Living in a World of Evil Rulers

How to (Try) and Navigate Times in Which Those with Power are Actively Working Against You

This year I have read a lot of books. Some of them have been rereads and some I read about a page a day, as instructed. One of those books is “Change Your Brain Everyday” by Dr. Daniel G. Amen. In it there are daily anecdotes about personal experiences with patients about how their brains improved, things to look out for that hurt our brains, and ways in which we can change our lives to make sure we have as healthy a brain as we can into old age. 

One of the recurring themes in his book is the Good Ruler vs. the Evil Ruler. 

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Now, I am famously anti “political discourse” when it comes to online discourse especially. We are so jaded nowadays that we fail to realize that many of the people in my country, the US, and probably around the world in general fall somewhere in the middle when it comes to most things. I genuinely believe that people want others to do well and that our world would be better off with fewer wars and less suffering. However, all we hear are extremes  and read bad headlines when it comes to politics and depending on where you stand, you see any opinion that does not directly align with yours as “evil”.

However, the people who run the applications, sites, and channels that feed these thoughts into our heads? From a brain health perspective, I see them as evil. People who present a food as “healthy” yet don’t mention the tens of different ways they try to hide the amount of sugar in something? Evil. Social media platforms while they claim to want to promote bringing communities together while promoting the most vile and hateful of rhetoric into your feeds? Evil. 

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There are of course varying levels of evil and different ways in which this stuff hurts our brain and overall health. I’ll try to explain all of it as I see it from my own perspective. I also want to try and be a beacon of light, which is really what I always want when someone reads my writing. It is one thing to recognize a problem. How we deal with it and try to fix it is where most people see disconnect. I want to point out the ways in which those with the most power try to harm us, and hopefully provide some tools to look out for your own health. 

Let’s take a look at how people/corporations with the most power want to keep you unhealthy, and some simple yet effective ways to look after your own brain health, and health overall. 

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Evil “Food” Corporations 

The Problem

With very little research, one can find out that the “food” most Americans consume nowadays is not only not the food eaten even by our grandparents, but hardly food at all. Many of the authors I have read this year refer to what we eat now as “frankenfood”, aka, something kind of like food, but certainly not eating an apple fresh off of an apple tree. 

Of course, Coca Cola and Pepsi don’t want you to eat an apple. They’d rather you drink an apple flavored soda. Companies making apple flavored products don’t want you to consume something in its organic form because they then can’t corrupt it with added sugars, tons of sodium, and other chemicals you see when you read ingredients and make you wonder. Wait, what am I really putting into my body? 

Tons of sugar and sodium are there not because they want you to “enjoy” this experience. They want to get your brain and gut addicted to their product and the chemical reactions caused with these ingredients. Addiction to sugar is as powerful as addiction to drugs, even if it is not as noticeably destructive. And much like a drug peddler, if they can get you hooked then they have a customer for life. 

What’s more insidious with food is the fact that they will present “healthy” options that are focused on calories. Lean Cuisine dinners that have 350 calories for a meal but are absolutely loaded with almost a full day's worth of sodium intake. Fruit juices presented as healthy yet have over half the recommended sugar intake for daily use. Getting into the particulars of how bad some of the food we consume is for us can take you down quite the rabbit hole but what I do know is this. The biggest food corporations don’t want a population making healthy food choices, and those bad food choices bleed into other poor decisions that help prop up other evil rulers. 

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Possible Solutions

Now I probably should have stated this from the outset, but I am no nutrition expert. The conclusions I have come to are based on reading and research that show common themes across the board. I understand and empathize with those who have families to feed, or have legitimate medical ailments that make some forms of eating difficult. I’m not going to recommend anything rash here, just some simple things that can make food consumption incrementally healthier. 

