The Age of Paranoia

Irony, Cynicism, Scepticism and Mortal Fear

“Forced conversation
Hidden agenda
You think we're stupid, how dare you
The rug has not been pulled
Over our eyes you fool
We can see right through”

-Billy Talent

Breaking news, ‘Trust’ is declared Endangered by the IUCN. Well, obviously that isn’t a real headline, but it could well be. We live in the age of paranoia. Trust is growing scarce; the world seems like a minefield, or the realm of the Hydra. The same old culprits are to blame, newspapers, news channels, an ever more daring and idiotic minority and just an aura of fear.

Parents are frightened of paedophiles at every corner, so much so that parents are too terrified to let their children past their front gardens. If it’s not paedophiles, its murderous rapists from hell, or gun toting gangs from the planet Gat. Well, that’s what BBC news said, with specific reference to abducting murderers. They presented some ominous facts about previous murders and how parents deemed that the outside world was no longer safe for the play of children or something to that effect. When it comes to a tragic story the news will inevitably want to milk it for all it is worth, every penny counts after all. They’ll plaster the headline with words like ‘CHILD’, ‘DEATH’, ‘UNSAFE’ and ’LETHAL BIZZLE’, all words that strike fear into the hearts of the average 20th or 21st century parent. If this truly was the case, every other adult who wasn’t a parent to the child would be out on the streets with the sole intention to abduct and kill your child. Political correctness is out of control, what with its absurd commandments; “Thou shalt not photograph thine babe in the school production or in the playground”. All parents can not be trusted? Taking a picture of the school production will cause them to run home and become aroused? Verily this is disturbed thinking of the most moronic degree. It would be more helpful for the doctor to supply you with a complementary child coffin at birth, for when they get beset upon by the great wide world outside. Indeed, there are villains out there, but that’s nothing a bit of neighbourhood vigilance can’t solve. We’re all so caught up with the terrors of the world that we have lost all faith in each other. Nobody is implying that you become bosom buddies with all of the inhabitants of your street, but some general awareness of each others existence goes a long way. Rather, it is ‘Every family for themselves – screw you, get out of my way you paedophile family, and stop looking at my child’.

But aside from the Political Correctness circus and the prominent Murderer Community of Britain (do they have a union?), we simply CANNOT forget about the omnipresent danger of terrorism in the civilised world! Cave/Mud Hut dwellers from the Middle East have suddenly mastered chemical engineering and are producing bombs by the truck load to blow up our Great Island! God Save the Queen! God save me! God save my democracy! God save Big Brother! Let us analyse this threat. People are worried about terrorists around every corner… there are advertising campaigns warning us about loiterers who are most likely terrorists and the news bleats about how fifteen would be terrorists were foiled before they blew up the world. Sounds like something out of a George Orwell novel to me. I know there are extremists in Britain and they probably shouldn’t be here, but as a result of these bearded maniacs the entire country is gripped in fear and worried that the island might sink under the waves. Apparently, people are worried about going into shopping centres. We shouldn’t write off the threat, but surely this is a step too far? People are still scared of planes and ‘try to spot the terrorists’? This is paranoia over the edge. The horrific events of September the 11th have ingrained in our mind that planes and terrorists were made for each other. News flash, how many flights have there been in the UK and US alone over the past decade, and how many of these were hijacked by terrorists? Now express that as a percentage and perhaps you’ll see a glimmer of the probability of the bearded bloke next to you being a terrorist… I don’t see how the beard suddenly transforms you into a suspect. Surely, this is a common stereotype that these ‘ultra-smart’ terrorists must have cottoned on to? This being the case, the terrorist would have adapted his strategy (by the concept of the evolutionary arms race), and would have gotten rid of the beard, to blend in with the majority.

In this world over-run by terrorists, paedophiles and abducting murderers, I wonder how anybody is still alive. Though I do admit, there may be some irony in the way I have presented the above piece, riddled with cynicism and fraught with scepticism. Perhaps I am just assuming the polar opposite argument to the media driven army that votes, and in doing so I’m not doing myself any favours, but the purpose of the piece isn’t to render everybody into a calm, happy-go-lucky, docile mood. The point being expressed is not one of ‘Do not worry, there is no danger, everything is just fine’, but the general view can’t be ‘Omnipresent danger, consuming us, frozen in fear’. The real world must be treated with rationality and we must just have faith in the fact that committing any of these heinous acts is easier said than done. With so many variables, it’s very easy to get caught out. The aim of these ‘Terrorists’ is to strike fear into the hearts of the enemy (being us). Being scared to go to shopping centres or constantly looking out for terrorists is only an expression of fear and is a sign of submission to the terrorists aim. They will have won. The aim of the terrorist is to strike fear, then to spread discord and enmity amongst people who normally get along, and pick apart the structure of our society. If the terrorists really were going to open hell on our door steps, believe me, we wouldn’t even be safe in our homes. Nations such as North Korea and Iran are reportedly prepared to sell weapons of mass destruction… for any hope of salvation, evolve into a cockroach or build a bunker or follow an option that is somewhat more practical – take a lesson from the Prophet Lot from the ancient scriptures and run – Run. Just run. Run and don’t look back.

