I Hate the Internet

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last ten years, you are well aware of the fact that the internet is taking over everything. Need a job? Internet. Want a date? Internet. Want to catch up with a friend? Internet. Pursuing a college degree? Internet. Need clothes, shoes, food, electronics, a pet monkey? Internet. You get the point. I’d go as far as to say that if I really wanted to, I could live a fairly productive life without ever leaving my house in this day and age. The thing is, unlike many of my peers, I am really uninterested in a cyber life. Sure, it can be convenient at times, but in my opinion it’s just not worth the cost. Our culture of E-everything is destroying…

1.      Our ability to communicate face-to-face

2.      Paper books (screw you, Kindle)

3.      MY FUTURE CAREER

The first two probably make sense to you. Let me explain the third. I am pursuing a degree in journalism. I want to write. I want to share stories with people, stories that will change their lives and open their eyes to the injustices occurring in their world so that they can change their world. I want to write for a newspaper.

No, I’m not a hipster. I truly believe in the power of news and the organic beauty of news stories that I can hold in my hands. To me, there is something about a newspaper that the internet will never be able to replicate. Maybe it’s the idea that anyone, regardless of motive, education, intelligence, dedication, passion, or bias can write “news” online. The internet allows anyone to call himself a “journalist,” and that just doesn’t sit right with me.

I polled my Facebook friends to gain some insight on how they stay informed about the goings-on in the world. Thirteen out of fifteen people said that the internet is their primary news source. Eleven out of fifteen do not read their local newspaper. These odds do not bode well for the once-trusted, once-beloved local newspaper.

As much as it breaks my little journalist heart, I do not believe that any newspaper will survive unless it is available online. Therefore, I have to say that of the Newspapers available to us today, the local paper has the least chance of survival. As for the New York Times vs. USA Today, my vote for long-term survival goes to USA Today. It is more readily available online, it is written for the masses, and there are more pictures…I mean, who doesn't love a good picture?

I wish that I could change this. I wish that I could make people fall back in love with the news in print. Maybe this will get their attention…

#bringbackthenewspaper

Magazines are Trying to Kill You

No, no, I didn't come across a knife-wielding magazine recently. Unfortunately, it's much worse than that. If you are male or female, 10 years old or 90 years old, rich or poor, you, my friend, are a target. Chances are you didn't even know how aggressively magazine producers have been victimizing you. I want you to think about the last time that you were in the grocery store check-out line and scanning what I like to call the "impulse buy" shelves. Scattered next to the candy, assorted magazines vied for your attention. Their silent screams were communicating things to you that you would never receive if they were uttered from a friend, family member, co-worker, or even a stranger. 

You need to lose weight. 

You need better clothes. 

Don't even think about leaving the house without make-up.

Don't you dare age. 

You're not sexy enough.

You aren't worth anything without ______.

I'm not questioning your intelligence. In the back of your mind, the idea that you might be letting a magazine define your worth probably seems outrageous. But is it really? 

Studies done by the National Institute on Media and the Family show that largely due to the image of women portrayed on magazines (which is getting thinner and thinner, by the way), by age 13, 53% of girls in America are "unhappy with their bodies." By the age of 17, this number grows to 78%. Learn more here.

Take a look at what magazines call "beautiful." 

Evolution

Body Evolution

There is nothing real about the counterfeit "beauty" that magazines are selling. Imitation beauty sells because it is cheap. True beauty comes from within, but unfortunately our culture is such that we worship physical appearance. Ironically, and I know this from personal experience, the more make-up you buy and the more fad diets you try, it is never enough. Why? Because you're trying to attain something that doesn't exist. Magazines and the media are trying to kill everything that makes you unique. They seek to strip you of your you-ness so that you become a shell, empty of life and joy and zeal and full of discontentment, jealousy, and hopelessness. If they can just do that, then they have you. Don't buy into it. Don't let them win. Don't trade your life for an airbrushed one.