainstream media, re: Newspapers and Television, meaning only 40 percent respondents have trust in the media. That number is halved for a "great deal" of trust, with 20 percent listed at "fair amount."
So, we have over half the country, if these samples are representative, that have "some, very little or no" trust in the media, yet we continue to see people quoting the "MSM" as their gospel on issues where they willingly want to be deceived.
For example, the economy.
Each and every expert Alternative Media has quoted telling us that the economy is ready to crash, that the global economy is in the same condition, has just been validated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) global stability report, as was pointed out at ANP on Friday.
Yet over the last year, the mainstream media and sites like The Economist, continue to tout a so-called "recovery." We see the Washington narritive, pushed by the MSM, used in discussions around the web, sometimes by the very people that have no trust in the MSM!
According to the latest Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) report, produced in 2014 but only fully updated through 2011, the percentage of Americans on welfare is at a record high. They used "three means-tested cash and nutritional assistance programs: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Food Stamps, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI)."
The United States Census Bureau is a little more up to date on their poverty figures and are showing the actual numbers for 2014, which once again are at record breaking levels with 46.7 million people in poverty, listing the nation’s official poverty rate in 2014 at 14.8 percent.
As ZeroHedge reported in September, "The people living in extreme poverty, i.e. below 50% of the poverty minimum, also rose to an all time high of 20.8 million."
So, I ask those still willing to utilize their brains, does this sound like a "recovery" to you?
Perhaps the more important question here would why do the people that claim they don't trust the media actually use their "recovery" talking points?
Critics would point out that just as the MSM puts their "spin" on the news, so does Alternative Media..... I agree. The difference as I see it, is most of Alternative Media provide source links to the original data, as shown above, so that readers can click the links, make their own determinations and then decide for themselves whether they agree or disagree with the conclusions. Rarely will you see the MSM point you to the original data rather than just deciding what they feel a reader/viewer should focus on and find important. Another difference is Alternative Media or Independent Journalism asks questions, asks readers to think rather than just accepting our opinions.
I'm reminded of a statement made by retiring journlist Bob Schiffer where he admitted that MSM journalists believe their job is to "tell people what we think is relevant and what they need to know."
His exact quote, video below, is "We now don’t know where people get their news, but what we do know is they’re bombarded with information 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Most of the information is wrong and some of it is wrong on purpose. It is our job, I think, in mainstream journalism to try to cut through this mall of information and tell people what we think is relevant and what they need to know. That is the job of the journalist and I have to say it’s harder and harder."
Alternative Media, like ANP, believe the exact opposite, it isn't our job to determine what is and is not relevant, we believe our job is to bring all the information to readers, provide links to the original sources, embed documents when possible, give readers everything and anything, trust them to click the links, read the information and determine for themselves what is relevant to them, what they need to know.
A DUMBED DOWN SOCIETY
There is quite a bit going on nationally and internationally, the economy, Syria, TPP, Deficits, just to name a few, yet a look at what Americans are searching for, is quite revealing and proof that we have become a dumbed down society.
Another disconnect Stefan and I have noticed is what searches are trending in United States, and we will use Google as an example, where sports, sports, sports the Blue Angels and sports are the top 5 Trending searches in America. The screen shot below shows the results for Saturday, October 10, 2015 at 12:20 pm ET...... when the number two result "Texas, Oklahoma" example is clicked on, the related stories are about the Longhorns... aka sports.
This is representative of what we see every single day since we started tracking the trending searches. While the specifics are different, other searching trend services show basically the same thing. Celebrities, television or sports usually hold the top 10 or even 20 spots on the trends.
As stated at the beginning of this article, readers are encouraged to highlight what they see as a disconnect between Americans and their brains, or their refusal to use said brains to think for themselves, to question the official narrative.... what do you see happening that you believe is killing America, which you believe no one is paying attention to?
