Counter Culture Comments

Commentary on pop culture, technology, and society. The official blog of Counter Points Media.

The following is a journal entry by Casey Rollins, in response to a short story by Stephen Crane called The Open Boat, assigned to him to read for one of his classes.

I am curious as to the deeper meaning behind the story. I suspect that there is one. In my opinion, it is a metaphor about people who are in a very bad place, perhaps mentally, perhaps in reality, which is represented by the ocean. This situation is entirely exhausting, and makes you constantly wonder if you’re going to die. In fact, in chapters 4, 5, and 6, there is a repeated phrase where the main characters think this.

Now, there’s also a very good place, which is represented by the shore. However, getting ashore takes a great risk because there is a possibility of death and danger. You could crash upon a reef and get stuck there forever. You could get caught up in a whirlpool, like these characters did in the story. You could even get shipwrecked on a craggy rock and die a watery death. You’re stuck in between a couple of really hard places; either stay where you are, where you can technically survive, but have a miserable life, or go ashore, where there is great safety, rest, and plenty of caring people just waiting to help you and take care of you. The question is, do you face the fear of potential danger to actually resolve your problem, or will you wuss out and stay in the ocean?

Well, these characters decide that they would rather take the chance and go ashore, once the light of the morning sun shines upon them and they can no longer ignore the reality of the beach.

In my opinion, life can be a lot like this. You can be caught in a loop of endless negative thoughts, perhaps even trapping yourself by surrounding yourself with people or resources who echo the very negativity that plagues you. Perhaps you worry that if you stop, you might feel like no one understands you or cares about you and you’re all alone and you’ll fall into an even deeper, darker, and deadlier despair, crashing on the reef of loneliness and drowning in sorrow and isolation. But getting out of that funk allows you to look out and see your surroundings more clearly. There are probably people on shore waiting to help you get to shore, just in case you can’t make it there on your own. Friends, family, God, maybe even pets. One might try and fight the tug and pull to eventually get out of your present, self-defeating situation and leave for the safety of shore, but your fear might call for you to flee that potential haven. However, as this story shows, it is absolutely worth the risk to make a run for it and leave the situation behind.

I don’t know, perhaps that’s not what this story was about. I just found this to be a fascinating extrapolation of the story, and the analogy, once it appeared in my head, felt quite apt.

Written by Casey Rollins.

@realcaseyrollins@counter.fedi.live

@realcaseyrollins@social.teci.world

On August 29, 2020, you might or might not have seen a post from a small social media platform, announcing its launch. That social media site is our own platform, CounterFedi, which was created through a collaboration between Counter Points Media and CofeSpace. Why did we create this platform, and what sets us apart? The answers are surprisingly simple.

For over a year, Counter Points Media has been critiquing Big Tech and its methods, and this includes big social media sites like FaceBook and Twitter. Time and again, various big tech-led social media platforms censor their users in an effort to coerce their userbase into conforming to their narrow standards of what one must believe. This is what drove my interest in the Fediverse in the first place.

Throughout my time on the Fediverse, I found a vast and encouraging variety in different rules and terms of services throughout the network. However, I did notice one flaw; most sites as a whole either censored based on ideology, or were hardly moderated and became cesspools of low quality posts, hateful rhetoric, and at times, harassment. Can a balance be found between the two, allowing for vast ideological diversity, but limiting harassment and hateful speech? I believe so, and that is the mission of CounterFedi.

Our social media site is unique, featuring a bias-resistant moderation structure reflecting both sides of the political spectrum, and rules that, while banning pornography, allow for all ideologies to be represented, so long as they do not call for illegal violence, self harm or suicide. (It has been my experience that, on the Fediverse, a harassing or hateful user will typically wish for any of these things, so this rule is designed to catch the nastier side of harassment in fair and neutral way.) On the ethical code side of things, the colors chosen for the site promote a sense of calm, friendliness, reliability, virtue, sincerity and luxury, employing the main colors of black and white along with an accent color of blue. The goal of this is to depart from the stereotypically bright and brash designs which promote energetic, emotional, and alerted feelings. Furthermore, verification is free and completely open to all users without the surrendering of any sensitive information, and in addition, the platform includes a feature found in the user preferences designed to reduce media anxiety called the Demetricator, which hides various metrics such as like, follower and boost counts. Lastly, CounterFedi is the most transparent social media site on the Fediverse, with its main account posting explanations for every moderation action taken by the mod team. This ensures that our users understand why we take action when we do, and our thought process behind the decisions we make.

These various measures are taken to foster the growth of a wholesome, yet ideologically diverse community of users who merely wish to communicate using the internet. CounterFedi is designed with everyone in mind, and hopes to stand out from all other social media sites in fairness, transparency, and ethical behavior among its users.

For more resources on how you can start your own social media website like we did, check out CofeSpace and learn how you can get started for free!

Written by Casey Rollins.

@realcaseyrollins@counter.fedi.live

@realcaseyrollins@social.teci.world

This article is part three in a series by guest contributor Amianon, focusing on the societal impact of the K-Pop boy band and worldwide sensation BTS.

“He shouldn't be coughing from May to October,” my friend and fellow ARMY told me online on Twitter late last night as we talked about our worries about the physical health of what may be BTS' poster boy: the charming, impish Jimin, whip-smart about academics and scarily good at athletics, all while maintaining a deceptive delicate demeanor. “He's one of the strongest members of the group and the most wildly talented—but tour takes such a toll on him that he's almost always sick during or after.” Elite athletes — often perceived as the epitome of health and fitness — may be more susceptible to common illness, says ScienceDaily, and are therefore proving useful in helping scientists understand more about the immune system. It is estimated that the average adult has between 1 and 6 colds each year, but athletes who engage in heavy training and competition may suffer more frequent colds. A cold can present for an athlete of this type with varying symptoms and severity, including sore throat, coughing, sneezing, fatigue and a fever among other things. However, moderate exercise may stimulate the immune system in contrast to intense exercise, which may decrease immune function. This suggests that exercise in moderate amounts is beneficial for the body and the immune system but vigorous and intense training may need to be altered to decrease incidence of illness.

