I would like to present the people with the greatest-rising association with the word “terrorist,” every year from 2005-2023, according to Google Trends. Some of these examples demonstrate the demonization of different identity groups by society over time as well as the wide variety of cases the term “terrorist” is used for.

The names in this article are based on worldwide data, not country-specific data. I know data may vary depending on country, but I think basing it on worldwide data can show us the enemy of the country that was the most powerful at the time.

In 2005, the face of terrorism was Volkswagen.

In 2006, the face of terrorism was Zinedine Zidane.                                     

In 2007, the face of terrorism was Achmed the Dead Terrorist.

In 2008, the face of terrorism was Bill Ayers.

In 2009, the face of terrorism was the Taliban.

In 2010, the face of terrorism was Carlos the Jackal.

In 2011, the face of terrorism was Osama bin Laden.

In 2012, the face of terrorism was Anna Hazare.

In 2013, the face of terrorism was Dzhokar A Tsarnaev.

In 2014, the face of terrorism was the Islamic State.

In 2015, the faces of terrorism were Christian terrorists.

In 2016, the face of terrorism was Black Lives Matter.

In 2017, the faces of terrorism were anti-fascists.

In 2018, the faces of terrorism were Islamic terrorists.

In 2019, the face of terrorism as the United States Coast Guard.

In 2020, the faces of terrorism were the U.S. State Department List of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.

In 2021, the face of terrorism was the Taliban.

In 2022, the face of terrorism was state-sponsored terrorism.

In 2023, the face of terrorism was Hamas.

I knew it! Social media is depersonalizing how we view each other! From 2014 onward, the enemy has been organizations, while from 2005-2013, it has been mostly individuals. Honestly, I enjoyed it more back then, when people understood that there was variation within groups.

Can you make out any other patterns from the data?

#Terrorism #GoogleTrends #Media #Representation #Culture

You can also view this article at https://medium.com/@non-monetized_together/178a35c76cf1?source=friends_link&sk=8fc18a4ee30a965708e99baf2656929b.

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Image created by AI tool DALL-E 2, the author has the provenance and copyright.

You can also view this article at https://medium.com/non-monetized-together/i-may-be-a-bluepiller-but-im-not-evil-b752f3acbfe0?source=friends_link&sk=eecc74a1e70351205a8466649fca0ccd.

It’s sickening that there are people who tell complete strangers online that their most painful struggles are imaginary and that if they just ignore the pain, things will get better.

For example, I’ve seen this attitude expressed towards one of the most depressed and isolated communities on the Internet — the “blackpill.” This term refers to an incel group founded on the belief that no matter what they do, they are predetermined to never find someone who will fall in love with them. They’re also extremely isolated due to the blackpill philosophy being at odds with mainstream society’s understanding of relationships, which the blackpillers refer to as the bluepill. So, on top of feeling lonely, they also feel that no one outside of the blackpill understands them.

Some may notice the unbearable mix of anguish and hopelessness on blackpill forums and wonder why anyone would choose to be a blackpiller, but you have to remember that people don’t choose philosophies, they adopt them based on their experiences and the evidence presented to them. Hence, some bluepillers have suggested that even though blackpillers show a lot of hate towards women, they may just be lost souls and that they deserve mental health support from bluepillers.

While I am not opposed to this suggestion in theory, I keep seeing bluepillers use this as an excuse to message blackpillers they don’t even know, insisting that the bluepill is the way to go and that they can find love if they just adhere to a predetermined handful of bluepilled strategies. This would be tone-deaf even if they were just messaging other bluepillers who struggle to find love, because these are complete strangers and because things can be more complicated than that. But considering they are talking to people who are convinced that a) blackpill philosophy is real, b) that it is taking away their reason to live, and c) that the bluepill ignores these issues? Unbelievable. I can only envision this isolating blackpillers even more and worsening their mental health.

The first rule of making someone feel understood is to take their current situation into account. Based on what I’ve seen in my life, the bluepill is accurate, not the blackpill, but I need to remember that this does not reflect the blackpillers’ experiences. What do you do when talking to someone who already believes there’s no solution to their loneliness?

Why not just tell them: “I can understand that you are going through mental agony, and I’m sad that you feel this way.” End of story! Then you might make them feel more understood without advocating for the blackpill.

I hope that if any blackpillers are reading this, that I’ve shown them that bluepillers don’t necessarily have to be blind towards blackpill struggles. They may never take the blue pill again, but at least they don’t have to feel so hateful towards mainstream society after all.

#MentalHealth #Isolation #Society #Culture #Loneliness

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Medium comments:

Maybe no matter what color pill someone identifies with, self-obsession is the culprit of their flaws. For instance, self-loathing and self-exaltation are two sides of the same coin. The key may be to stop thinking about yourself to feel better about life.

