Dear Facebook Friends: Do you feel the water getting hot yet?
We are all familiar with this fable.
The boiling frog is a fable describing a frog being slowly boiled alive. The premise is that if a frog is put suddenly into boiling water, it will jump out, but if the frog is put in tepid water which is then brought to a boil slowly, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death. - Wikipedia
When Facebook started in 2004, it was free and open. Millions of people joined up as a result. When I joined in 2011, I remember a social media site that allowed me to reach thousands of people. When UNGRIP came out, it was a fantastic platform to correspond with those who just saw the film, had questions and wanted to learn more.
The social networking components of the platform were astounding. But in May 2012, Facebook went public and that is when the temperature got turned up. Facebook needed to start generating profit and that is when the algorithms started to be noticeable. Now posts were being restricted. Instead of reaching thousands of people, I could only reach hundreds.
But the problems were even bigger and more insidious than that. They also started censorship protocols. Now if somebody said something that violated 'community standards' you were put into Facebook jail. When big brother starts to dictate what you can or cannot say, that is a BIG problem.
Now I have witnessed friends who create Facebook events and they struggle to get the word out and harassed by Facebook to pay the fee to reach their audience. Users are being held hostage, pay up or nobody hears your message. Yet people continue to support the platform. Their own content being used to provide value for the corporation so that it can also make money through advertising. Facebook revenues are nearly 10 BILLION per quarter.
The water was too hot for me. I had to get out and I miss my friends deeply.
There is another organization that did the same thing. They started out by giving stuff away and life was fairly open. Then over the span of 100 years, that organizations has clamped down as well. Except they don't just resort to holding people as a hostage. They use coercion, force, blackmail, extortion, slavery and any other means possible to keep people captured and enslaved within their organization. Do you know which organization I'm talking about?
The State!
They wiped some people out to get lots of land and then gave it away. Wars were started in order to justify the idea of Income Tax. The tax did not go away. Then to entice people even further, they introduced Social Insurance and had to distribute Social Insurance Numbers so that they can keep track of the program. Then came Employment Insurance, Pensions and all kinds of 'benefits' and 'privileges'. Their objective is to build as much dependency as possible. Most other corporations and businesses focus on the exact same thing, except they call them 'customers'.
Now the heat is so high, people are starting to realize just how uncomfortable it is, but they feel trapped to do anything about it. There are alternatives. We can still keep in touch with one another, share ideas and work through this paradigm shift that is currently unfolding. We can do this peacefully as well! But it does require that we are fully present and aware of ALL our relationships and work at being as independent as possible.
The state is a bully, abuser and violent offender. So too is Facebook, Youtube, Google, Monsanto, Banks and all the other multi-national corporations that you can list. The people who own and run these corporations are NOT our friends. They are psychopaths who do not care how you feel or think. Their job is to build dependencies and milk you like a farm animal. We are being milked. Can you feel it? Just watch where your money goes. Where? You got it ... to the corporation and state.
We can escape the farm and many of us have. It is not easy, but if we want freedom and peace, it demands that we take a conscious look at our relationships and say good bye to those who engage in violence. Say good bye to the bullies, murderers, thieves and extortionists. Their behaviours will no longer be tolerated.
There are other options and I would encourage people look into open source, distributed technologies and ideas to stay connected. Yes, Steemit blockchain is one such platform that fits that model. Right now it is open and free. If we can keep it free, then we can avoid the pitfalls of totalitarianism. Freedom is hard work and we must resist the urge to engage in force to shut other people up. Freedom requires boundaries, knowledge, wisdom, support, community and self-confidence.
We can do this! It will take time to decolonize our way of life, thinking and feeling. But we can do it! We must succeed or we may as well give up now and surrender to the idea that we are nothing more than an old milk cow.
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I left FB (in my mind) years ago due to the algorithm and over-advertising. I left for good when I kept seeing old high school drama and squabbles playing out still. I graduated in 1986, and some girls/ladies were re-hashing arguments from three decades ago. (sigh) It's really sad. Me and drama are not friendly by any means, as I avoid it at every corner and turn.
I noticed when I stopped going there and scrolling, stopped seeing political rants and accusations, etc that my stress level dropped immensely. It's a healthy thing to NOT go on FB.
I haven't been on there to post in forever. I think I posted one picture in the last year and did one post for my birthday in 2017, thanking people for the birthday wishes.
So why do I keep FB? I get to see updated pictures of the grandchildren. Other than that... no use for it. I even asked my kids to text me pics of the grandchildren so I don't even have to go on there.