Depression is the New Happy

Why So Serious?

There are a great many items for sale in shops which are wanted by the consumer - basically everyone. Who wouldn’t want an Iphone or a Pagani Zonda? You do not need to be a materialist obsessed with possessions to desire these items. They are pretty good. If they were being offered for free, I would first ask if there was a catch and then I would say ‘yes’ (you can never be sure these days, with loopholes and whatnot, ‘free’ could mean ‘extremely costly in some other undignified way – grrr marketing).



There is a peculiar item being sold to us currently and has probably been sold to us since we were children. It is being sold to us without us specifically asking for it yet we accept it without question in the most part. Depression is being packaged and sold to us continuously by the mass news media. Rupert Murdoch is perhaps the leading retailer of depression, or at least he comes to mind when I think of discount depression. The next news headline might as well be ‘Go kill yourself’ and it wouldn’t be much of a deviation from the current trend. If it isn’t a news item about the terrible state of the world, it is a news article which just puts the state of society into perspective. It is probably inadvertently achieved as a large amount of energy is dedicated to celebrity news and gossip. Hmmm. I’m sure a bit of this news can’t be a harmful thing but it sells better than hot cakes, I wouldn’t be surprised if people were shovelling pages of previous Heat magazine issues into their mouths for their tea. It is unfair to judge everyone based on their interest in celebrity gossip, they’re not bad people or dumb people; it can make you feel better about yourself when things aren’t going according to plan in your life (‘tee hee, she’s gone potty, all I’ve got is redundancy’), and also, it’s usually the only alternative the mass media provides to its sledgehammer of bad news.



Furthermore, I think it is worth pointing out that bad news just sticks in our minds and stands out more than good news does. Somebody could go their entire life as a saint and then slip up once, and that is all you will remember them for. Such a shame indeed. History is thrown away in favour of disgrace. It is very easy to dislike, to ignore, to shun, to prejudice, to complain, to be discontent and unhappy. This has led me to believe that happiness is a high energy state whereas unhappiness is a low energy state, therefore is an energetically favourable state, which is why we reside in unhappy form for most of the time. It’s just a theory; perhaps I could study it later in my studies… hmmm.



The news is very good at causing the disillusionment of a nation. Seemingly credible ‘facts’ are churned out, bombarding you at light speed (quite literally in the case of the images). At the end of the day, who else do you have to turn to if something major happens somewhere in the world? It is understandable. It’s not as if the news jumps up and down screaming its’ dishonesty at you. The best you can do is analyse the news item (perhaps CRAVEN it while you’re at it) and make your own decision. Or even better, go to different news sources independent from each other, which is probably a challenge seeing as Rupert Murdoch has recently acquired Planet Earth media, but if you find the corroborating pieces of information, you can be a bit more sure that at least those facts are truthful.



Every now and then the news finds a particular person or people to victimise. They don’t victimise them for the sole intention of victimisation. It’s more of a commercial victimisation (a victimisation without intent) – ‘give the people what they want’ news. Allow me to present an untrue, hypothetical news piece. The first news piece will be detailing that an Estonian individual went and molested a stick insect. Fair enough, an Estonian individual did indeed molest a stick insect, shame on him. All of a sudden, people are aware of Estonians. It’s similar to when you hear a distinct word on the radio (or read it in a book)and all of a sudden you’re identifying that word everywhere. It probably isn’t being mentioned any more than usual, but you are aware of it (I remember the word ‘exacerbate’ was mentioned in The Apprentice once and since then I haven’t been able to get rid of it). As is the same with the prior Estonian individual. Now the news knows that it will grab the attention of the consumer by emphasising Estonians in its news items wherever they’re involved, no matter how big or small – and if it is unclear who is involved in the next stick insect abuse case, just suggest that Estonians could have been involved. Darn Estonians. Why can’t they leave the stick insects alone? Anyway, the news provider will, in most cases, want to attract viewers, or readership, so it can gain more sponsors in order to ‘earn’ more money. Eventually, the news providers will have all realised that news about Estonians (particularly bad news) is money, and every news provider is bleating about Estonian Phasmatodeaphiles and before you know it, it feels as if most Estonians are involved in a Phasmatodeaphile conspiracy. The media can change public opinion in the matter of a few years. Governments are aware of this, and try to utilise the media whenever they can, though in the modern consumer driven societies of Britain and America, it is harder to do so as the media answers to no-one and will attack anybody it sees fit. Governments included. With the exception of the Grey suited men and women in the boardroom on the top floor in the news corporation building, pretty much everybody is a loser in the media game.



The late great Michael Jackson said, “In a world filled with hate, we must still dare to hope. In a world filled with anger, we must still dare to comfort. In a world filled with despair, we must still dare to dream. And in a world filled with distrust, we must still dare to believe.”



Yes, we do indeed live in a world filled with hate, anger, despair and distrust – and we are all ultimately boned as a result. But don’t lose hope. Why? Just don’t; the hope you feel may be true or false, but hope can be the greatest feeling in the world and is the best antidote to the discount poisonous depression being sold to us.