A staff member squats above Jungkook in a lull between show numbers, getting ready to administer oxygen.

This is just one of the side effects of being an idol, if your body isn't built to maintain such a grueling job (and for different artists it takes its toll in different ways.) Being a celebrity comes with a wealth of difficulties. Growing up in the spotlight is even harder. People lose their innocence quickly and learn to sexualize themselves in order to appeal to the raving masses; they become less of themselves, more of who they're wanted to be. KPop is notoriously harder than the average Western child prodigy singer's life; it's a blend of the life of a professional athlete and an actor and a singer and performer all in one. While rarer and with a slightly modified set of responsibilities, some trained artists may also produce, manage, and direct their own output, as BTS does. Their producer and rapper Min Yoongi casually stated earlier this year he'd gotten about three hours of sleep the previous night; he was up and awake with a cold iced coffee in the morning for the group's radio interview. Dependent on the company, the artists may put this excessive pressure on themselves rather than the staff or CEOs pushing them to their limit; Asian culture emphasizes hard work and a sense of self-discipline. Productivity plays a huge role in this; if the rapper's on a crazy streak of creativity he might not view pacing himself as the best thing to do in the situation—especially if writer's block might ensue in the morning. Staff are often there to just facilitate and manage symptoms of cold, sickness or aches.

BTS (standing) raise a heartfelt toast to their staff team after their Wings Tour (2017).

When Jimin hurt his back severely on tour last year, their staff were with him every step of the way, giving him therapeutic exercises and treatments and treating his physical upkeep as they might for an Olympic athlete; they kept him on a stern recovery regimen and taught fellow member Jungkook the specific therapeutic exercises and massages to assist for the pulled muscle and to make sure Jimin completed. Taehyung also suffered from stress-induced illness earlier this year. He'd been struggling with depression (for more personal reasons—he's lost a lot of close family and friends in the past years, some to suicide and some to natural causes) and opened up later on in the summer about his insecurities and desire to be loved. As characteristic of BTS, he was painfully transparent; saying, “I come on Weverse to be sure—to feel that I am loved; but when I finish talking with someone, the emptiness returns.” The toll this model takes on the psyche might be morally dubious, if not for the fact that the group are all adults, their parents didn't have any major concerns about their enrollment into training camps as children, and as matured artists they have an unheard of amount of control over their own management. BTS have based their career around a shockingly wholesome genuine desire to help people, aiming to advance their emotional and mental health, but it often seems they, too, haven't learned yet to be as emotionally mature as they try to help their fans to be. Their development hasn't been stunted; they are vastly well-adjusted in terms of the average person shouldering the same responsibilities. There's just a kind of childlike innocence about the group still, even in their early to mid-twenties, that's more shockingly endearing than it is concerning. The average life of the celebrity—drugs, promiscuity, vapidity, and overall turbulence—seems to escape this group. They are very much adults, though they might not always act like it—but they seem to prefer the simple joys in life to the bedazzlement and opulence of the celebrity culture. They adore children, respect women, bow to the elderly, and emphasize a sense of family. “I want to be a good man/Just for you,” the group sings in “Fake Love”. “I gave the world/Just for you.”

BTS watch on proudly as their choreographer (Son Songdeuk) accepts an award (left.) Taehyung plays peek-a-boo with his baby son Moa during a break in dance practice (right.)

“I saw an old man pushing an old woman in a wheelchair once, when I was visiting a museum,” Jimin told Namjoon on VLive with adorable earnestness. “They were husband and wife, and they were very old, and still together, and he was pushing her along. It was one of the most beautiful things I've seen. I thought it was like art.” They prefer the romantic to the sensual; what could be considered the 'couple' of the group is primarily saccharinely, naively gentle and sweet with each other and therefore as age-appropriate for conservative television as possible—the two were childhood sweethearts and secured the blessing of both sets of parents before pursuing anything serious. To the Western eye, the group is startlingly physically affectionate with each other as well, (while this may be seen as brotherly or ordinary in the most expressive Pan-Asian culture they come from) yet somehow without it ranging anything further than the innocent or platonic. They are overly sentimental, and strangely humble. They gravitate towards the arts and sciences and the obscure yet beautiful. They're not without their immature moments; every song they listen to isn't Mozart. But they do display a remarkable ability to balance the serious and the frivolous. A major saesang celebrity news outlet once stalked youngest member Jungkook on an outing from his residence, catching him unawares, and was able to follow him to and from his destination undetected. He went to the supermarket on a scooter to get some banana milk, which he's loved since he was a child; he is now the official sponsor of Waktu Indonesia Belanja's IndoMilk at 23. And per his request, the group's new single 'Dynamite' debuted in Fortnite; the artist has a reputation as being quite the gamer and invites fans to play with him online from time to time. But growing up to be completely well-adjusted and without a sense of the urge to search for validation as a child celebrity is a lot harder than it might be for adults. The three youngest members (in order of age) Jimin, Taehyung and Jungkook—started training when they were in their preteens. Jungkook maybe had the worst time of it—-he frequently states he hadn't even formed a sense of identity yet, was just crazy passionate about dancing and singing. It may seem like a joke at first, when Namjoon or Yoongi or Jin speak as if they've raised him, but a closer look and they're almost deadly serious. They've served as protective father figures, walking him through his humorously melodramatic “grunge/emo” teen years and later his terrifying and panic-stricken sexuality crisis; traces of the way he still looks up them remain even into his adulthood. In 2014, their closeness was put on display as a teenaged Jungkook and Taehyung lip synced to a dramatic rock song.

Jungkook jumps on Namjoon from behind as the older is mid-verse (above). Jungkook calls Namjoon his “first and last role model.” Namjoon, who comes from a gritty, harsh past as an underground rapper, said meeting the younger kid gave him a second chance at life.

