Our opinions are extremely influenced by the media. Our opinions are malleable and the networks we tune in to have a huge impact on what we think. For example, if you typically listen to Fox News, most likely you are going to be hearing Republican viewpoints and if you typically listen to CNN, you are going to be hearing more Democratic viewpoints. The mainstream media promotes majority opinions in the US; it is rare to hear them promoting a pretty unpopular opinion. This, in turn, makes it pretty difficult to find credible sources that not only have those unpopular opinions but actively promote them; it will definitely take some digging.
One unpopular opinion is anti-war. Even though most people aren't pro war necessarily or not pro war because they like fighting other countries, war can be beneficial for some people. These wealthy people like war because they end up making a lot of money from it. Members of the mainstream media have more views when war or violence is occurring because it's something people will tune in to watch.
Anti-war stories aren't readily promoted because they don't make money and it makes people uncomfortable. Nobody wants to see the bad side of war. Nobody wants to see fallen cities or human casualties. We are lucky because most of us don't have to experience it first hand. Wars are not fought in the US anymore so most people don't even give it a second thought.
There are people who think about it everyday: people in the military as well as those who know people in the military. I think that many service members don't like war. They want to serve and protect their country but they also hate being so far away from everything and anything that they love.
I know my own views on war and violence have changed. I never really gave it a second thought before but for the past year, I feel like it's constantly on my mind. My boyfriend is in the army. To be more specific, he is in the 82nd Airborne Division making him a paratrooper. War, violence, and being overseas was never something I thought about, but, when he left for the Middle East, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I was constantly worried about his safety and it sucked to never know what was really going on. We were only able to communicate for two hours a day because of the eight hour time difference as well as his rigorous training schedule and even when we could communicate, the connection was almost nonexistent. There was an instance where we were talking on the phone and ear piercing sirens went off followed by bombs. All I remember was the horrified look on his face, him hanging up, and me not hearing from him until the next day. This lasted for eight months. It was absolutely horrible and very draining.
This is a picture of my boyfriend and some of his friends during their deployment. He's the one kneeling.
The experience I went through made me really think about war and how it's portrayed in the mainstream media. They don't talk about the downside of it. They don't mention the horrors or how lonely it is. They focus on what will get them headlines and more views. Wealthy people benefit from what service members go through. They make money off of it. The reason you have to seek out anti war voices is because those opinions don't make money and money seems to be all that matters.
Loved it , keep it up!
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