Bombarded from all sides but fighting back

We’re just into the early part of February and already, it feels like 2025 is going to be one very, very turbulent year. I’ve been an activist in various guises ever since the late 1970s and what we’re going through at the moment is the weirdest and most dystopian situation I’ve experienced to date. Yes, I know that the internet, and social media in particular, amplifies things and fills your feed with a non-stop stream of ‘news’ stories, commentaries and opinion pieces. Yes, I know that all of this constitutes a media blitz coming at you from all sides that leaves many people feeling overwhelmed. However, even after you’ve discounted all of that, what’s going on in the world at the moment still feels very weird and increasingly dystopian.

I will acknowledge that the information/disinformation blitz coming at us from all sides is a part of that weirdness and also, part of the slide towards dystopia. With the bewildering amount of ‘news’, commentary and opinion coming at us, it’s impossible to keep up with it all. Understandably, many people feel bludgeoned by it all and feel that the only option that will help keep them sane is to switch off and not even attempt to keep up with all the agendas and narratives that are being pushed upon us 24/7. I’ll be honest and admit that there have been a few times when for a short period, I’ve done just that!

What I try to do is manage my online and social media news, information and opinion sources in a way that while I still get access to a range of viewpoints, I’m not getting bombarded to the point where I get totally overwhelmed. Because when you get overwhelmed, you give up and withdraw. That my friends, is exactly what the powers that be want, for us to get overwhelmed, demoralised to the point of helplessness and then withdraw from any meaningful attempt to understand the world we live in, let alone change it. The idea being that when the brown stuff really does hit the fan, we’ll be looking to those who presume to rule over us to look after our interests.

It could be argued that as far as those who presume to rule over us are concerned, it may be a bit too late for them to rely on the populace at large to look to them for protection. The rise of a range of movements across and beyond the political spectrum suggests that people are looking for alternatives. Some are genuine, grassroots ones. Others feel more than a little bit contrived. Some are just absolute cons. Some provide genuine alternatives. Others lead people up the proverbial garden path.

Let’s focus for a bit on the more contrived alternatives and, the absolute cons. What the likes of Extinction Rebellion (XR) have offered as an alternative is definitely not to everyone’s taste, that’s for sure! That’s because of the feeling among a fair number of people that the issue of CO2 emissions and climate change have been weaponised as part of the agenda to implement the Fourth Industrial Revolution, a.k.a. the ‘great reset’. Hence the impression that it’s all a bit contrived. Going right across the spectrum to the populists such as Reform here in the UK and Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA), you have political currents that either spark blind, unquestioning loyalty or, fear and contempt. They’re like Marmite, you either love or hate them – there’s no being neutral about them.

The thing is, from XR all the way over to Reform and MAGA, while their objectives are seemingly miles apart from each other, they all appear to be, in one form or another, top down movements. They suck in a lot of anger and energy and in a range of ways, serve to channel it. Some have called this ‘controlled opposition’ – I’m inclined to think that they have a point. Taking a few steps back, it’s fascinating how people get taken in by false prophets, whether that’s Roger Hallam of XR or the likes of Nigel Farage of Reform, little Tommy Robinson, or Trump and Musk to name but a few.

As for the likes of Farage, Trump and Musk, while some may regard them as ‘anti-establishment’ heroes, they’re in place to do the dirty work for a criminocratic system that’s in a massive state of flux at the moment. They’re there for a reason but, not the one that many people uncritically assume to be. It’s fascinating but also, pretty bloody alarming how, after what’s been done to us over the last five years, that people are still looking to some kind of leader figure to ‘save’ them when all they’re going to do is screw you right over. Something that a lot of Trump supporters will be finding out the hard way sooner rather than later.

That’s before we get onto the chancers and grifters who back in 2020 and 2021, were leeching off the various currents of opposition to the Covid lockdowns and vaccine mandates. Regarding these leechers, grifters and populist false prophets, I wrote this piece towards the end of last year: Getting away from the fear porn merchants, rage baiters, pedants and grifters – 30.12.24. There are a lot of these people on social media, the collective impact of which, intentionally or not, is stoking anger, spreading fear and fostering disillusionment and withdrawal. Which means that, wittingly or unwittingly, they’re doing the work of those who presume to rule over us.

The bastards who presume to rule over us want us atomised, fearful and looking to them for solutions. The problem is that it’s always seems to be a case of problem, reaction and then ‘solution’. Problems that those who presume to rule over us either create themselves or allow to happen. The reaction all too often being one whipped by mainstream media, so called ‘alternative’ media and last but by no means least, social media frenzy. The ‘solution’ all too often being more authoritarianism, all too often delivered by the high technology so beloved by reactionary tech bros such as Elon Musk and Peter Thiel. Please, do not allow yourselves to get played…

As I mentioned earlier, we’re in weird and increasingly dystopian times. At the same time, we’re in a period where we’re subjected to ‘news’, opinion and outrage overload. I totally get why many people simply choose to switch off, withdraw and live their lives as best they can. The problem is that the bastards who presume to rule over us are increasingly screwing up our lives to the point where for a growing number of people, it’s difficult to survive, let alone prosper. The bastards have left us with little choice but to engage in the fight for a better world. As have those who shrill for the false idols such as Farage, Trump and Musk to name but a few who have left us with no choice but to fight back.

The worshippers of false idols along with the fear porn merchants and rage baiters have to be seen for what they really are – a distraction from what we really need to be doing. Arguably in a fair few cases, a deliberate distraction. Once this can be seen and these people start to get the hostility but also, the ridicule they so richly deserve that will take them down, we can continue with the task of changing the world for the better. Having said this, we need to be getting on with changing the world now, as plenty of people are actually doing:)

I know I keep banging on about our sister project, At the grassroots. Yet again, I’ll reproduce it’s mission statement because it hopefully offers the message that change is possible in the here and now:

It’s easy to know what you’re against in a dysfunctional, unsustainable and increasingly dystopian world. Railing against the world we have to endure may make you feel better but…does it lead to positive change? We know that the political, economic and social system we inhabit is rapidly heading towards its use by date and that we have to bring about radical change if we’re going to survive. There are many ways of bringing about the change that’s needed. What this project is about is what can be done in the here and now to boost sustainability, community cohesion and neighbourhood resilience in an increasingly volatile world. It’s about building the new world we need and want in the decaying shell of the old one we currently endure.

By all means keep up with what’s going on in the world but, try to do so in a way that keeps you informed but doesn’t overwhelm you. I know, it’s easy to say but, hard to practice… Don’t look to leaders. Don’t look to false prophets and idols. Definitely don’t look to grifters, chancers and charlatans. Look to yourself, your friends and neighbours and the community where you live. Look at where you live, what the problems are and, with willing people in the community, look at ways of fixing them. Then look at ways of building the world we want in the shell of the dysfunctional and dystopian one we currently have to endure.

In this piece, there are a few brief thoughts on how this can be achieved: Prefigurative action 23.10.24.

Being against the system doesn’t just mean engaging in reactive activity to events. It’s also about showing the kind of world we want to move towards and fight for. It’s about building the social and community structures we need, so that when revolution does come, we have the foundations ready for the new world we want. It’s about the kind of prefigurative action we can engage in to bring this about. It’s not separate from revolution – it’s an integral part of the process of revolution.

The solutions to existing problems and the path towards a better world lie within each and every one of us. If we can stop, or at least ignore, the bastards spreading fear, demoralising and dividing us, we’re on the way towards a much better place. Step away from the bombardment, take time to reflect, find your people and then fight back and start to build that better world in the here and now.

Dave A