While Jungkook does have an intricate web of a support system and a dedicated fanbase, sometimes the latter can cause him to wallow in self-doubt. He's almost built his sense of self-esteem around the validation he receives from ARMYs, and while the love is in no ways lacking, his esteem does take a hit and he seems particularly vulnerable when being attacked by haters or being plagued by smear jobs. “I'm nothing without the group,” he stated in “Break the Silence.” “I'm an artist. That's my talent [specialization/skill.]” Giving a teenager to a bunch of barely matured young adults almost seems like a bizarre, unethical social experiment, if the older members hadn't done such a great job. They knocked out his vices early and taught him hard work, kindness and integrity. “I used to be so selfish as a kid,” Jungkook added. “Because I was the baby, I was used to getting everything I wanted.” (Korean culture is built around age hierarchy; that's why their ages are mentioned so frequently as it informs and dictates how you act and how you treat others.) “What's mine was mine, and what's yours was mine; everything was mine. My hyungs [older brothers/male figures] taught me not to be like that, that it was wrong.” And his parents left him with their values before he left to train, as well. “I got the worst disciplining [spanking] of my life when my parents found out I cheated on a test to get a high score. My dad gave it to me,” he mentioned with a laugh on VLive one summer. “They didn't care that I got a high score. What mattered to them was that I had lied and cheated.” The group's CEO's apparent trustworthiness tied the knot on the group's winning efficiency and success. He gave them a kind of “safe space” as kids to pursue their artistic dreams without fear of discrimination due to sexual orientation; the company paid for their college expenses and ensured their care was cleanhanded and honest to the best of its ability (though rumors of rough spots with overly-harsh managers remain) and Bang PD still advocates for a fairer and less illicit kpop management model to this day. “I want artists to be able to live as humans,” he's reiterated. “Back in 2011, when we were thinking up the idea of the group, we wondered—what would it look like to put them [the artists] and the fans first? And we kind of hit on the wild ginseng (lucky/profitable plant) from there.” BigHit's company has been compared to Jeff Bezos's handling of Amazon, prioritizing customer service first, instead of the shady press and statements some fans receive when inquiring about the well-being of their idols. They're still expanding their shipping to various countries and slowly sending out feelers towards which countries they can invest in; the globe's very wide, and so far they've expended an inordinate amount of time finding their footing in the West. And treating the artists and creators kindly and fairly seems to have markedly increased their productivity; when they're happy and as healthy as can be, there's no limit to the music and art they can produce. It's profitable to treat your artists well, Bang PD has discovered. But in a kind of dumb stupor of disbelief, other companies entrenched in their ways fail to take him at his word and perpetuate all the toxic behaviors and policies typical of the industry. Change is coming, however, and BigHit's values seem to be spreading slowly. BTS' influence is spreading throughout their country and around the world. “Healing, like in English, means emotional comfort. But in the Korean context, since Koreans are always pressured and stressed out by social norms or modern life, it has become an important notion in culture or lifestyle,” said Kyung Min-bae, assistant professorial fellow at the University of the Philippines (UP) Department of Linguistics and research fellow at the UP Korea Research Center. BigHit's motto is “Music and Artist for Healing.” “These days, it is sohwakhaeng, or small but precious happiness, quoted in Haruki Murakami's novel, or “˜ìž‘은 것들을 위한 ì‹œ, “a poem for small things” as seen in BTS' “Boy With Luv.” “Koreans are trying to feel more simple happiness than achieving grand ones,” she said in an interview with Lifestyle. It was a mission for Big Hit that would resonate with people all over the world. “We emphasize the notion of winning together. We want to break an industry practice that is very hierarchical, where artists are at the bottom,” said Sejin Kim, coleader of Big Hit's artist protocol department. Sejin is a longtime Big Hit manager and bodyguard, adored by BTS and loved by the fandom. He is known for his assuring and comforting presence, and is in charge of keeping the boys safe. There are countless other loved staff that compose the BigHit family, from Slow Rabbit, their main producer, who cried when the group won their first Daesang (the Korean award equivalent of a Grammy), and the insanely talented Adora, the boys' female producer/writer, vocalist and best friend/sister (hired for her talent when she was just a teen). When Jimmy Fallon asked the boys what their secret was this summer, instead of flaunting their own abilities, they let Jin answer best, with a simple, “We were lucky enough to meet good people.”

Written by Amianon.

@amianon@counter.fedi.live

This article is part two in a series by guest contributor Amianon, focusing on the societal impact of the K-Pop boy band and worldwide sensation BTS.

