Misinformation – the 5th Horsemen

Most of us have grown up having knowledge of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and what it represents. The horsemen represent a different facet of the apocalypse: War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. A popular biblical premise most people dismiss as a religious allegory. Yet, another horseman unforeseen by many but known by few has arrived on the world stage in this age of technology. This 5th horseman is called “misinformation.” Now, you may ask, “how do I come to that conclusion?” Simple. We presently live in the 21st century, with the Internet, cellphones, and an abundance of advancement in comfort. Furthermore, our current culture and society freely reveal its individuality, thought process, and reactions to outside stimuli which influence us. Look at all the protests and violent demonstrations. What causes this reaction among people? Misinformation – the cause and effect of most problems we read about today. In addition, technology surrounds us, it monitors us and accompanies us in our daily life. Most of all, technology collects information about us and creates a virtual profile of each individual with a presence on the Internet and the communication superhighway.

It’s ironic really because we champion privacy and security laws to keep us anonymous. We debate concerns about securing information about us, only to post it, text it and communicate it without compromise.

However, the 5th horseman I am speaking of is not technology by itself – the 5th horseman incorporates big tech companies, the media, and political systems around the globe. These Political systems consist of politicians people hopelessly vote into office thinking they will defend the rights of their constituents and are faithful to the truth. No, we’ve got this version of the fairytale all wrong. It’s a delusion.

This so-called truth, communicated to us on a 24-hour basis is subjective truth and not objective truth. This is part of an Orwellian system in our midst to control the hearts and minds of the complacent and ostracize others recognizing that truth – that society is being misguided and progressively made submissive despite the truth. Don't forget either about the entertainment industry, which one can lump together with the media.
Okay, I know what you are thinking right about now. Another conspiracy theorist. Not at all. There is no conspiracy if you consider that what I reveal is something you’ve come across in your life at least once or twice. I am not going to try to convince you about the 5th Horseman; no, I am going to reveal him. Shed light on his agenda and the tools he’s using to misguide your critical thinking and cloud your thoughts with distractions. Distractions of selfishness, instant gratification, and the absence of responsibility. Furthermore, in revealing his true purpose, it’s important to note that your information is packaged to powerful entities who use it to further an agenda of control and domination. A global agenda of deception.

The first tool in the arsenal is the big tech companies, which provide us with software and hardware making life easier, convenient, automated but you have to give up information about yourselves, your likes, dislikes, desires, and habits. Purpose? It’s the gathering of information about your world views. What you think is your place in society and who you think society can do without. It’s akin to revealing your deepest secrets about how you see the world as opposed to what you tell everyone else you think. And we do this unwittingly because it’s an inconsequential trade-off providing information about yourselves; for some, it’s an opportunity to feel important, heard, and a part of the crowd. To be “woke” or in the now. Or for the sake of convenience without considering how the information on you is being collected. And later on, used to profile you.

You say, so what? I don’t do anything wrong or have anything to hide. Well, if I collected enough information about you, I would know how to “push your buttons,” sort of speaking. Do you recall how the New York Police Department demonstrated profiling of random citizens and portrayed it as a defense against terrorism, it was dubbed “Stop and Frisk.” And although their method didn’t involve any real technologies, they were permitted to collect data on people randomly. This controversial method set a precedent for collecting information on you. What if I collected data on you to build a profile? What could I do with it? Could I influence your decisions or misinform you? In other words, I could use this information to manipulate your likes and dislikes, simply put. Consider how Facebook posts advertisements on your page based on your searches, likes, and who you follow. Some will argue, it’s convenient and nothing more. Really? What about the manipulation of voters or better yet the suppression of free speech? Is this a coincidence? Or is the information collected on you a blueprint to changing how you think? To eventually control what to think? A progressive method to brainwash you into submission.

The second tool is the media. A once-respected institution for gathering and reporting the truth, but now the news reported contains innuendos, half-truths, or the real truth left out purposefully to misguide you. Yes, the media has been bought out to large corporations or special interest groups and politicians to manipulate the truth which is fed to you in many forms – television, radio, and newspapers. The dissemination of the truth nowadays is considered subjective truth. Opinions of news providers who have their own opinions, ideologies that are not part of the real news. Whatever happened to objective truth? Oh, it still exists, but you can’t read about it as it doesn’t sell papers or doesn’t equate to the media outlets' profit shares. The principles of reporting the truth have long since gone as the news became a 24-hour business model. Misinformation sells in the name of the almighty dollar. Look at newscasters, reporters who have joined the ranks of Hollywood figures to enrich themselves and their pockets – selling a narrative of lies and deceit. I’m not saying they’re all like this, but how many times have the newspapers and reporters had to retract their statements – more than I can count. And usually, after the fact, once the objective to discredit or destroy the reputation of a business or person of interest is accomplished. By that time the message is embedded in the subconsciousness of the intended audience. You the public.

What about Hollywood? The primary focal point is to distract the masses and promote an idolization of the elite. And their method is very effective. As the entertainment industry promotes a variety of ideas, messages to the public while portraying themselves as demi-gods for you to hang on their every word. Words that are as truthful as a phony five-dollar bill. Yet, the public’s admiration for these false gods is overwhelmingly real. Examples of their influence are heard in their music and public admonition of the rules of society.

The third and possibly not the final tool is the political system with corrupt politicians not all, but a good number. Politicians have demonstrated time and again amending laws predominantly to serve the agendas that benefit themselves and not their constituents or the country. So why should the truth be any different? To a corrupt politician, the truth is subjective as well – especially with interest groups providing monetary support of their campaign or funding support of bills or laws to help to shape the truth for public consumption. With basically no term limits and the authority to give themselves raises – what would it benefit them to be truthful? They purport their influence with media outlets sharing in the same ideology that serves the purpose of special interest groups or the elite.
So, the 5th horseman uses the political system to engage in the deterioration of the truth – through deceit and political jousting that keeps you the people misinformed. This political mafia on both sides of the aisle has and will continue to deceive you or create an atmosphere in the public to keep you against each other while distracting us to conduct other types of business to push agendas that don’t serve the public. Agendas that eventually restrict your freedoms and keep you in the dark. These agendas serve to keep the public misinformed while – permitting the erosion of your civil liberties. Their political goals are dictated to them by the elite who would prefer the enslavement of the people than their freedom.

By now, you realize the 5th Horseman is not a person, but a societal attitude with key manipulators in well-placed roles of authority, financial institutions, and news outlets as influencers. You know them well – Hollywood personalities, politicians, the well-to-do. Yes, “Misinformation” truly is the 5th horseman if not the 1st horseman of a bleak future being welcomed with open arms. Ending with a handful of the elite calling the shots and demanding tribute and worship to further their egos until it comes to an abrupt halt. Unfortunately, I think we cannot avoid this 5th horseman’s path of misinformation because we remain distracted with loving ourselves and not each other. Permitting the said truth to thrive in your mind versus researching and looking for the real truth. I think it’s time the truth be realized as painful as it might be.