Brilliant Idiots – How politicians, the media, and clickbait is ruining our culture

This post has been in the crockpot of my mind for several months now. Honestly, I’ve gone back and forth of whether to write it or not. My wife has been on me about not falling into the trap of negative thinking and posting things I would later regret on the web. But as I’ve processed my own emotions about the specific topic of politics and government, I believe it does make sense to share my opinion of what I see. Truly an opinion.

If I shared my thoughts with you around election time, I think the blog would be pretty crappy. I’m learning that it’s best to let thoughts simmer in your mind and heart for a bit until you feel you’ve developed a more clear point and takeaway to your thinking. So let’s dive in to why I believe we’re surrounded by Brilliant Idiots in Washington DC, the media, and clickbait kings.

At the core of our dysfunction as people is the issue living in a world system that is dominated by greed, corruption, and self-interest. And greed, corruption, and self-interest infects us individually too.

I’ve personally dealt with more anger and frustration in 2020 as it relates to politics that I’d like to admit. In some cases my voice has been an echo like the millions of people on both sides of the political aisle who are frustrated and anger. I really don’t believe many of the comments and opinions I’ve shared were helpful but added more to already razor thin margins of grace.

What’s even crazier is the fact that I wrote a book about being a Christian in a world full of division and what our focus should be and in 2020, I lost mine! I lost my focus because I began yelling at my TV. I began yelling at Fox News anchors, CNN anchors, and even at AM radio! That’s right, I listen to AM radio – who would have thought? I lost my focus because my perspective turned cynical and frustrated and that wasn’t me. I allowed myself to be sucked into the drama and negativity that drives ratings, clicks, and ads. I became an individual reason why politicians, the media, and clickbait is winning – negative news sells. Perhaps my viewpoint now is still cynical and negative, however as I write I do it from a place of new freedom and a shift which I’ll get to later.

To be clear, this isn’t pushing a liberal or conservative agenda. I’m disappointed at both parties and believe that we can do so much better but they likely won’t. Here’s where the first “aha” moment came to me. At work one day though I lamented to a colleague that the people in Washington are idiots. He challenged the idea that they were actually brilliant. That the more they could create drama and policies and situations to keep common people at odds with each other, the more they would create a dependency in us that we somehow believe they will fix the mess they’ve made – but they won’t. This is where the title “Brilliant Idiots” came to life. I thought about calling out specific political names, but I won’t. You can look for yourself at my social accounts and see for yourself – it goes both ways for me.

The concept of Brilliant Idiots is this – politicians are master chess players. They do it with their words, their promises, and their maneuvering. They’re idiots because many are about themselves, self-preservation, and create policies that are ruining this great country. I’ve always believed this thought – Want to know when a politician is lying? Just wait until they begin moving their lips. This is pre 2020, pre Covid, pre Trump, and pre Obama. In my early 20s I realized pretty quick that there is a subset of people, a very large one in fact that will say anything to get a seat at the table and protect that seat. Just look at known senator from South Carolina and you will see exactly what I’m talking about. “Say what you believe will scratch the itchy ears of your listeners in the moment and you increase your longevity in your seat.” Thank you, our eyes are open now.

While the average American sits at home and waits for stimulus checks and fulfilled promises, brilliant bureaucrats are brokering deals not for the people, but for themselves. Ask yourself this question – how does a US Senator with an average pay of $174,000 a year (source: senate.gov) become a millionaire? How does someone whose job is to serve the American people and their specific constituents become a millionaire or multi-millionaire? The same issue I brought up before: because the world functions within a babylonian culture of greed, corruption, and self-interest. It’s probably one of the reasons people loved Trump – he didn’t need anyone’s money. He was an outsider and for over 40 years was preaching about how the government was screwing it’s own people. Love him or hate him, he simply wasn’t an insider who was playing the chess game of Washington.

Brilliant Idiots – they know the game, they know the levers, and they know how far they can take their agendas. Brilliant in execution, idiotic in the rippling consequences.

The Reality of Media and Clickbait

Since politics plays such a key role in the culture of our society, media and clickbait is raking in millions of dollars in ads, further driving the division that we see among common people. I’ll pick on the main outlets of Fox News and CNN. Their underpinning is sales. The fact is, sales keeps all those folks employed. Sales keeps paychecks paid and the business of media moving forward. It’s not cynical, it’s just math. When you are able to create stories and headlines that create more attention, you’ve won. And attention my friends, is probably the single most in-demand item. Attention of people and the distribution outlets are big business and when ratings and clicks go up, so do ad revenues.

Though their underpinning is driving sales, the common element I see in both of these large media companies in ridiculous hypocrisy. They take what’s happening in Washington at a whole new level and with much less accountability. You watch an entire story made up around a 3-5 second clip. You don’t know what is actually true reporting and what isn’t. But for as much as different politicians say “this or that network is way down”, look for yourself. Get your own facts. A quick search showed me that in an article posted by Variety.com, Nielsen reported that viewership for both Fox News and CNN was actually up, and in big numbers. People love the drama, we’re addicted to it and the numbers show it.

Perhaps disconnecting from our own reality and dysfunction is one of the reasons we enjoy listening to garbage so much. Yelling at the TV or blasting people on social media is much easier than taking personal responsibility for our own life. That’s a post for a different day.