So why all this fuss about Jung? Well, considering this series examines the MKUltra symbolism in BTS' work, the fact that they chose to base an entire album after Jungian philosophy is extremely pertinent. Jung had connections to Allen Dulles and the MKUltra project, and the Jungian process of individuation is heavily similar to the intentional splitting of the mind in the Dulles fashion. But they do not encourage fans to subscribe to this particular method of psychotherapy to the best of my knowledge; their concepts have only touched on these ideas for thematic purpose. If Jung had ill intentions and his psychology relates to BTS' message, (even if he is widely revered for the 'good' he did) that infers sinister intent in BTS' messages, which is highly concerning. They have massive influence among most notably college students (ages 18-24) as well as a minority of teens (16% to 27%) and adults (according to Reuters, a growing share of their audience are in their 40’s and older, which means they often have more disposable income). According to Brandwatch Audiences, adults in creative professions are more likely to engage with the band at 40%, then students at 26%, executives at 12% and health practitioners at 7%, (the remaining percentage undocumented). They're influencing a large part of their demographic people in a highly impressionable stage of life, and their moral compass and worldviews are laced in everything they do. Even watching entertainment-focused content by them such as their daily life may often seem like an invitation to the dinner-table political talk of a mismatched, highly-accomplished and philosophically literate family structure. 'A forced society is a bad society,' Namjoon remarks casually while washing dishes (In the Soop, 2020) after Hoseok tries and fails to gently rouse an exhausted Jimin, who'd stayed up late partying with Jungkook and had no pressing appointments or engagements the entire day. “Let him sleep, we'll save lunch for him.” They're not intentionally political, but their personal views cannot be divorced from their content, unless they maintain an intentionally neutral silence on certain topics to avoid offending their varied and diverse fanbase. And they oftentimes do maintain this stance, but not always; if a topic becomes so serious they feel compelled to do something, they will, as evidenced this year. After looking up, alarmed, to find the United States on fire, they perhaps rashly emptied their pockets of one million dollars in a donation towards Black Lives Matter. But in order to not offend, they aren't very vocal about politics besides occasionally dedicating songs towards these topics; Billboard says: 'the group litters millennial-oriented messages about societal woes throughout their discography,' including songs like 'No More Dream', 'Silver Spoon', as well as 'Am I Wrong' and, to an extent 'Spring Day.' Billboard adds: “The song [Am I Wrong] features Jimin and Jungkook singing about the entire world going crazy, and RM questioning how people don’t react strongly to the state of news and media in this day and age. The message of “Am I Wrong” proved to be prophetic, as Wings was released the same month that a multi-layered corruption scandal erupted that would eventually bring down then-South Korean President Park Geun Hye.” In light of this vaguely anti-governmental sentiment frequently reflected in their songs, I think it's reasonable to assume that the dedication of an entire album to a Jungian theme is purely a stylistic decision and not an endorsement of the sinister MKUltra government program's method of splitting the mind to weaponize it. Devil's advocate: this popularizes and launches a lot of dirty laundry into popular culture, exposing people to dangerous ideas. The response: if you bring to light an abhorrent institution in order to draw attention to how bad it is, are you romanticizing it or creating an added stigma towards those who espouse such values when you are staunchly against it? Food for thought. In conclusion, Jung's methods of dividing the mind ARE utilized by the Map of the Soul: 7 album, but not to weaponize. MOTS:7 diagnoses inner turmoil (Persona), contemplates the turmoil (Shadow) and resolves it (Ego.) The goal is to sort out a bunch of really complicated problems, solve them, and unite eventually into a solution. They do not, in any way, recommend the long-term division of the mind in order to let handlers weaponize and direct it. The members are the ones who compartmentalize each part and 'face' of themselves and not anyone else, as a coping mechanism; the album is primarily about the group's struggle dealing with their burgeoning fame. Being thrust into the spotlight is scary, even if you see it coming a long way off—there are a lot of eyes on you, all the time, and fame takes a toll on anyone, especially if you're worried about maintaining a spotless image. “I’m afraid, flying high is terrifying. No one told me how lonely it is up here,” Yoongi raps in 'Shadow.' “I rise, rise, I hate it/I pray, I pray, hoping to be okay.” Then he, in characteristic BTS fashion, challenges himself: “Wasn’t this the kind of thing you’d been wanting?/The life you hoped for, the life you wanted/The life you chose: you achieved everything without regrets/And on top of that, you have a big house, big cars, big rings/All the things you wanted, you’ve got it all/So what’s the problem? Just enjoy it.”

BTS member Jungkook sends an 'I love you' (Korean/American Sign Language) towards a tense Jimin on the red carpet (Fact Music Awards) in order to elicit a smile. (2019.)

Sometimes it is necessary to maintain a particular 'face' in order to not be nitpicked excessively, your every word dissected. In 'Persona', Namjoon raps, “Who am I? The question I had my whole life/The question which I probably won’t find an answer to my whole life/If I were answerable with a few more words/Then God wouldn’t have created all these various [facets of myself]. I'm still not so sure if I'm a dog or a pig or what else/But then other people come out and put the pearl necklace on me.” He continues later on, “Hey, have you already forgotten why you even started this? You were just digging it that someone was listening. Someone like me ain't good enough for music/Someone like me ain't good enough to be a muse/The flaws of mine that I know/Maybe that's all I've got really/The world is actually not interested in my clumsiness at all.” This fear and anxiety that plagues BTS leader Namjoon he characterizes as another 'face' of himself, and tries to reconcile the fact that as long as he's famous, he's going to be dealing with the conflict for a while. No split personalities found here; just a young man's confidence and uncertainty battling within. “Who the hell am I?” he wonders, and then answers himself that's he's all of these things at once: “The 'me' that I want myself to be/The 'me' that people want me to be/The 'me' that you love/And the 'me' that I create/The 'me' that's smiling/The me that's sometimes in tears/Vividly breathing each second and every moment even now.” They'd prefer you to carefully look back on every aspect of yourself and judge, but also begin to move forwards in life—minus all the emotional baggage. “Where's your soul?” he asks. “Where's your dream? Do you think you're alive?” Devil's advocate: being personally previously traumatized by various events does make them perfect candidates for MKUltra programming. But just because you're vulnerable doesn't mean someone will take advantage of you. It just means they can. It's important to protect yourself, they reinforce throughout their discography, espousing the importance of consent, a sense of self-worth and a fundamental sense of identity. Map of the Soul: 7 is, in one word, about identity, and focuses heavily on the 'Ego' part of Jungian philosophy and the importance of developing a healthy ego (positive life experiences, identity, world-view, dignity, self-worth and purpose.) While they haven't endorsed a certain political idea, their beliefs shine starkly through their lyrics and messages: criticism and skepticism of heavy government control, advocacy for free speech ('Speak Yourself'), amity and civility between people even if they disagree (bipartisan unity) and a distaste for violence. It's pretty accurate to say they believe people should be able to be and believe anything they want, without harming others. These values, along with their humility, love and kindness, endear them to fans all around the world. But be not distracted by my own heavily politically-focused coverage of the group. This is just where they stand on the issues, and they don't go around screaming their political stances to the world 24/7, either. If no one asks and it's not relevant to current events, one might deduce that on any given day the seven are simply a bunch of often-goofy bros who really like singing and dancing and rapping and making music. While that may be not as important and pertinent to world events, one would be amiss to say that this isn't a large part of why they are so popular.

Written by Amianon.

@amianon@counter.fedi.live

This article is part one in a series by guest contributor Amianon, focusing on the societal impact of the K-Pop boy band and worldwide sensation BTS.

