A reading of my article – On The Clock
(c) K Wicks
article
Fads and Fear
Thought of first in my article The First Fad, but from an entertainment angle, and Consumerism of goods and services and the marketing that surrounds that. A whole area of psychological study around how people can be encouraged and manipulated into thinking certain things, wanting certain things and becoming a tool. Useful Idiot or Useless Eater covers an angle of what type of tool that may be. And recently I wrote a piece A State of Mind, And Fear, which looked at the psychological effect something can have without even having to happen, just the worry and fear it will can change a person, their thoughts and way they live thereafter.
But rather than just using fads to sell products, and entertainment and fantasy, they are also using it to sell fear. As a side package almost to the things you pay for, you get it as a free extra. In movies, music, education and history, in media and news, trying to insert itself into some aspect of your daily life. It’s only been within employment mostly it seems that people were left alone to get their head down, don’t be distracted and pay your taxes. Unless you were in the military of course, then your job would be one with an overtone and undertone of a fearful, high alert environment, using the fear of it possibly being any moment now, or just around the corner. For the average person it would be fear of some section of society, of drugs, of violence, of terrorism, of the weather and so on. The lines are becoming somewhat blurred though, where the everyday fears, the military fears and a grouped version of them all are being thrown at everyone. The vision of the future appears laden with fear if you believe the constant stream of horror and distress being funnelled by way of the internet and media, trying to make everyone Ready for Doom, if they hadn’t already succumbed to the conditioning going back generations.
And it seems many different fads have been put out there, to try to capture each group and type along the way. And it may be only a short-lived interest or fad for some, creating a temporary hold, or fascination but for others, it seems it can turn into something quite different, with idolisation and obsession feeding into what it becomes. And if you then add fear into that, as a trigger, or undertone, or emotional manipulator, then people can become very unstable, and unpredictable, to a point. There are a certain number of variables when it comes to behaviour, but people do mostly follow a set pattern, so predictably unpredictable. And that’s where maybe thinking can be our undoing sometimes, because you can spend an awful lot of time going over things in mind and end up nowhere further on from where you were. Remember, there is a time for thinking, and there is a time for doing, you just need to know which one is required when the time comes…
(c) K Wicks
Star Forts – article reading
The Evolution of Insanity
Welcome to the Thunderdome. Or at least that’s how it’s starting to feel, on purpose I believe, because it’s a general feeling of unease and foreboding that has been well laid and topped up accordingly. Where we appear to be in a time where ‘the lunatics are running the asylum’ as one might say. With logic and reason being sneered at, shouted down and treated as though that is the mental dysfunction, with ego pushing anyone and all ideas aside to hold fast to the festering self-need and want that governs it. And this is where we appear to be watching in real-time, the evolution of a type of madness, of wealth, deviance and greed creating a rather disturbing mentality and social landscape before us.
What is even more disturbing, is tracing the path of how it came to be so corrupt and ingrained by those who seek power over others, because it’s not just about money, it’s about what money then affords you. Factor into that some sinister ideas under the guise of philanthropy, and some strategic planning and foresight, then much can be possible. Even more so when you know others who help to facilitate certain ideas and wants for their own personal gain, that saying, ‘you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’ springs to mind.
We definitely appear to have reached a turning point, where much had to be revealed to steer everything towards ‘net zero’ and the plan to reduce everything humans need to flourish and sustain themselves. Food, health, travel, money, employment and ultimately it seems, people are what is what they want to cut back, but do it by way of stealth. When they do things in history like kill all the buffalo so the American Indians starved, and poisoned upstream rivers to taint their water supply further down, you realise the level of sneaky some will go to achieve what they want. But also to come out of it not looking like the villain, that is a different type of sinister and one that is indeed quite prevalent today as it always was. Politics would be the main player where it appears to be an advantageous strategy to cause maximum mayhem, and be able to blame it on the people who are affected by it, or just lie your way out of it and never be held to account. No wonder the insanity has now grown to a monstrous level, because it has been allowed to.
