America is infested with what I term digital lice, the deliberate actions by individuals designed to misdirect and divide our country, leading to why so many people are grossly misinformed on simple issues. It is their end game to keep average Americans from making black-and-white, true or false conclusions that are foundational to a country’s narratives. If you already feel icky, read on; it gets much worse. Digital lice is:
Intentional cyber actions designed to disrupt our country’s rational National Narrative by parties known and unknown (the digital lice) through the use of false and misleading electronic communications on national platforms and through solicited and unsolicited emails to divide opinion, with the intent to prevent our country from doing things in its national interest predictably, reliably and promptly, culminating in our country warring endlessly with itself.
A national narrative is a collective story or beliefs a country shares about its history, values, identity, and goals. It serves as a unifying framework that helps people within a nation make sense of their shared experiences and aspirations, creating social cohesion. A shared national narrative is always important, but it takes on even greater importance when a country has competing national identities, customs, and beliefs, the opposite of many countries with a single primary identity or are ethnically very similar. Think of Scandinavia as a good example of genetically and historically similar people. America has traditionally been known as a “melting pot” for good reasons. The historical context that created that truth is no longer operative, with millions arriving here through non-traditional means and many here for benefits that did not exist until recently. America is in the midst of a national debate on this subject. We are divided into blue and red states, cities, and political parties, all at war with each other and egged on by digital lice that never share their ulterior motives and are loyal only to their secret interests.
Digital Lice as a Product of Anonymity and Manipulation:-
It is essential to understand that digital lice are a product of technology but birthed by the same usual subjects; it is a tactic, not a revelation. We are well aware of the dangers of anonymity in a digital world. Free speech cannot be suppressed, as was recently done during the Biden administration. Suppression only divides us more and, importantly, creates a deep distrust among the people from their government. Free speech should never be anonymous speech as it severs the ability of the people to understand the motives, biases, and authenticity of a poster.
We should attempt to fix this issue by having a verified user system run by private organizations or sites that create a digital trail for everyone to ensure an authentic exchange of ideas. No more hiding behind proxies, bots, VPNs, and new technological means that seemingly pop up daily, all deliberately done to stay anonymous. Even the government is guilty of frequently taking on personage in our electronic communications for malign or nefarious purposes. Americans are afraid of their own government today, partly as a consequence of a justly paranoid belief that we are not secure in our homes and letters. The rise of AI has only fanned the flames of paranoia, and for good reason.
Digital lice can only exist due to the electronic anonymity that exists today. But the lice take it to an entirely different level. State actors, along with sophisticated criminal and political organizations with nearly unlimited access to talent and money, push a vast number of narratives posing as legitimate users. In my own blogs and postings, I have noticed comment posters with different monikers posting nearly identical phrases and positions. I next notice near simultaneous signups on my 1plus1equals2.com website within seconds of each other and from foreign domains or odd-sounding email addresses.
I can’t be the only one who has noticed certain posters that doctrinally seem to push either extreme or strangely well-written narratives that subsequently attack anyone who disagrees with them, be it the blog writers themselves or those who support the thrust of the blog. Somethings stinks!
There is an expectation by individuals who post on “balanced” and truth-seeking sites expecting to engage in intellectual and even sometimes emotional debate for personal expression and to enlarge the community’s knowledge. How can that be accomplished if individuals and groups are manipulating thought? That’s the root cause analysis that leads me to believe that without sophisticated user authentication, any site can be highjacked, dissuading many from posting at all for fear of retaliation and misleading readers of posts into believing they are reading fair and balanced comments, not just manufactured opinion making.
When Freedom Breeds Doubt: The Growing Fear of Manipulation:-
This is no minor issue. In closed societies like Iran, Russia, China, or North Korea, we expect the State to control messaging and narratives. However, in a free country, it is easy to develop a level of paranoia that everything you read or see is manipulated by some government or group that seeks an outcome you’re not privy to. With the rise of deepfakes and now admitted government interference in free speech during the Covid era and throughout the Biden administration, a rational person can be forgiven if he/she believes private communications are compromised and that even public forums are just as shot through with phony postings and even AI created bots and conversations.
We must get a handle on our communications, or eventually, nothing will be believed, leading us full circle back to an Orwellian understanding of what’s truth. This is how democracy becomes undone as people lose confidence in the institutions, people, history, and reporting of everyday events because no one knows what is true and what’s not.
That’s precisely why the purveyors of digital lice do what they do. If they can breed distrust between the people and its government or between dissimilar groups of people, with some being portrayed as altruistic while others are made out to be robber barons, we will lose our collective ability to share a thoughtful understanding of what America is and the trust needed to for a better tomorrow.
Allan J. Feifer—Patriot
Author, Businessman, Thinker, and Strategist. Read more about Allan, his background, and his ideas to create a better tomorrow at www.1plus1equals2.com
Recent Comments