Destitute presstitutes

In a society that lives and breathes dollars and cents, and for most of us that is to say debt, the larger meaning of being destitute has been lost on us. The American Heritage dictionary describes it as being "utterly lacking; devoid."

The concept of money is easy to measure, so for today's "deep-thinkers," the idea of destitution is limited to the world of money and material goods: the house they live in, the money they have in their bank account, their investments or even their pocket.

This view is itself an impoverished understanding of what being destitute really means. In prior ages, where credit was hard to come by and people generally owned what they had, destitution could (and often did) refer to a person's lifestyle, habits, moral character, alcohol consumption, sexual history, religious views (or lack thereof) and other personal attributes that left either their lives (or those around them) in ruin.

Utterly lacking. Devoid. That's pretty much what our modern presstitutes are. They are materially wealthy, because they earn good money for what they really do, but they are utterly devoid of honesty in their reporting and integrity in their occupation. Shortened quotes. Out of context reporting. Made up stories. Unnamed sources. In fact, they go to great lengths to contort what we see in front of us each day into something that it is not.

Their questions aren't meant to elicit information from an interviewee or public official; their questions are meant to elicit "gotchas" that conform to the universal destitute-presstitute worldview. It's all about them (or more correctly their masters). It's not about their occupation. (You'd call journalism today a profession? Seriously? In what world?)

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Journalism informs people. Reporters raise questions and seek answers. Editors once insured accuracy and good writing. Presstitutes don't do journalism; they do propaganda. They twist the real world until it resembles their own destitute worldview. Then they present it for your consumption and thank you for your support.

The presstitutes are good at what they do. That's why they are so well paid. Well-connected. Go to the same schools. The same dinner parties. The same offices. Marry each other. Yet they often live their lives in stark contrast to the lives they hold up as examples unto others.

Why is it that while we have lots of media outlets, we have almost no media viewpoint diversity and only six big media companies? Why was this consolidation of media viewpoints allowed, when public companies need big government's permission to merge? Is big government part of the conglomerate? Is big government a partner in big media's propaganda efforts? Is big government the origin of it?

In the midst of all this, much of America still turns to the "news" to find out what happened during the day, which they spent working and later ferrying kids to events and back home again (pre-lockdown). Autocrats and tyrants have always valued propaganda highly, because its how they gain and retain power over others. When people consuming propaganda understand what tyrants really want to do to them (and not for them), their support disappears. That's why propaganda dispenser is such a highly valued occupation and is so well-paid.

Unfortunately, presstitution results in moral and spiritual destitution for its practitioners, who know they are being paid to lie and deceive others. And having made that choice, it is very difficult to leave, because your masters will burn your bridges after you. Then you will be able to add to all the other forms of destitution you have already experienced, financial destitution.

This isn't a new concept. The Bible confronted it long ago: "For what does it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?"

Are there other realms of existence? Behind Enemy Lines: Supernatural Meddling, by Craige McMillan.