Manipulated

It’s one thing to be manipulated. It’s another thing to be manipulated and not realize it. But that’s exactly what happens to so many of us when we are bombarded by political ads, consumer ads and entertainment media.

We are in a time when there is such reluctance to trust and such difficulty in finding anyone to trust. Can we trust our government? Can we trust the ones we elect to office? Can we trust social media? Can we trust that we are not being fed false online messages from foreign agents?

It’s up to us to decide. But that means we have to take responsibility. We have to do the work to educate ourselves. We have to be diligent. We have to listen and discuss. We have to resist being discouraged. We have to critically take these ads apart. We have to get our of our comfort zone.

Spin, half-truths, diversions from the issues, clever word play, pretty and petty distractions, celebrity salesmen, all need to be pushed aside to discover if truth is even there.