Anti-War Voices

 
Today in the world you have the news at your fingertips. You can open up your laptop to Google News and browse through the newest articles about Russian missiles. You can turn on the TV and listen to the mainstream media announce Biden's request to send more aid to Ukraine. Or you could open up Snapchat and tap through articles claiming we are on the brink of WWIII, speaking as if that's already true. What you won't be able to find with a simple reach onto the internet are anti-war voices. 

Anti-war opinions are unfavorable to the government, so people who kiss up to the government... a.k.a. the mainstream media, won't showcase those voices. The government loves war. Apparently there's money to be made during wartime; money I'm sure won't go back into taxpayer's pockets. However, all I see right now is a massive debt adding up. The last thing I want is war right now. I see lots and oh my gosh lots of internal problems within our country that need fixing before we wage war for what? Fun? Money? War right now means nuclear. Means millions dead. Anybody in our country advocating for this is crazy in my mind. But now, as I go onto all the news media sources, and I don't see any sentiment similar to mine, I'm gonna go crazy too. This is like this for a reason. Whether it's the government, big tech, the established media, elite influence, or a combination of a few-- anti-war voices are purposely buried to deter traction and alienate those with similar opinions.

Seeking out obscure websites is the only way to find true anti-war sentiment because it goes against the narrative the government and media is pushing. None of this is shocking to me, the idea that though we are entitled to protect dissent there's still a push back against those who disagree. I've been questioning the government ever since Trump began his 2016 campaign. The idea he ran on was pretty much that the government is full of shifty people, doing dishonorable things behind closed doors, not being transparent with the public, and he wanted to stir things up as somebody who'd never been in politics before. Since
then I've come into my own determining my political beliefs and questioning anything that seems fishy. I have suspicions about government action all of the time, and I'm constantly seeking out who would have something to gain, or better yet whose money went where. What I'm trying to gather is that there has never been a point in my life where I've understood and trusted the government at the same time. 

If you understand how the government works and what they can and can't do, you shouldn't trust them. Let alone anti-war this blogpost could potentially be labeled as anti-government. Perhaps, that's why anti-war voices are hidden. If the government is pushing for war and you're not is it then anti-government to spread your opinions? If you think it isn't then what if your anti-war opinions made it onto MSNBC, and people watch, they agree, and then protests pick up, there's people outside of the capitol. Would that scare or threaten the government? I think so. Nobody wants to be threatened, so would the government then want anti-war voices to be silenced? I'm fairly certain anti-war voices can only be heard on obscure websites because of this. While I may not have proof of the government or associates actively trying to hide these voices, it seems like a very reasonable conclusion using common sense-based reasoning. I might not be right, but I'm still entitled to think and publish this opinion just as much as people are entitled to protest war.

Interesting Facts from Communication Technologies

Google started as "back-rub" because the founders mistyped domain name to get google. The founders raised $1 million to open up a shop. They got $25 million venture capital funding to process 500,000 queries a day. Yahoo then made them their go to browser and then they had 200 million queries a day. Google changed communication through gmail. You could find photos instantly and store them there too.

Martin Luther mailed 95 thesis using printing press. He stated that printing is a "gift of God". Johannes Gutenberg invented it in the modern age, but ancient Asian civilizations developed it long before. 

The US Postal Service was created in Boston in1639. Ben Franklin was the first postmaster. The first roads and routes for delivery were developed in 1788. The first delivery was by railroad in 1832, and the first stamps were introduced in 1847. In 1860 the pony express was created, and zip-codes were introduced in 1963. Barcodes were later introduced in 1983. Pricing was controlled for every state. The USPS became a lifeline for the nations communication. Some problems were that it sometimes costed more to ship items than to make it. A problem with the USPS today is that not enough people work for them.

Bluetooth is used in all wireless technologies. In 1999 the first bluetooth device was created. Bluetooth makes phones, watches, computers, and headsets work.

The camera obscured was the first camera developed in 1685. It was a little box with a tiny hole to capture the reflection. China developed the true first camera in 400 BC. The first modern-day handheld camera barely worked in 1685. It was then perfected in 1816. Kodak, the most well-known camera company was  invented in 1888 by George Eastman.

Netflix was founded in 1997. Up until now there were mail orders for dvd rentals, so online streaming took business from Blockbuster and Redbox. Netflix first partnered with Xbox and Microsoft to help them with online screening. By 2016 Netflix was available in 190 countries. They took lots of business away from movie theaters, which caused theaters to start their own subscriptions to get people to return to live cinema. Before Netflix there weren't many options online for movie ordering, but now there are now over 300,000 options. A negative effect of Netflix is that it can lead to TV addiction and a sedentary lifestyle. A positive impact was that the Hollywood movie industry changed what type of movies were being made. 

Pigeons were first used to deliver messages in the ancient olympics to alert towns whether their athlete had won. The first airmail pigeons were used in New England 1896. Carrier pigeons were used a lot in WW1. It took 6 weeks to successfully train a carrier pigeon. Sadly, fewer than 10% of pigeons survived WW1. Soldiers and military as a whole grew to care for their carrier pigeons and realize their importance during wartime, so France said anyone who messed with a pigeons flight would be executed. Pigeons have won the Dickin Medal which is awarded to any animal who distinguishes themselves highly for a wartime act of bravery. 

History of the Phonograph

Music today can be accessed from the touch of a smartphone, watch, dashboard, and even by asking the AI who controls your speaker to play whatever you wish. There was no Siri in the 1800s, or any of the other technologies I mentioned above. People listened to music by going to live events or singing it themselves. That was soon to be changed in 1857, when Edouard Leon-Scott invented the phonautograph. 