And that just might be because people who are charged with making decisions, no longer do so, and are on someone else’s payroll. If your commission and extra’s was dependent on customers, then you wouldn’t be rude to them, or ignore them, or knowingly lie to them, would you? You would lose your commission, bonus, extras and ultimately your job. But not in politics, they are beholden to different rules which they themselves have put in place, to their benefit. Not even pretending anymore to ‘serve the people’, as it is quite obvious, they serve themselves, and those who pay their extras and buy their temporary allegiance. Contracts, deals, meetings, incentives, gifts, jobs and all the other things they are busy organising while ’employed by the people’. Seems farcical now when you see it laid out, that average people put their trust in, and give their money to, complete strangers in suits who we are told are respectable and want to help us, educate us, and make society better by ultimately then employing us. So, it would seem they can then take more of our money, and keep telling us what to do while getting rich off the ‘taxes’ we pay. A sick cycle we play a pivotal role in and even ‘vote’ for, as we are meant to. I can’t help thinking that although it looks to have no walls and a cage as such, our society does seem to be a big lab, and like The Beautiful Mice, has a set agenda or purpose, with it being adapted for a larger human version. Or at least that’s how it is starting to feel…
(c) MKW Publishing
Copy of a Memory – article reading
Not So Common
A word, to denote the lower orders and those of ‘common’ living standard, ideas or ambition, as would say those who created the divide of class we have in this country. But I thought of where it gets used in a practical sense, as that is where it seems awfully applicable sometimes as a useful word.
Common Sense – something we thought was prevalent in society, but alas, it really does seem as though sense is something that really isn’t very common after all in that context.
Common Ground – to find the middle ground and a starting or joining point for an idea or way forward. Lending it to something logical, or a compromise to whatever the point of issue that can be resolved somewhat or an agreement reached.
Common Enemy – where you learn to understand that certain differences are to be put aside to observe a common threat to your territory or way of life. If you have ever given thought to or read about wars and skirmishes, and the changing of borders, it is often you will find temporary alliances are formed to combat that common enemy at the time. Thereafter often those alliances fall away and are replaced by new conflicts, and without a bigger enemy, it seems people find ways to destablise themselves with smaller matters.
A Common – piece of land designated as common land, for grazing and walking and cannot be restricted they say. But as with much, it has changed because the areas of common land in the UK used to be bigger and gradually it has been changed, bordered, gated, fenced and no longer affords the rights it once did.
Common Law – “a system of laws based on customs and court decisions rather than on written laws made by a parliament.” Not really much I can add to that, we have seen of late how the law ‘works’ so it may be common in name, but not serve any of those that may think it is there for a lawful society.
Common Good – ideally where the people falling under the banner of that ‘good’ are the ones to decide it. Otherwise, it gets used as a weapon for an individual to enact a more personal or deviant agenda, as we well know.
Lowest Common Denominator – in mathematics, yes, but also as an insult. To insinuate someone is stupid it is said, or a particular audience may be of the ‘lowest common denominator’.
I find it interesting to give thought to words and their place in our understanding. How they came to be used as such, because they, like many things they are twisted and used for purpose. In education, communication, language, propaganda, psychology, and general thought. So it’s good to know how others might be using them, to make sure you are at least all reading from the same page…
(c) K Wicks
What’s In A Name? – article reading
Playing Chicken
Some of you might have played that game in your childhood. The skill-based danger game of dodging traffic. The point is to get to the other side unharmed, and ideally not cause a crash or issue other than to show off to your mates. Or prove something to them and yourself.
But lately it feels like a big weird game of chicken going on, with higher stakes, more showing off, not so much care for not causing harm to others, and strangely, actual chickens are now involved. We know there are extra regulations trying to muscle their way into food production, farming and agriculture generally. Herd culls, rewilding, printed ‘meat’, raw milk, numbers, stats and targets from models and ideas of control. All of it neatly leading to a major disruption in the well laid systems there for food sustainability. Almost as if they think people have lost the ability to think ahead or imagine consequences. And if you understand that the ones playing chicken want those consequences, well, like I said, it ups the stakes and changes the ‘game’ somewhat.