I bought a new laptop in December 2017, and I haven't even visited FB from the laptop. Honestly... it's logged in on my phone but I can't remember the password even if I wanted to log on from the laptop.
Yeah, leaving facebook can definitely reduce stress, haha! I also don't use it anymore. I used to spend hours every day scrolling and so on. I still have it, but only for messenger. For some reason everybody uses messenger to chat with friends in my country. Nobody sends messages to your number anymore. If not for the messenger, I probably would've deleted facebook a long time ago!
It's odd that you say that. My youngest daughter has terrible phone reception and can't even make or receive calls when she's home (she lives very rural) and my oldest daughter told me they talk through some kind of FB calling/messenger. Like a real phone call.
I'm almost tempted to try it but... I am not so sure about it.I just can't do FB anymore. The thrill of it is gone; has been for quite some time for me.
Yes, you can even make and receive calls. Plus, you can have the messenger app on your phone and you don't have to use facebook in order to use the app.
Ahhhh good to know that.I may have to check into it and surprise her one morning and call her - thank you!!!
Haha, no problem :P
You can bet the entire conversation is recorded! I urge caution.
Someone once told me that Facebook has degraded down to school yard antics and bullying where Steemit is where people come when they want to rise above that and learn how to govern themselves. But even then we witness school yard antics here.
The tool has little influence on the behaviour of the individual. After all, it is only a tool. How we govern ourselves is how we influence the behaviours of others. I do feel that people have a vested interest to ensure this platform goes well and as such behaviour is better. But we still have a long way to go still.
I left facebook 5 months ago and I only share the odd post to try and entice people here. That is what this post was for as I've seen huge, blatant shifts in the behaviour of the corporate empire to milk people for money. At least here people are paid which reflects the value and does not go into the pockets of the corporate giants. But we still have a lot of work here to do too.
Yes it was really sad when I saw two old (female) classmates discussing an incident from maybe 1984... from there it just went off track and name calling started and so much turmoil. All I can do is shake my head and think... "really? I don't have time for the silly nonsense." To make it worse, more classmates joined in and soon the post became ridiculous.
I can govern myself and I know when to back away (be the better person as my dad would always tell us) and seek friendships or relationships elsewhere. It just tears at my soul when I see so much hostility in the world; which is even worse online when people can hide behind a screen.
Indeed. I've started to contemplate that one of the key skills for survival in the coming times is ones ability to process feelings, set boundaries and put shit where it belongs instead of taking it on.
The other critical skill will be the ability to mourn. We are going to be confronted with having to say good bye to friends, family, systems, protocols, ideas, hard work, progress, etc in order to get through the coming shift. Only those who can mourn and let go are going to make it as the changes that are coming are going to be extreme!
Yeah see i dont stress over fb lol i dont read into drama at all, i guess if you get into reading everything you could get worked up but for the most part i use it to talk to friends and family from around the world.
Honestly nothing really gets to me, ive always been pretty laid back and carefree.
This touches upon a post I put up yesterday where I put forth the idea that we need to stop talking about cryptocurrency and blockchain and, instead, push the idea of decentralization.
Centralization is one of the biggest factors in the control over people. Money is through a centralized bank which is the only one who can issue it (of course, they issue it to their banking buddies first). Centralized databases allows entities to sell our data while also putting us at risk. Centralized governmental entities enable them to use force to take what they want. Over and over we see the same thing.
This is 100% correct. What is amazing is people, even on here, still call for the same action. We see many want limits place on what people can say or do. Once that happens, the gate is open and the horse is through. Stopping someone from yelling fire in a crowded theater has become now political correctness which tags anything "hate" speech that one disagrees with.
It is sad that people have the opportunity at freedom yet still call for the same enslaving entities to show up.
I agree with you my friend. I missed your post from yesterday as we are ramping up for spring, so I don't have as much time to spend here.
You are correct. It is a problem that has plagued man kind for thousands of years. We rebel against the system and then implement the EXACT SAME SYSTEM. What we need is an evolution of consciousness, not a revolution. We need to examine our relationships to figure out why we keep falling for these same traps.
I've worked hard for the last 20 years to bring this exact question into our consciousness and I addressed it in my first book; Graduating Life with Honours.
https://steemit.com/book/@wwf/graduating-life-with-honours-full-book-with-links-to-each-chapter
When we start learning how to govern ourselves in peace, THEN and ONLY THEN will we be able to break this cycle. The temptation to engage in force or coercion to make other people live a specific way is just repeating the same old cycle.
We must break the cycle. I work hard to walk that path so that we can at least talk about it. I'm not suggesting that my way is right or correct. I walk the path so that I can start a conversation about these issues. In the mean time, I refuse to participate in their shit and I'll live my life the way I feel it needs to be lived.
