The mainstream media has, of course, made massive profits over the course of the presidential election cycle, thanks to the extremely concerning fall of the USA into the setting from Idiocracy. On one hand, you have a completely corrupt, exceedingly well-funded corporatist that is flooding the mainstream with ads and sponsored content. Her major party opponent is a delusional bigot who is probably only doing this for recognition and a TV deal. The only decent candidate left is Jill Stein from the Green Party, but third party candidates get no attention because they don’t suit the needs of the biggest donors.

The country feels like it is imploding sometimes, and our influence causes upheaval throughout the world. But since it is election season, the top article everywhere is something personal about the candidates. Every major news site right now is headlining with the story of Trump’s leaked video- the one where he speaks of sexually assaulting people. Obviously, this was a great time for that leak, considering a recent large leak involving Clinton’s campaign chairman exposed her for who she is: bad for us.

We can’t get a fair look at any of the candidates in the mainstream media, because they are so heavily manipulated they cannot be trusted. It’s disheartening that people don’t realize it. Take a look at search results for “trump comments” and you’ll see plenty of headlines about the horrific behavior at the center of the issue. But if you search for the emails of John Podesta, Clinton’s corruption aide, you get this weird mix of results. Some of them are about the content of the emails… but then some of them are just about the fact that emails were leaked… and then some of them, prominent results, are focused on whether Russia was involved. The obfuscation is wherever you want it, when you have enough money.

We can’t trust the mainstream media to keep us informed; not about our elections or the world around us. You can see it on a daily basis now- people who know how to learn facts on the internet are so much more aware than those who rely on the mainstream. It’s not a coincidence.

So how do we fix it? Well, honestly, it’s not up to anyone to fix it. We need to fix ourselves.

It is our society, where cruelty can be so plainly distributed around the world for our mindless pleasure. (we topple regimes and strong-arm small countries for their resources)

It is our “nonprofits” that take advantage of power and media tools to deceive and benefit from blood sport. (the NFL suppresses awareness of the deeply disturbing impact of head trauma)

It is our political system that blatantly defies the true will of people while no one ever fixes it. (the electoral college picks the president and the popular vote is basically a strong suggestion)

It is our financial institutions that destroy the economy with no reason to stop. (the 2008 collapse was primarily caused by US banks and nobody even went to jail… oh, and income inequality has skyrocketed)

Anybody know what’s going on in Flint, Michigan? Remember how the planet is heating up in recent history and we’re destroying it?
There are other things happening than what Trump said while he was being secretly recorded. Most well-intentioned folks will retreat into their “I’ll just vote Clinton and be uninvolved/safe” shell. There are only 6 companies that control all of the corporate media, and that’s exactly where they want them. If Time Warner was the 7th largest donor to Jill Stein, I bet she’d be on TV a lot too.