Birds – there has been various attempts on the bird population along the way, or it could have just simply been a benign way to familiarise people with the programming to come. To believe the news when they talk of a virus, to accept what scientists say about it, to have fear about what it could become. And then the inevitable effect it has on the farm, or area they designate as being ‘infected’. Then other species become the target, and nobody notices because its small and one farm at a time, one sanctuary, one factory, one industry at a time. Slowly cutting it all back.
Chickens – like I said, chickens and birds have been used before for purpose of whipping up a frenzy and used as a handy tool. Currently a rule is attempting to come into force in October in the UK, to force anyone who keeps domestic birds or chickens to register them. Just like previous times which has morphed into The Digital Doomsday Database, this is adding to that upgrade.
Because chickens are rather awesome, they provide a consistent food source which is highly nutritious for us, and potentially many other benefits. They are great at dealing with food scraps, eat insects and vermin, therefore are natural pest control, and are an extra food source if needed.
Food chain – I think of the overall importance of each farm animal that gets targeted the most, and clearly cows and chickens are top of the list. And for cows, they also provide consistently, have extra purpose and uses, are food and help to keep the land in check. But, I also realised that the raw milk aspect might be linked to the amazing discovery of curing smallpox, as when that was prevalent, it was milk maids they say who didn’t get infected. Leading me to wonder if certain animals are there to protect us in a way, through that process of eating. Strange I know, but when everything seems so perfectly placed and developed for our consumption, I wonder if it is necessary.
I’ve already speculated on eating soulless and dead food that has never had ‘life’ in You Are What You Eat, and is the opposite view I guess to the vegetarian or vegan thought process behind it. That we need certain things to remain part of what we have come to know as the natural world, like in Spirited Away when the supernatural food is eaten, they become part of the weird and unnatural landscape. And it really is starting to feel as though a very weird and unnatural landscape is trying to be created, attempting to deceive your senses and replace your instinct. But deep down, we know, or at least many do, that this is not the way it is meant to be…
(c) K Wicks
Big, Yet Small
I have already written articles about Giants, and their smaller counterpart covered in Little People, but this one was of thinking of how we have represented the smaller version in stories and films. Wondering again if there is some kind of smaller world we aren’t entirely aware of, or that we are the smaller ones and world already.
Alice in Wonderland – and that first strange room she needed to get through. With the eat me and drink me potions to make her big and small to fit through the door. But because everything was quite off there, it was difficult to discern thereafter, how big or small anything was as there was no starting point. Alice herself would have been the starting point had she remained the same size as in the ‘real world’, but as she didn’t, you weren’t able to tell unless they hinted at a large difference, i.e. walking through the ‘oversized’ flowers, making us think again that Alice was small and the flowers were what we would think of as normal size.
Honey I shrunk the kids – this shouldn’t really need any further explanation, even if you haven’t seen it, the title really does tell it like it is. The perils of being small in a big world, although comedy, was still a good idea to convey the sudden differences faced when you are a very small fish in a big pond.
Inner Space – a film about shrinking down someone to be put into the bloodstream of a human body. Seemed like just a bit of fun back then, these days, not so much once you know what scientists appear to be getting up to.
Downsizing – one I haven’t seen other than a clip for the trailer, of people wanting to shrink down to a smaller size to they can have more and be less of a drain on the normal size world. Creating a miniature functioning society, where the old world becomes full of giants and rather large structures, and the new small world gets on or something like that. Maybe what we think of as giants of the past, were just normal, and we were the shrunken weirdos?
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Mike TV, the annoying kid who gets transported into the television, but shrunk down as was the chocolate bar, to be fully formed, just smaller, or indeed, larger.
It’s a fascinating and crazy idea when you think of either supersizing, or minimising something which then remains intact and as it was just with a new size. And given all the things we have in the world which show where things were indeed much larger, and we have all been scaled down through temperature, climate and atmosphere over time. Imagine if that change was more instantaneous and could be caused by those things, it might be of interest to then create something that could harness that potential. Creating large and small as needed rather than waiting for nature to mosey along on its own timescale, people are impatient and mortal, so I can see why we find it hard to ‘wait and see’. But all that tinkering and experimenting comes at a price, and one I am not sure we are yet aware of…
(c) K Wicks
MKW Publishing 