Update: No Time for Updates
Put everything I've said on hold! You weren't waiting? Oh, fine. Carry on then.
I could fill a book with what has happened to me in the last month - example: I read a book! A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R. R. Martin himself. Loved it! No one would read A Month of Greg Doing Stuff, though, so here are the bullet points:
Oddly enough, the thing that finally prompted me to sit down and type this was not the tragic, horrific mass shooting in Orlando we all had to wake up to yesterday, nor the history and decline of IBM's corporate culture, I listened to on my lunch break in my Toyota Prius C --
"Fox News" was actually my third thought.
My first thought was "No. You're wrong."
My second thought was: "Everything with bias comes from perspective, and the inherent baseline of bias is an individual sense of what's 'good' or 'bad'"... Yes, this is the same guy who just confessed he's re-watching 90s X-Men cartoons!
As I walked back to my Culver City office space, I mentally worked my way from "personal values determine whether something has zero news value, e.g. 'Obama says something mundanely presidential', or 'This time, the president is for sure trying to take our guns".
And so, like Tarantino, we arrive back at Fox News:
Fox News is overtly biased and untrustworthy.
The problem does not stem from embracing bias, but lack of ability to identify their own double-standard regarding what is 'good' or 'bad'.
The first and best thing Fox did on cable was Sports.
Sport, while unifying, instills a moral double-standard, making us overly critical and suspicious of foul play among whomever 'our perceived opponents' may be, and trains us to switch seamlessly to excuses and empathy when 'our perceived team' is the transgressor of foul play.
This is not uniquely right wing.
It took very little time for real journalists to fairly point out our own Vice President Joe Biden, ironically, made the same calls to wait almost a year for the new president to appoint the next supreme court judge, by publicly demanding the same of his Republican president Bush (Sr.) in '92.
I could fill a book with what has happened to me in the last month - example: I read a book! A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R. R. Martin himself. Loved it! No one would read A Month of Greg Doing Stuff, though, so here are the bullet points:
- I turned 32. Spent the whole, damn, magical day with friends at Universal Studios Hollywood, went on all the rides, ate all the food, and spent most of the time in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
- I went to Vegas for the first time as an adult. Celebrated the union of two beautiful friends, won a few hundred dollars (cumulatively). The biggest payout $100 on a random slot machine. Lost it all and then some, and spent too much on booze. Ironically, the best values I found were at a sushi joint, and a craft beer spot: Banger Brewery. I also amassed all the knowledge to "do it right" next time. Sure...
- I am past the one month point working a Mon - Fri job - complete with rigid corporate rules, strangling my individuality, struggling to maintain lucidity throughout the workday, but actually, the perks are decent, I like everyone I work with, the work interests and challenges me, and everything is going well so far. I am an "export trade assistant", and my goal is to grow sale of U.S. manufacturers' food and beverage products in my target market (Japan)!
- I have been-beeeenge-watching! I watched almost all of Silicon Valley, hilarious; almost finished the first season of 12 Monkeys, awesome; and just for kicks, found and started binging X-Men the Animated Series from my childhood, because Hulu is like the friend that is always happy to share his cigarettes with you.
Oddly enough, the thing that finally prompted me to sit down and type this was not the tragic, horrific mass shooting in Orlando we all had to wake up to yesterday, nor the history and decline of IBM's corporate culture, I listened to on my lunch break in my Toyota Prius C --
- I have a Toyota Prius C. It's a shiny, blue hatchback that I call Squirtle, and I love it.
"Fox News" was actually my third thought.
My first thought was "No. You're wrong."
My second thought was: "Everything with bias comes from perspective, and the inherent baseline of bias is an individual sense of what's 'good' or 'bad'"... Yes, this is the same guy who just confessed he's re-watching 90s X-Men cartoons!
As I walked back to my Culver City office space, I mentally worked my way from "personal values determine whether something has zero news value, e.g. 'Obama says something mundanely presidential', or 'This time, the president is for sure trying to take our guns".
And so, like Tarantino, we arrive back at Fox News:
Fox News is overtly biased and untrustworthy.
The problem does not stem from embracing bias, but lack of ability to identify their own double-standard regarding what is 'good' or 'bad'.
The first and best thing Fox did on cable was Sports.
Sport, while unifying, instills a moral double-standard, making us overly critical and suspicious of foul play among whomever 'our perceived opponents' may be, and trains us to switch seamlessly to excuses and empathy when 'our perceived team' is the transgressor of foul play.
This is not uniquely right wing.
It took very little time for real journalists to fairly point out our own Vice President Joe Biden, ironically, made the same calls to wait almost a year for the new president to appoint the next supreme court judge, by publicly demanding the same of his Republican president Bush (Sr.) in '92.
We are all brought up with an "us vs. them" mentality, and "When we do it, it's different", is the assumption that is as underlying as it is necessary to allow our countless moral transgressions.
I invite you to detach yourself from the next sports match you watch in public, and notice how blatant the tradition truly is, with fresh eyes.
I need to get some sleep. I have work in the morning.
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