Good News RE Protecting Our Kids from Exploitation by Addictive Social Media

And Bad News: the digital control grid is a real thing, but Big Tech needs to distract us into screen time while they do their slight of hand, and we’re almost as gullible as teenagers.

First the good news!

The Anxious Generation has been in parents’ and educators’ hands for a year. The authors never imagined the book would galvanize such a strong response. Their book delves into why social media is “wildly inappropriate for minors”:

“The major platforms welcome anyone who is old enough to say that they are 13. They collect and sell children’s data, capture their attention for an average of five hours a day, and routinely expose them to sex, violence, and content that promotes suicide.”

The book proposes 4 new social norms (neatly summarized in this Free Press article):
1. No Smartphones Before High School (or Age 14)
2. No Social Media Before 16
3. Phone-Free Schools
4. More Independence, Free Play, and Responsibility in the Real World

In one year, this book has helped achieve amazing progress:

“Initially, we anticipated little help from Congress, given the considerable influence of social media companies. We thought parents would have to do this on their own, as with delaying smartphones. But what surprised us was the degree to which leaders and legislators from both parties sprang into action. Governors and legislators from red states (Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, North Dakota, South Carolina, Utah), blue states (California, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Vermont), and purple states (Virginia) reached out to us to discuss their plans. ... Then, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy also took action. Building on his previous report on the dangers of social media for children, he asked Congress to require social media companies to offer warnings of the sort mandated for tobacco products, which gained the support of 42 state attorneys general.”

And Now for the Bad News

Odds are, you opened this message out of caring about youth. Kids are naturally optimistic and curious— which means they are easy to manipulate. We parents and teachers don’t want to smother them in overly protective rules— rules that kids have gotten around since time began (remember?!), yet we need to be lovingly vigilant!

That’s why we need to know, ahead of time, how the 1% (which includes a surprisingly high percentage of flat out sociopaths) plans to control us, the 99%.

Being such a tiny minority, brute force simply wouldn’t work. Instead, just as they entice kids onto social media, they know how to nudge grown-ups’ acceptance of ever more convenience and safety, the cheese in the mouse trap.

In this interview, “Trump, Musk, and the Digital Control Grid,” Catherine Austin Fitts shows us the inner workings of Big Tech, Big Ag, Big Pharma, and Big Junk Food in their march to make unfair profits. (Remember, they will justify any legal-but-unethical trick, as ‘necessary so that your pension funds can pay out when you retire.’)

Their trickery is costly, both in tax dollars and in chipping away at our representative democracy, which is famous for promoting equal rights under the law for Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Catherine calmly explains, with illustrations from current events, how far the 1% will go to cancel our democracy for their benefit.

Why an Old Lefty Voted for Trump

To the consternation of most of those near and dear to me, the only way to get Kennedy into government was to vote for Trump, so you might think I wouldn’t watch a tutorial on Trump’s ulterior motivations.

However, I’ll bet I’m not alone in saying that November’s ballot forced voters to choose the lesser of 2 evils (or to “waste” a vote on a third party candidate).

Biden was too demented for another term, but Harris didn’t win any primaries because her party didn’t hold any (which hadn’t happened since Vice President Hubert Humphrey became the Democratic nominee in 1968).

Note: Despite being an old hippy-lefty, I’m all for capitalism (before I became a teacher, I had some businesses of my own). Also, I approve of local, state, and federal governments providing safe highways, bridges, libraries, national parks and national defense (i.e. not national offense), basic scientific research, law and order, efficient and secure voting systems, and anything else that is difficult or impossible for individuals to do on their own.

However, like most Americans, I’m opposed to a tight connection between capitalist organizations (sole owners, partnerships, LLCs and corporations) and government at any level.

In fact, one definition of fascism is “a concentration of power in the hands of a government that is overtly or covertly run by vested interests,” i.e. LLCs (limited liability companies) and corporations. If you’ve been noticing the rise of influence by the Fortune 500 on government, she shows why you have a legitimate concern.

Catherine gives a bird’s eye view of what we here on earth, scurrying through our busy days, have a hard time seeing . The interview is an hour, but I’ve already watched it twice. Although I usually prefer the written word, sometimes an article isn’t human enough for big ideas.

Here’s the link again, as a URL:
https://tube.solari.com/videos/jerm-warfare-2025/

Feel free to confirm or object in the comments section, or to simply add your own observations.