So BTS references MKUltra in their work? You bet they do. For the award-winning septet, MKUltra slavery and the techniques one uses to enslave serves mainly as a metaphor for the dark side of fame and the psychological toll it takes to be in an industry that requires a high level of visibility and thus, one must either get comfortable feeling very naked before an audience or formulate some kind of persona to protect themselves. BTS have tried to strike a balance between the two. They're very, if almost intimately, acquainted with MKUltra programming techniques. Their work is laced with its symbolism. Did they extensively study it in order to strike a complicated, intricate parallel (and silently critique the entire structure of the Korean music industry) or do they actually have experience being beta kitten slaves? I tend to think it's the former. One ought to employ Occam's Razor. Hollywood is an entire industry dedicated to training people to put on personas. It's common thespian work: it's called acting. It doesn't have to have any negative implications. Where the negative/sinister implications do come in are when it's implied anyone (we'll call them Subject A) has such a traumatizing and emotionally, mentally and spiritually draining job or experience that it is necessary for them to actually disassociate themselves from what's happening to them/around them/to them so that they can maintain some semblance of sanity. The MKUltra theory is that you take the broken pieces of the person's mind and utilize each shattered piece separately, instead of gluing everything back together. (BTS only aims to heal and reconcile what might have been broken, instead of breaking anything further; in this way their art is therapeutic instead of divisive.) This is a method of employing the method of individuation (a Jungian psychological technique). One might separate them out and train each disassociated part to perform a certain purpose. One segment, when triggered, will elicit a bouncy, artificially happy Subject A. Another will bring to the forefront Subject A's dancing or multilingual skills. A 'glitch' might cause Subject A to stammer 'Good morning, Sunday morning'. Subject A may wear various faces or all of them at once to get through the day and convince themself they're doing just fine. Not every Subject A was originally broken; some are broken in on purpose in order to weaponize them. So is this necessary for titan group BTS? Probably not. Being a kpop-idol-type star is overwhelming and draining, but BigHit has always prioritized their artists' mental, physical and emotional health, providing them with 24/7 access to a spectrum of therapists and going so far as to cancel concerts due to an injury that might be easy to power through on powerful drugs or (in a rare case early-on, canceling an event because one of the artists had severe stage fright). Beyond the typical 'Staff treats BTS like kings' compilation videos on YouTube, the company has receipts. In 2019 they famously risked their financial security to give the seven members a month-long break and unlimited funds to go anywhere or fly anywhere they wanted in the world and do anything they wanted; the permission to joyride and let loose with black cards and no restrictions was just what the young twenty-somethings needed. They'd hit a wall and couldn't go any further. Jimin decided to party in Russia and get hilariously drunk in a nightclub in France (an anecdote that's captured on video on YouTube, uploaded by a stranger) and then fly twelve hours back to Korea to visit member Jungkook to celebrate the last two hours of his birthday with him and Hoseok, bearing expensive gifts and a flamboyant rainbow cake back with him. It's a horrifying tale; a world-famous musician traversing around with no security detail and unlimited freedom and money and letting strangers record him in an unfiltered, inebriated state; the gossip magazines would have a field day. BigHit pretended they Did Not See and probably had staff text him a reminder to take his hangover medicine. In contrast, the average kpop artist has only a few days off work a year. Not all members were as wild; some went to art museums, the weebs played games and watched anime and binged on junk food, some went fishing, their 'maknae' spent all of his time in the gym. It's doubtful the BTS members feel stifled or overwhelmed by their workload; sure they have grueling days, but they get ample off time, as well. And they've always had a hand in self-producing and working on the music and essentially enjoy free rein over their subject matter. So is it necessary to employ them as MKUltra slaves because they simply suffer from oppressive tyranny too much to be functional? Again, likely not. It's lucrative to treat your artists well, as BigHit has discovered; after their month-long break they came back with a platinum-certified album, the first South Korean album to achieve such a rating. Then why have they been referencing MKUltra's techniques so much recently? Specifically in WINGS, I believe they do it as a metaphor, being particularly fond of powerful symbolism. They're saying 'this is' (whether entangled in temptation or trapped in someone else's idea of what they should be) 'is as bad as not literally having my freedom.' BTS first touched on hints of the dull, lifeless feeling of being a puppet and a shell in WINGS (2016) but it was a vague foreshadowing of their more current Map of the Soul: 7 Jungian analysis. WINGS is BTS' most controversial era and is heavily queer-coded; the title track (Blood, Sweat and Tears) is disputably about gay BDSM and its choreography remains the most sensual BTS has ever performed to date. The album covers a multitude of thinly veiled topics such as temptation (both sexual and monetary), wasted youth, childhood trauma, internalized homophobia, loneliness at being an outcast/different, confusion and pain after realizing you are different, the struggle/desire to please others, identity, and solidarity. Track titles include, 'Boy Meets Evil' 'Stigma', 'Lost', 'Am I Wrong', 'Lie', and 'Reflection.'. If WINGS was without this heavy subtext, it might easily be construed as an offering up oneself to be a puppet and controlled, if only it might make the internal turmoil stop. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? But Hoseok (J-hope) hearkens back to his childhood and his one constant, his mother, in track, 'MAMA', summoning a Protestan Korean church choir onstage at the end of his performance on tour. While they may be struggling with particular sins, they haven't forgotten their roots. J-hope's raw delivery of the climaxing lines, 'What is higher than anything above the ground/what is wider than anything beneath the sky/I want to be held in your arms./You are forever my placebo, mother's hands are medicine hands./I love you, mom,' is a tearjerker for any ARMY. WINGS is a beautifully layered, startlingly honest emotional rollercoaster. It's one of BTS' most brutally sincere and direct albums to date. Taehyung sings despairingly in 'Stigma', “Are you calling me a sinner? Please let me be punished. Please forgive me for my sins”, Jimin cries out in 'Lie': “Find the me when I was pure,” and Namjoon gravely intones, “He, too, was a tempter, a link to the evil world with which I no longer wanted anything to do with.” The album's story winds down by settling on the idea that while relationships are to be treasured, self-introspection and challenging yourself on uncomfortable ideas yields maturity and personal growth. It's perhaps fitting; life does not resolve itself all at once and some people may struggle with things for a while. Jimin and Jungkook sing in 'LOST', 'I never felt this way before/am I becoming an adult?/this is too hard, is this the right path for me?/I'm confused.' Jin replies, 'There must be a reason for all this frustration/I do believe we're on the right path.' Jungkook continues: 'I went on the road I was told not to go/I did the things I was told not to do/I wanted things I shouldn't want/I got hurt and hurt again/You can call me stupid/and I'll just smile'; transitioning to Yoongi's line, 'But I believe in myself/I know my back is hurting because my wings are coming out.' So is WINGS about MKUltra slavery? Not really; it's more about growing up and venturing out on your own and having to make your own decisions—essentially a coming-of-age story. But Namjoon reminds that choices have consequences in 2!3!: 'Saying you will only see good things from now on/saying you won't get hurt/I can't tell you that/I can't lie like that.' The idea is to lean on those who love you for help. Ending track, 'A Supplementary Story: You Never Walk Alone' (the extended play of the album is retitled 'You Never Walk Alone) begins out by saying, 'Hey, why does God always make us feel lonely?/Yeah, even if we're covered in scars/we can smile if we're together.' The soloists entreat to those who may sympathize with their struggle but have come to a different conclusion: 'Even if it's the price I must pay for this life/will you walk with me/will you stay with me?' wrapping up the entire story arc with a powerful message: you can still disagree with someone and love them with all your heart. In the music video for 'Not Today' the members attempt to take bullets for each other, even if it means in the end they are all shot down. (Not Today is based after and in some parts quotes word-for-word a speech by Martin Luther King Jr. about resilience.) WINGS is an excellent example of the members' famous extraordinary tight bond and love for each other. “When I was fifteen years old, I had nothing,” Jungkook sings. “Love you my brother, now I've got brothers.” He reflects later on: “I feel like dying, when my brother is sad. When my brother is sick, it hurts more than when I'm sick./So I don't know much about sadness/but I'm going to cry with you anyway.”, hearkening back to biblical commands love those around you, weep with those who weep, and walk alongside them, even if they don't have it all figured out yet. So even if WINGS does have an entirely different premise the deeper one digs, it does lay the foundation for the lengthy discussion of identity and personas outlined in Map of Soul: 7. J-hope raps in 2!3! 'I didn't want to show you everything, including my pain/because I'm still unaccustomed/I just wanted to make you smile.' The members frequently tell their fans they wish to show them only the best of them and avoid burdening them with worries and in order to be the inspiration they always wanted someone else to be for them. Thus, they might, for the sake of conversation, employ a 'split', or just…act cheerful when on camera. The line between voluntarily acting and being controlled is drawn at autonomy. One must genuinely ask the question, 'Is Subject A being controlled?' and the 'yes' or 'no' will give you some idea of your answer.

