INFLUENCERS ARE SAVING US FROM ‘BIG BROTHER’
INFLUENCERS ARE SAVING US FROM ‘BIG BROTHER’
by Bill Knell
INFLUENCERS are everywhere these days and they cover every topic imaginable. Love them or hate them, they are providing us with an essential service by giving us honest choices.
I saw it by High School. Believe what we tell you and do things the way we want you to, or fail. If you fail there goes your chance at personal and financial success as they see it. It's been the perfect example of George Orwell's vision of a ‘Big Brother' dominated society, prophesied in his novel “1984”.
I went to Junior High in New York. Generally thought to be an open-minded, while socially conscious place, our school library became a bone of contention when they added a new book to their collection. “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” by William L. Shirer was anything but a work that glorified Nazis or Fascism of any kind.
Instead, the Shirer non-fiction work was a strong indictment of National Socialism and a plea to recognize and sympathize with its victims. The book was accepted and even recommended by most of the Jewish Community. However, the Swastika on its cover sealed the best-selling book's fate in our school. Too many people were ‘offended’ by it. In the same mindset, the U.S. flag had become equally offensive to many who had anti-war feelings in our school, yet it was neither banned or removed.
Today we are living in an Orwellian nightmare, whether we realize it or not. We're told how to act, what to eat, how to dress, how to write and so on. I wish I had a dollar for every know-it-all article preaching an “our way or no way” philosophy which, whether purposely or not, delivers the only ‘acceptable’ way to do, say or write something.
INFLUENCERS are saving us from this nightmare by going against the grain and proving that success doesn't always have to happen because we marched in lock step with what we have been taught is the global norm. Influencers must constantly fight against being cancelled because of the entirely false narrative of ‘Community Standards'.
INFLUENCERS prove an important point, especially when they do get cancelled… If you achieve success without paying attention to all the “don't you dare!” rules and regulations set for us by power mad beaurocrats and intellect-speak do gooders, they will do all they can to destroy you and the message you're trying to convey.
A good example of all this is the new search to soften language that might offend someone. In yet another typical Orwellian prophecy come true, People don't get killed anymore: they get ‘unalived’. House break-ins are a thing of the past; they are now ‘home invasions'. Really? Well, hey everybody, life can sometimes be very offensive whether we like it or not.
I grew up in the 60s and 70s when people believed things like “Do you're own thing” and “Be yourself”. Then, political correctness came along to ruin the party and turn us all into obedient robots whose programming must meet those superficial Community Standards.
The societal changes have been especially hard on kids, tweens and teens. Saying the wrong thing, believing something different or wearing the wrong clothes, can get them kicked out of school. Even worse, we're now told they are just too psychologically immature to make their own decisions or share their opinions.
While surfing through YouTube I found a twelve year old girl who was absolutely hilarious. Her posts and live segments were funny and well thought out. My girlfriend and I watched and laughed our butts off. Her name is Kylie and she is well beyond her age, intellectually speaking. Then, the “you can't say or do that because you're a kid” police came along and cancelled her.
Kylie moved on to Instagram. Once again, she delighted us all with her wit and talent (she plays guitar really well and sings). Nothing she ever did, said or posted could have possibly been offensive to anyone. She was more than willing to allow her followers to submit comments, especially in her live segments, which made it all the more entertaining. Despite all this, the ‘a kid can't do or say that’ cops came along and cancelled her.
So here's a message to all the politically correct, know-it-all, do it our way or not at all, Despots from yours truly. Take a long walk off a short pier. And to the Influencers of all ages I say… Keep on, keeping on and save us from Big Brother and ourselves.
Kailey Fields offers readers fresh and very human fiction stories that are unique, yet relatable.
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