You’d think everyone would have by now figured out that “expressing themselves” on the web without first essentially “TV producing” themselves to project exactly the desired personality – however spur-of-whatever-moment their postings may be – is, unfortunately, a very bad idea in this here “global democracy” that we live in.
And that “democracy” is increasingly, and disturbingly, less here to communicate, exchange ideas, or debate anything with you. It doesn’t seem interested in teaching you anything that you might not know, either – even if you are a youth, say, a university student – where education rather than summary judgment and punishment should be the very idea behind the whole system.
In other words, this “democracy” rules with an iron fist – it punishes its victims and swiftly moves on to the next case.
Now, say what you like about “Stalin’s Russia” – but at least that state system never tried to falsely represent itself as any kind of democracy. And if you’re competing with the very low bar set by it – and failing – they we all have a problem here.
Now let’s see how it manifests in this day and age, as presented to the world by America’s corporate media, in this case, NBC News.
A short posting on the website of this media giant builds a story up as one outrageously controversial: it says that a Texas Hardin-Simmons University student has been found to post racist TikToks, and has subsequently been expelled. (“No longer enrolled” – that’s some Newspeak-like turn of phrase.)
If it’s true that most online news readers nowadays hardly ever read anything except the headlines – most people would think this is simply about some doofus being hateful and getting their just deserts.
But as per NBC News – and those who bothered to make it to the latter part of this “news report” – in their TikTok, the student “appears to claim that people overreact to the deaths of Black people killed by white people but don’t react the same way to incidents in which a white person is killed by someone who is Black.”
In another time – in a calm and democratic, and especially learning and scientific setting – this would simply provide a topic for a debate, especially for someone so young, and with their whole life ahead of them to learn and grow.
Not this time, though, especially amidst rising tensions. This student is “no longer enrolled.” Hardin-Simmons feels safe for the night – and NBC News is working its media “magic,” as per usual.
Yet – nothing feels quite right about this “all good” outcome here.
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