In short, to the religious members of the team, being entangled in sin is as bad as being an MKUltra slave; for the secular, bowing to baseless societal expectations and stereotypes is like giving up your freedom to evil faceless puppet masters. Pick your POV.

Written by Amianon.

@amianon@counter.fedi.live

As we near two months of widespread violence across the country and no end in sight, the calls grow louder for things to come to a head, either for the insurgents to prevail, or for the violence to be squashed. While some consider and scrutinize possible solutions to the armed conflicts, most seem concerned with who to blame. Many of the right are blaming the local authorities for the violence, while those on the left lay the blame on President Trump. Does the blame belong completely on one side or the other? The answer might not be as simple as it seems.

It must first be considered that there are various approaches to violence currently being employed by Antifa, the leading violent insurrectionist group behind the violence which hasrecently been designated as a domestic terrorism organization by the current administration. Some Antifa members have destroyed statues, committed vandalism, and burned buildings. Others loot, and others commit violent attacks on American citizens, occasionally murdering them. Still others remain peaceful, but encourage the violence from the sidelines.

Some blame surely lies on the citizenry, why by and large did little to defend themselves from the attacks. While many have sought to buy guns, they did so at a time when it was too late, and much of the economy had already been crushed by overreactions to the Coronavirus, meaning a shortage of guns available to be sold in the first place. By then, of course, the violence had already begun.

Well, what about the next line of defense: law enforcement? Those sworn to serve and protect the citizens? Well, these organizations have generally been deliberately hamstrung, both by local, elected officials, and bad PR, which forced officers to fall back in order to not lose trust in the community. Of course, the point has been raised that law enforcement should ignore orders that leave the citizens unprotected for the sake of political points, but the fact remains that the higher-ups in the organization are issuing these orders, keeping law enforcement from, well, enforcing the law, and even worse, pardoning and freeing the traitorous terrorists once they are in custody.

In other cases, law enforcement has been attempting to hold the mobs at bay by firing tear gas, pepper spray, firecrackers, and other repellants, but these cases are diminishing as it generates bad press for law enforcement as a whole, and the terrorists either attempt to overrun law enforcement, or leave only to return another day.

Of course, above them are the elected local officials, which have a hand in hiring those on charge with the local police departments. What blame do they bear for the violence? Many who tell their officers to fall back or stand down are clearly signaling their support for the violence of the terrorists, at times appeasing them by painting political messages on the road. Calling for peace while not instructing law enforcement to keep it rings hollow. Since they oversee local police departments, they do bear some of the blame for their failure to defend the citizens. However, the be fair, much of the blame for them even being in office in the first place lies directly in the hands of their constituents, for failing to elect leaders who will keep them safe. Worse still is the fact that countless citizens who will doubtlessly vote to retain the same politicians who are currently endangering them and exposing them to violent mobs.

Higher upon the power ladder is the current federal administration itself. How much blame does President Trump hold for the violence? The answer will largely depend on your opinion of the role of the federal government in keeping the peace on local land. If one is of the opinion that it is the federal government’s job to keep the peace in states if they fail to ensure law and order, then the answer is largely no. However, for those who believe that the government should be intervening, the answer is clearly yes, as the federal government has largely been absent from state jurisdictions. Regardless of where one stands on this, the Trump administration should bear full responsibility for any lack of action to stem violence on federal land. The property belongs to the federal government, thus, it is the federal government’s job to keep the terrorists in check. While President Trump has repeatedly called for an end to the violent riots, as with the local officials, mere words are not enough to allay blame for violence.