Influence can go a long way!!! I have influence in real life as a result of our life style and I now have influence here as well. I will do what I can to influence the path we are on.
The thought has crossed my mind on more than one occasion is people really want freedom?
They say they do, they complain about their jailers, yet when given an opportunity, they react the same way they always did.
Freedom is not easy. It requires diligence and effort. Of course, freedom is an individual choice. Few seem to want it. The actions of late remind me of FB. There was a time, I am sure, when the site was full of people who were cordial, decent, and interactive. Then the trolls showed up.
Name calling, making fun of, and overall degradation of others became the norm. Is that cycle being repeated?
Do these people truly want the jailers?
In my view, things are not uncomfortable enough to over ride the familiarity they feel about their own slavery. They enjoy the benefits and privileges and are willing to put up with surrendering their freedoms and liberties.
However, things will get very uncomfortable and at some point people will have to decide to stay with the familiar or venture out and try something new, foreign, engage in hard work and take a leap of faith.
Scripture says that people will 'receive' the mark and I looked up that word. It means 'to take' or 'receive a gift'. That means they will use their own free will to receive the mark.
I believe that the final game plan is to make people so dependent upon the state and its corporate empires that people will lack any skill, knowledge or the resources to look after themselves. Then everything will crumble. People will go hungry, be homeless and go thirsty. The masters of this planet will then tell them that they will fill their bellies, provide shelter, clothing and even quench their thirst. To receive all this they must accept the mark.
People will beg, plead and completely surrender in order to have their needs met. I've suggested in the past that the birth certificate, social insurance number and other documents like that are the mark or a prelude to the mark. Get ready for it. Soon we will not be able to buy or sell without it.
I am deadly serious when I talk about getting off grid, learning how to live on the land and set healthy boundaries. Our lives depend on it. People are not ready for that yet. So I continue to speak about these issues and when all hell breaks loose, then people will listen. Until then, I continue to do my work to prepare!
The boiling frog is a Wisdom that I use in my life so much... It has a lot of meanings... Facebook, feudal governments, and companies are doing the same way to control us... because they avoid the reaction of the hot water ... they start to slowly raising the temperature even we lose our ability to resist ....
And I found this method also used in the book of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion"... The Zionists control the world by the same way.
We must understand the idea of boiling frog very well, not for use it, but for detection it and move before we lose our strength in the resistance.
And when we move, we shouldn't move to another boiling water...
We managed to escape from the grip of Facebook to Steemit but we must keep on being decentralized in Steemit for we don't fall into another boiling water...
Blockchain and open source are our best choice. Sometimes I don't understand why people use windows system while there is a Linux system ... the most elegant and powerful then windows... I advise everyone to try it.
Thank you, my brother @wwf
Indeed. It is my experience that these tentacles that they have runs so very deep. People call me extreme for selling everything, moving off grid, growing our own food, having no bank accounts, credit cards, line of credit, government issued ID, etc.
However, when one starts to see pots of water all over the place, you will soon realize just how prevalent these systems really are. I know I even upset people by suggesting that being dependent on Steemit is yet another pot of water.
By getting off grid, I can walk away from here at any moment. I don't 'depend' on steemit, steem or SBD's. it matters not to me. What matters is my relationship with people like yourself so that I can influence people to take what I say seriously and start work now to get off the grid. Our lives depend on it!
The network is almost complete and if we don't start jumping out of the pots and learning how to reconnect with Creator and Mother Earth, our dependency will be sealed and we will be slaves forever. I refuse. I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees. I am prepared to sacrifice my vessel for freedom.
Well point arose that all the corporations are boiling the water and after that going to crush us at the end. Yes,it the need of hour that we make ourselves connected with each other both through physical and spiritual means. Govt. is the ultimate synonym of the servants of the Feudal lords. It has nothing to do with the lay man needs!!!
Agreed. In order to do that, we must examine our own behaviours so that we can hold the space of what healthy relationships actually look like. Teachers for thousands of years have been working hard to lead by example. I decided to start listening. I think others are doing the same. This is how we will work on an evolution of consciousness. We will change the world. Of that I have no doubt.
We have examples in our society who confronted the system like you did. But the problem is what we are teaching our kids is actually published by the consent of the Feudal Lords, which means we are producing the robots nothing else.... Unfortunately :(
I agree. As a teacher, you are forced to teach that content, but it does not stop you from teaching them how to do critical thinking, do their own research and question EVERYTHING. Even what you say in class!
