Antiwar

 Antiwar

I have always found it interesting that we are constantly hearing about the horrors of the wars that the United States is in but never about the solution. We see examples of political leaders jumping at the opportunities to invade countries, but never hear about the people who do not want to get involved. These people do exist but are silenced and hidden from the public by the media. The media wants us to be narrow-minded and naive thinkers.

Before this assignment, I had never heard of the websites Antiwar.com and theamericanconservative.com. This may have to do with the fact that my mind is constantly being filled with "how much money the United States is giving in aid to other countries". While this may sound like a heroic move, we are often making the problem worse and killing our very own people along with foreign innocent people. On the Antiwar website, I clicked the first article I saw that had to deal with Yemen and the United States.

Recently the Trump Administration fired airstrikes killing 53 people, including women and children. Trump administration justified the airstrikes by saying it was a way to protect global shipping. However critics argue that the Red Sea being shutdown does not have a large impact on the United States at all. This shipping route is mainly used to get goods from Asia to Europe. 

Sometimes antiwar does not have to deal with avoiding violence. Sometimes it has to deal with people being in places they do not need to be in. There are over 2,000 soldiers in Syria for no reason. With ISIS not being a focus anymore there is no need to put our people at risk. But the media will never tell that story. They will only have Americans believing that there are people over there "fighting for our freedom".

With war being such a heavy topic in one's heart, you would think people would try to avoid and stop it at all costs. That is not the case for some of our political leaders. It is as if they want our country in debt and in danger for eternity. The reason why the public has to do a deep dive on the internet to find antiwar voices is because nobody wants you to hear the truth. The truth is uncomfortable for most and they want to avoid it at all cost.

EOTO Reaction 2

EOTO Reaction #2: Disinformation

People may think that lying is simply being dishonest, but different types have different purposes. Disinformation is false information intentionally spread, often through rumors, to influence an audience. People often get misinformation and disinformation confused. Misinformation is information that a person thinks is true but is not. Disinformation is when a person knows it isn't true but says it anyway. 

Disinformation is very harmful but the idea started as a lighthearted community builder. It started in 1620 as dramatic entertainment to unite people. But we see disinformation used all the time in today's age especially in areas such as politics. One of the biggest disinformation stories came in 2016 when it was said that Pope Francis was endorsing Donald Trump. While some may see this as ridiculous, surprisingly a lot of people believed it at the time.

Disinformation hurts more than it helps. In the Russian-Ukrainian war, both sides spread disinformation to hurt the other party and justify their actions thinking they would get the upper hand. Russia tried to say that the invasion was okay and justified because Ukraine was being run by Nazis. Fake videos and images were spread around the world trying to get the public to swing a certain way. These attempts at influence ultimately ended in destruction. Thousands of people have died, been injured, or have been displaced. 

With disinformation being so dangerous it is important we know where to find it and how to deal with it. Disinformation is mainly found online through social media, recommendation engines, and AI tools. We can catch disinformation by simply doing a background check on the article. Is the author known to be reliable? Is the article peer-reviewed? When was the article published? These are all questions we must ask ourselves to ensure we are not consuming and spreading false information. 

Disinformation spreads rumors on real-life events making it confusing for the public to know what's really going on. It can break trust, create division, and make a person more confused. It is crucial to take the appropriate steps to spot disinformation so that the rumors can be put to rest.

 EOTO #2: False Flags

From a very young age, we were all taught by our parents not to lie. It hurts people, breaks trust, and is overall immoral. However, there is a certain type of lying that some people may see as justifiable. A false flag is a strategic operation put in place by the party at fault to pin the blame on another party. There are different types of false flags. There are military false flags such as one country flying another country's flag to confuse the enemy. There are political false flags like how in 2022 the United States accused Russia of planning a false attack to justify the invasion of Ukraine. Lastly, there are conspiracy theory false flags like the people who think that the United States had something to do with 9/11. 

False flags do have some positives even though this thought may be controversial. In the military world, it is very important to get a one-up on the enemy especially when you are the underdog. False flags 

can gain tactical advantage in war. It can mislead a party into making bad decisions like using resources they did not need to use and overestimating the circumstance, or on the contrary underestimating it. False flags could also rally citizens behind a specific issue making it easier to push an agenda. 

While there may be some good, the negatives outweigh all of it. False flags are straight-up lying no matter how somebody tries to spin it. Lying to the public makes people hate a specific group that was not at fault. The public will feel betrayed once they find this out and it makes things worse for the party who planted the false flags. People are not typically forgiving of political leaders.

It is usually a one-and-done type of situation. If the majority can't trust a higher-up, they will never hold another leadership position again and their reputation will be ruined. Not only are relationships being destroyed within the community but worldwide as well. False flags can hinder international relationships with allies, putting your country at risk. Overall false flags are simply unethical. 

We already live in a divided society as it is. Everyone has an "us vs them" mentality. A false flag would be the straw that broke the camel's back. False flag operations can result in the bombing of a city, the destruction of homes, and the death of innocent people. This can leave individuals with lifelong trauma and PTSD. False flags destroy social unity putting protests and riots at the forefront of people's minds. 

While false flags may be harmful to all, they affect certain groups of people differently. Wealthier people tend to have more money and more resources. If a false flag operation were to occur and homes were destroyed, a person with more money would be able to repair their home or buy a new house a lot faster than a person with less money.

Individuals with less money may be out of a job, or out of a house, and could find themselves stuck in poverty. People of color also find themselves to be heavily affected by false flags. Minorities are more likely to be the targeted group in a false flag operation. Minorities are less likely to trust the government as it is. 

False flags create a huge mess, that feeds the internet's toxicity. My generation is already caught up in the lies of the internet. We are gullible to believe anything and will run with it. A false flag operation would make the media spin the narrative even more. When lies are being passed around left and right, people won't even know the truth if it hits them in the face. We are growing up in a world where we don't know the full truth behind stories because lies are shoved in our faces. 

 The Use Of AI

 

Artificial Intelligence has been a tool that has competently taken over society as we know it. If you asked me what AI was two years ago, I would not have an answer. In today's time it is all anyone can ever talk about. Artificial Intelligence is a development of computer systems that is capable of using the intelligence of a human. People use AI for rephrasing sentences, finding articles, and analyzing data. 

One of the things that surprised me was how big of a money maker AI is. In the video it mentions that AI is the ultimate tool of wealth creation. We have reached a point where companies are falling behind if they are not using AI. AI has allowed companies to make a mass amount of money and completely pass their competitors. AI is used for marketing, investing, personalizing customer service, and improve design making. While AI is taking away human jobs it is also creating millionaires in the process.

 AI definitely has its pros, but the cons of this tool frighten me the most. AI has allowed technology companies to steal peoples private information now more than ever. In fact stealing personal information is what technology companies rely on. The video explains when Google was just starting up, the company hit a point where they needed new ideas of making money or else it would crash. Google started to gather information from people online (with their permission) to create and personalize advertisements. These ads drew people to certain websites and allowed Googles worth to sky rocket.

While gathering personal information is good for Google, it is not good for the individuals who are getting their information collected. Google can know where a person is at, what their favorite store is, and all of there other desires in seconds. While this helpful tool is going to change the world, everyone should limit their use to create a a safe environment.