There is plenty of blame to go around. No one particular group or person shares all the guilt. While it is more constructive to consider possible solutions than possible culprits, so long as people are looking for someone to blame, it is best to make sure one is blaming the truly guilty parties.

Written by Casey Rollins.

@realcaseyrollins@gameliberty.club

@realcaseyrollins@kafuka.me

Motorola G Fast official announcement video

This morning, Motorola unexpectedly announced their latest smartphone, the Motorola G Fast. Joining the Moto G Power and the Moto G Stylus, the Moto G Fast seems quite similar to the Moto G Stylus, boasting a similar (if slightly larger) 5,000 mAh battery set to last for two days and an identical 1080 by 2300 display. However, it comes with 64 GB of storage, rather than the 128 GB that can be found on the Stylus, and it has 3 GB of RAM rather than 4.

We know a bit about this phone, but there are some unknowns here as well. We don't currently know which processor the Moto G Fast will launch with, although Motorola claims it will be “blazing fast” and its Snapdragon chip is octa-core. Motorola also says it has several camera modes, including Macro Vision and Ultra-Wide, but we still don't know the specs of this new device's camera. Among other unknowns are water resistance, the launch market, and the price, but it's reasonable to expect that we could see further announcements soon on those fronts.

Written by Casey Rollins.

@realcaseyrollins@gameliberty.club

@realcaseyrollins@mstdn.social

This review covers only the two-episode premiere.

When FX announced three new series—Devs, Dave, and Breeders—I assumed that Dave was created to fill Atlanta's spot of sharp social commentary, while Breeders would just be the fun new comedy. However, it appears that the inverse is true.

Breeders is a very tense and dark psychological dramedy. The program is largely one-note; the kids drive the parents crazy. The writing is sharp, especially for the dialogue, and the acting is top-notch, even if side plots don't feel integrated into the larger story. As an artistic work, Breeders is high quality entertainment. It feels effortlessly funny a times, which is good in an era of shows that are trying too hard.

Where I find issues in Breeders is in the messaging it perpetuates. The one-noteness of the program is largely due to the majority of each episode consisting of the main characters' children driving them crazy. They aren't just inconsiderate, as one might expect, they're also downright manipulative of Paul and Ally (the main couple)'s parenting style. Never once are the children ever disciplined. The closest thing to discipline that the children experience is a string of f-words screamed from the mouth of their father, which I would guess as the show goes on will prove to be more mentally scarring than actually corrective of their behavior. If the kids grow up to be brats, it could be quite reasonable to blame the parents (imagine that!).

However, the crux of my main gripe with the show is in its portrayal of the children. Children can be terrible, grubby little monsters, and Breeders portrays this aspect of little ones quite masterfully. However, they're not portrayed as much else. If the children aren't terrorizing the parents, they're sleeping, and that's only so that they can wake the parents up in the middle of the night (again). Completely ignored is the cuteness of children, and their sweet, charming antics. Never do the children ever bring joy to their parents. It easily leads the viewer of 40 straight minutes of torture to ask “well, why would anyone even want to have children at all?” Especially one who has never had children or spent much time with them.

While the show strongly suggests you ask this question, it doesn't make the slightest attempt to answer it, leaving the viewer to watch on hopelessly as the parents continue to be tortured. Perhaps this question will be answered later on in the program. The children are quite young, so there is plenty of room for the show to grow, and many directions the show can take. And as I write this, episode two is already out, although if the thumbnail and episode name of the third episode are any indication, not much is set to change in Breeders' messaging, at least not yet.

Written by Casey Rollins.

@realcaseyrollins@gameliberty.club

@realcaseyrollins@mstdn.social

@thecaseyrollins on Twitter

This is an edited version of the transcript for Counter Points Media's video 'The Cost Of Cancel Culture' The information might be old or outdated, and the author might not hold the same opinion today.

The Cost Of Cancel Culture (on BitChute)

The Cost Of Cancel Culture (on YouTube)

Before we begin, this message is necessary for context.

Under no circumstance should anyone ever harass anyone for their opinion or use of free speech.

Additionally, under no circumstance should anyone, even a black person, use the n word.

I am using the names of the persons involved, since by now this information is already public and viral.

Please do not harass them in any way.

A case has been made by some that this is harassment, or doxxing, and legal charges could be in order. I will leave a link below so that you can explore the information regarding this if your wish.

If any of the persons involved in this video would like to contact me for any reason, please message me.

My Twitter handle is @thecaseyrollins, and on both Qoto and mstdn.social my handle is @realcaseyrollins.

2020 is finally upon us, and while many are excited to enter the new year, for two young teenagers, the new decade couldn’t have started on a worse note.

The controversy began two days before the dawn of 2020, when Bailee Beckett and her friend Bethany Bonar were hanging out. Bailee is white, and Bethany is black. The issues began when Bailee posted a selfie with Bethany, saying she was her white friend, and stating that she doesn’t hang out with n words. When another user, who previously went by the name Oli but now goes by Iris Hera on Twitter, recorded a direct Snapchat message created by the both of them, clarifying that Bethany had given her permission to use the n word, and explaining why, in her eyes, it was fine to use.

While the case can certainly be made that no one should be using the n word, and while it has a massive, looming history of being used to oppress African Americans, and not all black people are comfortable with white people using the n word, Bethany’s main point is right. Bethany is fine with the message in the video, and the message was shared in a private context.

However, this was not enough for Iris Hera, who took it upon herself to post their entire exchange publically on Twitter, exposing their names to her followers, leading many to slander them and call for major companies to never hire them, and for colleges to not accept them.

Bailee responded with two videos, asking Oli to take the posts down, claiming that this could ruin her life, and accusing her of harassment.

Bailee went on to reveal that her mother also wanted Oli to delete the videos.

The exchange prompted a flurry of responses, such as condemning Bethany for being an oreo, or condemning Bailee of being racist.