Yesterday, i was delivering your lecture to my students in which you wrote how the system and govts are using us and our strength for their own purposes. I asked my students to build critical thinking about policies of the state. so that you guys must know where your money of taxes is utilizing.
I am honoured and touched deeply that my posts are course material for your students. Amazing! Thank you for sharing that!
Bravo to you for influencing the minds of today and tomorrow! That takes great courage and foresight!
This is actually an honor for me that you turned me to promote critical thinking and i thought it would be even more great if i convey your thoughts to young minds who have to take the responsibility of the world in future.
Indeed. Just don't get fired. We need you there, doing what you are doing! <3
I haven't been using facebook for some time now and I couldn't be happier about it. I mean, I still have it, but only for the messanger that it has. It's a way to chat with friends.
I think the idea of decentralization is spreading fast and it's opening everyone's eyes. The masses are getting smarter every day and a lot of people begin to question the whole system we're in. The milking system...
It's only a matter of time until decentralization will become the most popular thing. All we have to do is spread the word as much as we can to see freedom in our lives!
I am not sure the masses understand decentralization. We honestly do not do a good job promoting that concept. Everything is either cryptocurrency or blockchain...both which are great technological breakthroughs.
However, it closes people off. They either dont understand which means they dont want to hear it or simply dont want to hear it.
But decentralization...that is freedom. Censorship, data breaches, hacks...they all exist because of centralization. That is the message I think needs to get out there.
Yes, all those concepts, decentralization, cryptocurrency and blockchain are really hard to understand for the average person. A lot of time it can get mixed up and understood incorrectly.
Or outright misled.
We know the mainstream media is a willing accomplice in the lies and misdirection that the banksters are spewing.
Ultimately, people need to look beyond the headlines. Sadly, most people do not.
That's right. The mainstream media is really good at misleading and manipulating people so they could get what they want.
Propaganda is a very powerful tool and we don't do enough work to counter act the propaganda. The work that has been done is counteracted by muddying the waters with junk science, fear, doubt, chaos and other techniques. So anything that is said always comes with great suspicion. In a way that is a good thing. Now all we need to do is teach people how to engage in critical thinking and provide them with the tools to sift through all the bull shit, including theirs!!! This may actually come to bit them in the ass.
I agree. The decentralization goes even deeper as it also happens outside the jurisdiction of the state. Many of them are scrambling to include it within their jurisdiction just so that they can retain some sort of legitimacy. However, that is problematic as these technologies are all over the place and not just in one area. We have to be careful that we don't feed into the NWO by making the world government legitimate in order to govern the decentralized systems that we are building and supporting.
The problem is that Facebook runs a lot more than your Facebook content. They also use you for psychological experimentation and sell your information to anyone who is willing to pay. You can't trust Facebook, the relation with the users is not about trust, or good content, is all about money, and the more, better!
Never had I hears the frog expresion (...maybe because Im a french canadian ;-) ) but everything you say is right. No one have perceive the danger, I never really jumped into the facebook train, but I tell so many to steemit instead. free open source , free energy, free internet, the list can go on. this is not only something we must believe into, it is something we act into. Great post (you got me to read it all the way)
I shared this link to all my FB friends, but suspect the filtering algorithm will send to less than 1% of my followers. The revolution will not be televised.
It could even be worse than that. It might just be blocked since this is "cryptocurrency".
They even blocked my fb messenger conversations from talking about steemit.
They are scared! <3 bwahahahahaha
Just wanted to say this made me giggle.
No, it surly will not! I shared it with my FB friends too and suspect far less than 1% reach. Thank you for sharing!
Hey sir @wwf
Appreciate for the best subjects that you have done and this is a great opportunity for the steemian to progress.
I always take care of you and like I'm fortunately working with your kindness.
My upvote and always follow your nice blogs.
Stay bless and steem on
I am planning my exit strategy from face book. I will bookmark web pages I like to communicate with. Inform family and friends to call or e-mail if they need to contact me. Communicate on Discord and Steemit. I got to thinking before facebook I communicated with everyone just fine. I also remembered driving to visit friends( two hour drive) sometimes late at night alone. No cell phone. My transportation at one time was a 70 chevy nova I loved that car. I could change the starter I replaced the solenoid multiple times. Technology can be a blessing or a curse depends on how you use it I guess.
Yes, technology has advanced so far now, that most people cannot even fix it any more. I love the older vehicles as I can fix them when something goes wrong. You need to be an engineer now to fix them. There is danger in that level of dependency. Our technology should be independent as well. it is not.
We used to travel hundreds of miles without phones. Now we are terrified to go to the corner store without one. I dumped my cell phone years ago and I have no regrets. Kudo's to you for making an exit strategy! Bravo.