Clickbait

And finally you have clickbait. The final piece which in my mind and in the context of politics is helping ruin our culture. Watching the Social Dilemma on Netflix was pretty eye opening. One of the biggest takeaways was that ultimately an algorithm is formed for you. So in the case of politics, our worldview is biased to the types of clicks and news we tend to consume day after day. For example, I tend to enjoy watching Ben Shapiro debate so I follow him on Facebook via his dailywire.com posts. Here’s a headline from 6 hours ago: “Mitch McConnell: Trump ‘Provoked’ Capitol Rioters, Spread ‘Lies’ About Election”. Whether or not you believe that’s the case isn’t my point – it’s the fact that it sells. Ben Shapiro owns a media company! He’s a fantastic marketer! Without clicks, there is no business. Facebook is monetized by ads – without ad revenue there is no stock price.

We live in an era of mass information, but very little fact. I hate to admit it but I’ve fallen for it too. We are basing our views on headlines versus facts. We are too lazy to do our own research on all kinds of topics so we rely on pundits, media companies, and politicians to tell us what the facts are. Who are the “experts”? Where are the “facts”? People are aimlessly spreading all kinds of conspiracy theories and things they’ve heard from “reliable sources” as if it’s fact. I believe people are waking up though. Maybe not the fringe far left or far right who can’t be convinced of any perspective other than the rabbit holes they’re in, but people are waking up to the insane levels of hypocrisy that we are witnessing. The common American is becoming “woke” to how screwed up and dysfunctional political bobbleheads really are and how their decisions can have a negative affect on our country.

What do we do?

So what’s really ruining our culture? Is it the politicians, the media, and clickbait? Likely not that, but our reaction to what we are seeing. Negativity is ruining our culture. Unbridled anger and division is ruining our culture. Neighbors fighting with neighbors is ruining our culture. Families being ripped apart because of political differences is ruining our culture. The real issue is a fallen cultural identity crisis that we are attempting to fill the gap with via politics. Sorry folks, Trump isn’t a savior and neither is Joe Biden. The more we buy into the headlines, the further the divide will be. That’s not what we were made for.

Going forward, what are we to do? I can only share with you a few thoughts of my own that are helping me. Full disclaimer: they are from a Christian-perspective because I am one. If you’re not, eat the fish and spit out the bones:

1. Stop consuming garbage – this one is pretty simple but just stop spending all kinds of time watching “the news”. Cleanup Facebook by reducing clicks on clickbait and evening unfollowing some of the content you’ve been consuming.

2. Wake up – Wake up to the fact that politicians, not all, but many are trying to keep their seat. If self interest didn’t exist, it wouldn’t be an issue. But it does. Realize that personal responsibility should be the focus not politicians.

3. Speak up – This isn’t about “let’s get back to normal”. We have an opportunity to influence society in such a positive way and putting our heads in the sand isn’t the solution. Speak up, but let the best ideas win. We can debate topics without ripping each other apart. Scroll for yourself, people are devouring each other on social media. Facebook reminds of a family who debates politics over beers at Thanksgiving. It gets heated but there seems to be a line. Twitter, well Twitter is about as ghetto as it gets. If you want to see next level crazy interactions, go hang out on Twitter for a minute and you’ll see.

4. Guard your heart – the scripture says “Guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:23″). This is where I went wrong in 2020. I didn’t guard my heart. I didn’t filter what I was consuming and thinking. I allowed anger and frustration to get the best of me. And it’s tiring. Negativity is exhausting. Living in a constant state of frustration will suck the life out of you and in some ways, it did for me.

5. Stay on mission – do we love people because of their political affiliation more than the ones we disagree with? Let’s be honest with ourselves. In the scripture, the Apostle Paul told his young apprentice Timothy (2 Timothy 2:4) to not get entangled in civilian affairs. To stay focused. What are civilian affairs for us? Politics! Stay on mission. If you’re a Christian, stay focused on spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. If not, maybe your mission is building your family well and other things – don’t get sucked in.

6. Get involved – frustration at some point needs to turn into action otherwise it’s just hot air. Remember, we’re not “going back to normal”, we’re creating a better future. The policies that come out of our federal and state governments help shape culture and if you or I don’t like it – then get involved. Whether it’s participating in local and state government or even going for the big leagues in Washington, go for it. You can make your voice be heard through voting and funding causes that matter to you. But please, let’s move past complaining to action, whatever that action is for you.

7. Don’t put your faith in man – we are fallible people. You, me, and the rest of the humans that populate the earth are flawed. Whether the President is Timmy Timson, Donald Trump, or Joe Biden – stop elevating him or anyone for the matter to a savior level. Put your faith in Christ because He is the only true, unwavering, and faithful one that is and will ever be.

In a way, I feel bad for calling someone an “idiot”. It’s not exactly honoring. I believe there are good people in politics, but the system is dysfunctional. And by system I mean the world’s system of greed, corruption, and self interest. The United States of America is still a young country, but the greatest experiment there is. And to be fair, the system of checks and balances created in the legislature is pretty darn good.

We all have our deficiencies. You do, I do, and once we can realize that fact that we work better together focusing on what we agree on the more progress we can make. Personally, this article was a symbolic stamp of minimum, figuratively “letting go” of drama that I’ve allowed into my heart. It’s been pretty freeing and I hope it helps you.

Now, let’s get focused and on mission.