This, of course, is unfortunately a sign of the next generation. Raised up with figures such as Kolin Kaepernick, Jussie Smollett, and LeBron James as role models, it should be no surprise that Oli decided to immediately post the info online, is gloating over her newfound clout, and is considering making a merch line with her girlfriend. The term “social justice warrior” might be overused, but the fact is that SJWs are some of the most highly praised personalities in modern pop culture. Marry this with Cancel Culture, and the Tik Tok Generation has become a ticking time bomb, rife with infighting and just waiting for something to spark an explosion. Many in politics today are warning that there’s impending civil war. In reality, it might be necessary to merely wait for the 15 year olds to become adults.

While calling out actual racism is a noble thing to do, to point out a single mistake made early in someone’s life as something that should end any hope of them being successful, especially for a one-time use of a bad word, is anything but, and the support Oli has received is troubling.

Humans were created as flawed creatures. To demand that they be perfect and never make a mistake is certainly unreasonable. What is reasonable is to allow teens to grow up and learn from their own mistakes how to operate in the real world. After all, all of us are mere works in progress.

Written by Casey Rollins.

@realcaseyrollins@qoto.org

@realcaseyrollins@mstdn.social

@thecaseyrollins on Twitter

This is an edited version of the transcript for Counter Points Media's video 'Our Modern Dystopia' The information might be old or outdated, and the author might not hold the same opinion today.

Our Modern Dystopia

Our Modern Dystopia

I have been following censorship for around three years now, and it is a subject that has always fascinated me. Not because I saw overt threats to free speech at the time, but because of the vast powers big tech holds. I didn't understand the world of censorship in my sophomore year in high school as well as I do now, but I knew enough to see that it was only a matter of time before a company that controls the top browser, runs the most popular entertainment website, and holds the keys to the entire internet would begin to abuse its power, and this revelation is no more clear than in our present, near-dystopian digital age.

YouTubers have long been complaining about demonetization of videos due to language or edgy political views, but as of late the conversation has been louder, and the punishment harsher. For instance, soph, a 14-year-old satirist whose content comes across as a cross between a political version of Studio C and an intellectual PewDiePie, recently got targeted by BuzzFeed for supposedly using hate speech in her video do not be afraid. The part BuzzFeed, and the other NPC-like mainstream blogs and outlets took the most umbrage with was her saying “isalamalakem” and referring to the middle-aged Muslim men who marry very young girls and rape them. BuzzFeed merely had to shout “sick em boy” for YouTube to take the video down. However they likely were not expecting the outpouring of support she received from the alt-right, many of them undoubtedly duped into believing that she was actually racist, similar to how the fake news media on the left gaslighted hateful groups like the KKK into supporting Trump, on the merit that he was racist too. Ironically, YouTube bowing to the wishes of a hateful fake news blog amplified the accused, and helped her inch ever closer to the coveted 1 million subscriber mark. It was rumored that YouTube would remove her channel after completely demonetizing it, but thought better of it after seeing all the support she recieved for being bullied by two large, left-wing establishment groups.

Even more recently, Steven Crowder, the host of Louder with Crowder, which essential serves as the right-wing’s Late Show with Steven Colbert, was targeted by Carlos Maza, a gay guy who hosts the cringeworthy, anger-fueled left-wing video series on Vox’s YouTube channel called Strikethrough, for supposedly harrasing him for being gay. And later, he added that it was for being Mexican too. He cites times that Crowder debunks the pervasive errors in his NBC-funded YouTube videos, and describes him using so-called “homophobic” as well as racial slurs; the irony here is, Maza’s own Twitter handle is the word “gay” paired up with an apparently racial slur. It is hard to take one seriously when they become angry with someone for describing them the exact same way that they portray themselves on the outset. In a sane world, these claims would be met with the same mockery and scorn as one who calls the cops on someone for calling them ma’am, even though she introduced herself as such. Even YouTube, while investigating the particular clips Maza presented in his raging Tweets, found that Crowder had done nothing wrong in the videos, although in an effort to placate the emotional gay man during Pride Week claimed that they are investigating aspects of Steven Crowder’s YouTube channel. That investigation ended with YouTube demonetizing his channel for sells a shirt featuring the word figs.

I bring all this up to say that rather than going away, censorship is reaching a fever pitch that is destined to burn hotter than 451 degrees fahrenheit. In fact, at the University in which I am currently enrolled, Albert Mohler, famed anchor of the Christian-themed news and culture podcast “Daily Breifing”, was invited on campus for numerous speaking events, one of them being a town hall. I used that opportunity to ask a question regarding free speech online, citing instances such as FaceBook blocking ads for pro-life causes and Twitch banning the non-political streamer HelenaLive for mentioning that there are only two genders. In his response, he predicted that there will come a time when Christians won’t be allowed to use the internet at all. While it sounds like an outlandish dystopian nightmare, it’s not an impossible reality, and most importantly, it’s the one we are creeping closer and closer towards. As we approach the end of free speech on the highways of the internet, it’s important to know how to navigate the underground railroad and arrive at websites and digital solutions that allow you to express yourself freely.

Thankfully, these havens of freedom aren’t all that difficult to use. I recommend watching videos by The Hated One for better and more detailed instructions, but one can easily evade big tech almost completely. Using Linux can help keep Microsoft from analyzing your activity, which you may find in your interest, as it’s been rumored for nearly two decades that they’ve installed backdoors into Windows for the NSA’s use. Simpler solutions consist of switching away from Chrome or browsers that use unmodified versions of Google’s Chromium engine, to an alternative such as Firefox, Dissenter, or even Opera. The next step is to find alternatives to the websites one typically uses, preferably one with high-profile users. Some nice alternatives to YouTube and Twitch are BitChute and DLive, as BitChute content from users such as soph, Infowars, styxhexenhammer666, Timcast and 1791, and DLive has attracted PewDiePie to their platform. Nice alternatives to FaceBook and Twitter are Gab and Minds, both of which also have popular internet personalities. Furthermore, the browser Tor is exceptional at evading network-wide censorship measures, as well as hiding the ability of third parties to track your network usage. With the abundance of alternative websites and free independent software currently available, you can find respite from the leftist, zombie-like trolls; always feasting on the flesh of those different than them, and yet somehow never tired and never satisfied.

Written by Casey Rollins.

@realcaseyrollins@qoto.org

@realcaseyrollins@civiq.social

@thecaseyrollins on Twitter