Robbie Newport

Interesting point. Yeah, it would be great if people cared more about people they talk with online and what they're going through. Think of it this way. The Internet allows you to communicate with people you would have never been able to talk to in person. If people embrace the Internet from this perspective, instead of using it to reinforce the type of bonds they make in real life, then maybe that will help them use the Internet to be less self-obsessed and more understanding of others.

Kevin the Nonmonetized

Photo courtesy of geralt/Pixabay

I listen to lots of electronic music but haven’t been to a nightclub. I just don’t see the purpose of them in today’s society and am surprised they are not viewed as obsolete. I can’t think of a single purpose they would serve that the Internet doesn’t do better, even without the pandemic.

If you want to find new music, you can get a streaming service and discover new music with the algorithm feature. Or you could search through music review websites (such as Spin, Consequence, or Pitchfork) or music databases (like Discogs, RateYourMusic, and last. FM) to find something that interests you.

If you want to socialize with friends, you could hang around at someone’s house and play music there. This seems much better than clubbing to me. You can play whatever you want, bring whatever you want, it’s free, and it’s safer.

If you want to meet new people that have similar tastes in music, you could just hop onto social media and look them up there.

I’d love to hear what anybody else thinks of this.

Also, don’t you think it’s kind of inconvenient that they are only open late at night? Nightclubs are probably missing huge economic opportunities by not being open during the day and the evening.

This article was originally posted to Medium on May 16, 2022 (https://medium.com/illumination/how-have-nightclubs-managed-to-survive-the-internet-3ee9d2cf0f55?source=friends_link&sk=ffc5e9f53047dca859594a9e6d9363e6).

#Technology #Recreation #Music #Culture #Sociology

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gbarkz/Unsplash

I believe that when people are exposed to a concept or perspective they have never heard of before, their minds respond by forming new thoughts they never had before. It doesn’t matter whether or not they agree with the concept or perspective. Either way, it can get people’s mental wheels a-spinning, it can start a meaningful conversation, and it can take a portion of society into some bold new intellectual territory.

That’s what I will try to do with this article. In order to encourage a conversation, I will describe an idea that few have considered. Only when people mull the idea over and share their thoughts in the comments section will this article have any purpose. I don’t care about making you agree with me, I just want you to think for yourself about what I have to say.

Okay, here it is. Could the dominant type of food made by corporations be considered cultural cuisine? I’m referring to chain restaurants mostly. You could also include supermarket food, but I think you can make a stronger argument for chain restaurants. I’m not referring to food that is made for profit by people who maintain respect for food as a cultural form. I’m talking about food that was made solely as a means for profit. I personally prefer to think of it as cultural cuisine because it’s what I grew up with and what I’m used to, so I culturally identify with it.

The main reason why I think mainstream capitalist food could be cultural cuisine is that we can easily distinguish it from that of other cultures. It is often really flavourful but in a different way than other cultures. What I mean by this is that most examples of corporate food will only have one or two flavours at once, but they will be really intense flavours. This is different than regional cultural food, which will usually have a rich blend of simultaneous subtle flavours. However, capitalist food empires will sometimes let you customize your order so you can add a greater variety of flavours to your meal if you want.

Additionally, the food I grew up with is unique in its production process. It is made quickly, cheaply, and often frozen. Major capitalist food has its own distinct methods of packaging, which can include plastic wrap, Styrofoam containers, and cans, but considering how wasteful this is, we can be glad that not all mass-market food uses this packaging.

A potential opposing argument could be that this type of food was not formed from cultural conditions, but out of the economic condition of capitalism. The only reason corporate food has all these unique components is so it can create a maximum profit in the contemporary world. On the other hand, what makes non-corporate styles of food special is that they will usually be created out of passion, artistry, or to bring people together.

When a style of food is more attached to economic conditions than cultural conditions, it runs the risk of going extinct when the economic conditions change. If more people start viewing dominant corporate food as representative of a culture, maybe they would be more interested in preserving knowledge of these dishes when the current economic system gets replaced. If these people succeed, then this type of food will survive, but not at the hands of corporations that contribute to the obesity epidemic, the pollution crisis, and the limited availability of alternatives. This type of food will not be mass-produced, mass-promoted, or mass-marketed. Instead, my culture’s food would be made and eaten by individuals and small groups who are passionate about its ingredients, flavours, and ability to satisfy.

#Food #Culture #Economy #Capialism #OutsideTheBoxThinking

This article was originally published on Medium on April 20, 2023 (https://medium.com/illumination/could-mass-market-food-be-cultural-cuisine-80b488b69611?source=friends_link&sk=b36bd130bd2f1f3ae4389bf5ba4ccde8).

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