The original development of the phonautograph was not what we know today as a record player. It was able to record sound waves on a glass plate, but was unable to play those sounds back. That wasn't very useful, as you could now capture music but not listen to what you had. This is because Leon-Scott did not intend for his invention to be used for listening, and rather analysis of the acoustic sound waves. The phonautograph would eventually inspire Thomas Edison to develop it further, leading to the modern day phonograph.

In 1877 Edison created the phonograph based on technologies of the phonautograph, while incorporating the telegraph and telephone. He was originally trying to create sound from inscriptions of the telegraph but realized the sounds of the telephone may work better to his advantage, and developed a needle to transcribe those sounds onto a tin foil cylinder. A second needle made it possible to replay these sounds on the phonograph. Edison's new invention was patented on February 19, 1878.

The public eventually lost interest in the new device and Edison stopped advancing it. Alexander Graham Bell made his own modifications to the phonograph following his invention of the telephone. He coined his updated phonograph as the graphophone. However, Bell's interest in developing the phonograph sparked Edison to continue on with his own adjustments. He eventually started a company to sell his phonographs.

At the time of 1901, wax cylinders were being mass produced so consumers could record their songs in bigger quantities. Eventually the cylinder was replaced with a disc, which is what we are now familiar with as the record player. The phonograph is a device that has been developed and advanced many times, but it has paved the way for how we save and record messages, music, and information.

As frenzy began and phonographs were installed in the streets to play music to passersby, there was question as to what to play. Comedy skits and military bands were of the first to be heard, then followed by Opera. Soon musicians and producers realized that music would have to change with the development of the phonograph, and as people liked certain types of songs, there was the emergence of music genres. Also, up until now music was hours long. Composers created symphonies that could not fit on phonograph disks. They started creating songs to fit the exact times the disk could hold, about 3 minutes. This is still how songs are today. One major implication of the phonograph is the development of the modern day length of song. Today, almost all songs are about 3 minutes in length.

The phonograph had many implications on music and society as a whole. For one thing, it inspired many people to learn new types of music. People could now listen and learn for as long as needed whereas they used to need to watch and learn from a live performance. On the flip side, the phonograph made it possible for musicians to be taken advantage  of by their record labels. This was worse for black musicians, who were paid a flat rate and didn't make any royalties. Record producers also took advantage of poor, white, southern singers, as he stated they'd be so excited to be recorded they wouldn't need any money. This situation only got worse with the development of radios, who could play anything and only had to pay composers and publishers.

With the invention of the radio, and later on cassette players and tapes, the phonograph and records went from the most used form of listening to music-- to the least. The phonograph simply couldn't keep up with recorded cassettes and compact discs. Phonographs are still around today, however they're mostly used for decoration or display.

The 8 Values of Free Expression- Protect Dissent

Of the 8 values of free expression, I deem protect dissent as most important at the start of our nation, and now today as we are in turmoil. This value allows you to disagree with the government, media, or most popular/accepted opinion at the time. Without this, you would be forced to agree and comply with other peoples' wishes when you don't want to. From an early settler who disagreed with Great Britain's unfair taxes, to an individual today who doesn't wish to be COVID-19 vaccinated, they're both allowed to take that stance, even if their government or peers don't want them to.

Early Americans had forms of communication, but nothing like we have today. The founding fathers probably never could have imagined the tools we have like the internet, social media, emails, etc. However, their idea of protect dissent benefits Americans today in times of online political censorship, polarizing ideologies, and government intervention in the two. A form of social media I can't not call out for these practices is Twitter. Twitter censored opinions of those who disagreed with 2020 election results, those who questioned efficacy of experimental vaccines, those who questioned aid packages sent to Ukraine, those curious of Hunter Biden business dealings, and so much more. Now, perhaps some think that people with those views should be banned, since they're spreading "disinformation theories", but that's a major problem. Since when was disinformation a term used in everyday vocabulary? It seems as though you can flip to any news broadcast, wait 5 minutes, and hear it mentioned at least once. Our problem today is not that we don't agree with each others opinions, or that we think others' views are downright backwards-- it's the attempt to try and censor others because you don't agree with or don't like what they're saying. That's what's wrong.

People have criticized the government and their supporters through every administration, yet only in modern, recent times has there been a call for the censorship of those views. Today there is the theory that if somebody doesn't agree with you they must be actively trying to harm you. In reality, someone else's beliefs can't harm you. If you make the personal decision not to look at opinions that make you go crazy, you'll be fine. This happens to everyone, you just need to be tolerant. Tolerance is one thing protect dissent needs to function. If people are not tolerant of other opinions, not willing to give them a space to be heard, there will be mob rule and opposing ideas are squandered. I am ever wary of this occurring today. 

From my point of view, I see almost all mainstream media outlets reporting on the same thing. No journalists are real anymore-- they don't find their own stories, they read a script that's given to them. So the news is reporting on all the same stuff using all the same terminology. Social media networks censor those whose opinions differ from that of the mainstream media. To top that off, our government is currently being investigated for colluding with social networks to censor the opinions similar to those I mentioned above. Now that seems to me like our government doesn't want us disagreeing with them. This is why Americans have protect dissent. I hope that someday soon we will no longer have to fight for our right to free speech. Social media networks are not required to allow our free speech, but they should not be able to collude with other huge organizations in our country to create a "right" and "wrong" way of thinking. Many do not notice this battle we are currently facing, or believe it to be true, but I hope for the prosper of our nation as a whole that oppositional censorship is something that does not live on.