My experience after taking the Red Pill: Embracing the reality of identity politics/corruption.
The political issue was something unexplorable in my youth. And that must be normal, since there are aspects of life that are more important at that moment, and that influences our maturity. For some, politics is never a relevant issue in their lives, unless the consequences derived from it directly affect them.
And that was exactly what happened to me.
In this post, i want to tell you how taking the red pill had helped me to be on the right side of this Information War that is being fought.
My family is of a high oil industry tradition. My maternal grandfather was a submarine welder in Lake of Maracaibo, in Venezuela. My father, a worker in the oil industry for more than 30 years, enjoyed the privileges of working in a thriving industry, with a discipline of work of first level. It belonged to the PDVSA that was among the best oil companies in the world. But, the reforms of Hugo Chávez on a political, economic and social level, changed the lives of all Venezuelans, including mine. And not for good.
The oil strike of 2002 was the definitive moment that set my political bias during the last 15 years. Everything that Hugo Chavez symbolized in life seemed to be evil symbolized in a person, and everything opposite to this was justice, the good. All these thoughts / feelings that came because of events that affected us personally, marked my intolerant position. Often arguments against visions opposed to mine ended in long-standing friendships terminated and broken family relationships. I remember a lot what @stevescoins wrote about the personal cost of participating in the Information War. The feelings of anger were very strong, and the disappointment, even greater.
I have often heard Churchill's saying:
He who is not revolutionary at 20 years of age does not have a heart, but he who remains at the age of 40 does not have a brain.
And that is kind of true. We as young people, believe in ideals on how life should be. Some believe in socialism, social democracy, communism to solve the needs of the people, and others believe in capitalism / free market as the fair way to bring prosperity to people who really work to achieve it.
When you grow old, that changes.
When I graduated as an engineer and had my first job in the oil industry, my mind changed.
When I saw how this socialist government was exploiting poor people to have electoral gains, my mind changed.
When I saw so-called strong detractors of Chávez government making business with the government, my mind changed.
When I see everyday how so-called opposition leaders call for action agendas while they're traveling everywhere with their families in safe havens, my mind changed.
When I see that so-called democracy has been used to oppress people by elections, my mind changed.
When I see corruption everywhere, no matter the political ideology, my mind changed.
So, I decided to take the red pill. I wanted to see reality as it is.
My Reality: We live in a corrupt world.
I was faced with the reality: I can't change the world by myself. But I can evolve in my views on life to have peace of mind and help others that are in my sphere of influence, if they want. I still have my political views. I am still opposed to any socialist doctrins. But now, my political views do not depend on what politicians spread as ideology or propaganda. Because politicians have their own agendas, and their own views on how their regions/countries should be, primarily to make them feel good as they acheive their place in history, and then by helping others, if they really want to. There is no altruism at all.
I trust my gut more than I trust you: Do not see it as an act of pride. I've learned from the saying: "if it's too good to be true, then it probably isn't." Even with my wife and my parents I have had discussions about what they have seen in the news, and when I doubt their veracity, I always tell them. They do not like that, because obviously they may feel offended by believing that I dismiss their sources, but I have often been right after all. We cannot believe in everything we hear, read or even see. We have to challenge our minds to find the truth beneath them.
Just by watching the example of the digitally manufactured Obama video you can know why:
With this, I do not say that I am the most suitable source of truth. I have my thoughts biased towards my views about life. What I am saying is that now, with the maturity of being an adult, comes the conviction of what one expects from the future when the way forward is cleared. It is a little harder to deviate when my vision is wider.
Even so, the path of learning has not ended at all. I have a life ahead of me. Maybe I have to take other red pills on that road. I hope so, and that its side effects are less traumatic for me.
It is our duty to spread the truth. If you agree, i invite you to resteem the post.
The Information War is real.
Join #INFORMATIONWAR @ Discord: https://discord.gg/tDhaBS2
That's a great story. I can relate to the costs of standing by the truth when your friends and loved ones all want to believe a lie just to get by. It's tough to stand by your convictions in those situations, especially when the short term gains are so tempting. I know how I felt when I used to bow to that social pressure and won't go back to that way of life.
Welcome to Steemit @metalmag25 :)
Keeping it real. Great post. Love when people weave in their stories and the lessons life provides.
Resteeming.
Nice post. It's well written and I like the personal reflection aspect. The ideas surrounding truth in society is interesting. I personally do not know if we can ever arrive at the truth. Reality is continuously being constructed by millions of different subjective perspectives which are all being influenced by a variety of cognitive heuristics (short cuts and biases) which make them perceive reality differently. Truth to one individual may not be truth to another. The post has given me something to think about and reflect on so I thank you for that.
Tag spam?
Nope.
Informationwar: tags that it's used when postín about fighting propaganda, fake news and disinformation.
Reality: Article subject.
Criticalthinking: Article subject.
Polítics: Article Subject.
Introduceyourself: Any new personal aspect of myself based in my life Story that I want to present as an individual on the platform, as i did in this post, qualifies for the tag.
Thanks!
"Introduceyourself: Any new personal aspect of myself based in my life Story that I want to present as an individual on the platform, as i did in this post, qualifies for the tag" totally thought it was for introducing yourself only. I think some disagree with you...but I'm new so I'm not too sure. Guess I'll bring it up on the next Steeming Pile and ask the crowd!
There's always discussions on how this tag must be used. Purists think that it only must be used once, when you begin on the platform. I agree that some people use it as you thought I used it. But I believe that no person is able to share all his story in one introduceyourself post. So this is the third time in more than 300 posts that I use it.
I believe you're doing fine! Good thing that you're aware of the good use of tags here on steemit. That will be helpful for you to have success.
Curated for #informationwar (by @truthforce)
Relevance: Red Pill
The 'osbama' video is exactly why it is time that politicians need to stop their lies, and publish everything they do
But in a world where only a expert liar is able to become a succesful politician this will be a culture shock.
Not sure if it is even possible to make that change in a time like this where about every person that does not die from natural causes is in one way or another a victim of a political agenda.