Rise and Fall

Asceticism, withdrawal, and a certain level of struggling and toiling are necessary to offset the deleterious effects of two very powerful forces, namely, luxury and hedonism. In addition to maintaining a certain level of asceticism, withdrawal, struggle, and toiling for physical and mental health purposes, one can have and enjoy their fair share of the world without having to resort to the dangers and toxicity of luxury and hedonism. It is also worth noting that Ancient Rome rose as an empire and a civilization because of the ascetic and religious teachings of Romulus, but collapsed because of a love for luxury and hedonism. And as Jonathan Sacks wrote:

“When a society loses its religion, it tends not to last very long thereafter. It discovers that having severed the ropes that moor its morality to something transcendent, all it has left is relativism, and relativism is incapable of defending anything, including itself.”

Thus, the culture and religion of the mainstream is founded on a “trinity” consisting of luxury, hedonism, and relativism which ends up collapsing at the very end. Without the internet, social media, technology, and thus the democratization of media and information, people would not be able to contest and pushback against the mainstream’s imposition of luxury, hedonism, and relativism on the rest of the global population. Thus, the internet, social media, and technology were to an extent the “saving grace” of the global population in the face of a mainstream that was abusing the power it had over people’s thoughts at the beginning of the 21^st century.

Culture, philosophy, and religious values have sprung up to a significant degree against the mainstream’s imposition of luxury, hedonism, and relativism due to the internet, social media, and technology. And the only response that the mainstream such as CNN and others have to this groundswell of culture, philosophy, and religious values is censorship and suppression. When Don Lemon and Brian Stelter act as if they are concerned about “free speech,” they should take into consideration their own company’s denial and suppression of information going to their journalists from independent bloggers and journalists.

Thus, the concern for “freedom” and “freedom of speech” on the part of mainstream outlets such as CNN is wholly disingenuous and fake, and I can confirm this reality from personal experience. It takes just one blog post to make Wolf Blitzer and Elie Honig cringe on television, because even a dose of free expression and thought makes CNN and others in the mainstream feel powerless. In the end, it is essentially about control, and the ability to control a person’s thoughts is no longer wielded by the likes of CNN and others. There is more to the human existence than mere luxury, hedonism, and relativism. And the mainstream can no longer deny that basic essence of the human existence which transcends mere luxury, hedonism, and relativism. However, that does not mean that CNN and others will try to censor and suppress that particular essence which transcends their imposition of luxury, hedonism, and relativism. And as I mentioned before, I can actually confirm their censorship and suppression of that very basic essence of human existence.