1. Eat as many whole foods as you can. If you have a choice and can afford it, choose real pears over canned ones. The canned pears have added sugar to make them unnaturally sweet. Eat an apple instead of having applesauce, but especially instead of apple juice. There’s of course also whole grain bread and pasta as well, but I’d recommend reading up on that specifically when making these decisions. There’s also the option of organic, which is almost always more expensive. Like I said, making small changes is something we should all aim for, and the more real food we eat, the less appealing food with more addictive ingredients becomes. 

2. Always read nutrition facts. I decided to focus on sugar and sodium, but of course there are plenty of other things to look out for as well. If you read how much sugar is in a normal can of soda, you may start to drink them once a week, even less so. It is absolutely a SOMETIMES drink. Take a look at how much sodium is in mostly processed foods like hamburger helper or even some soups that are premade. It’ll make you want to take the extra time and effort, if you can, to make your own soups and stews with ingredients you picked up and prepared. 

3. Make junk food a treat. As I mentioned, I understand that not everyone has the financial means to be the healthiest all the time. I’m also not recommending someone do so. While you can make healthy food colorful and tasty, sometimes we just want a cookie or some ice cream. I absolutely get that. But rather than getting a milkshake from McDonald’s 3-5 times a week, why not just have the actual recommended serving size of ice cream from your fridge 1-2 times a week, and have some grapes or watermelon as dessert instead. 

I get that these things aren’t as convenient but that is the point. McDonalds and other companies that do not have your health interest at heart want to present “food” as accessible and quick. But you’re trading in convenience for brain health and overall body health. Treat fast food as a treat rather than the mainstay, and you may be surprised how much you actually start to prefer the real food in your home. 

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Conclusion

As I said, breaking down just how awful food corporations are could be a book. In fact, there’s tons of books you can find at your local library or online about just that. The people running these companies may not be “evil” in the classical sense, but the things that they peddle in hopes of getting you addicted are the actions of someone with evil intentions. Anyone who wants to hook you on a high sugar, high sodium product that is barely recognizable as actual food is not a “good ruler”. And we need to eat. So, when people with the worst intentions in food have the loudest megaphones and control over what most of the population eats, it makes them inherently evil. 

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Evil “News” Media

The Problem

In a study done by Goodable, a news source dedicated to sharing only good news, they came to the conclusion that over 94% of headlines listed from news outlets across political spectrums are negative. 

Think about that. Unless you’re very discerning, 94% of the notifications that pop up as a notification from your news app(s) make you feel bad. 

Talk about depressing.

But, that is the point is it not? Provoking fear and outrage sending your body and mind into fight or flight mode is the way they get you to doom read the article, feed you another horrific headline, and continue to get you to scroll. Next thing you know you have spent over an hour or more on your apple news app just reading about horrific headlines and then you wonder why you can’t sleep at night. Fear and worry can become perpetual states and sadly, even if some news sources want to do well with providing factual news and analysis, they’re only going to keep you hooked if they make you fear missing out or just fearful in general. So you must continue to consume. 

Speaking of coaxing fear and hooking people on consumption, let’s talk about cable entertainment news. I struggle to call it news in general because it’s mostly fear based rhetoric designed to keep your eyes and be a feedback loop of confirming what you believe. Humans like community and cable entertainment news, especially, gives you a feedback loop of your own beliefs while also stoking fear. Some networks are worse than others about it, and I’ll leave it at that. Point is, unless it is a massive breaking news story that breaks through all the crap, cable “news” is basically useless. 

Then there’s stuff that’s even worse for you such as “news” that comes in the form of YouTube channels that is really even more extreme than even the most extreme of cable entertainment news. These are the most dangerous feedback loops because the algorithm will feed you more of the same content to get you hooked. Have you ever gone down a serious YouTube news rabbit hole? I have a couple times, and you know when it happens the most? Only when I’m depressed. I think there’s a reason for that. Again, some channels may be more factually based than others, but the way in which things are clipped and presented are still going for the same conclusion. Get you outraged. Activate your fight or flight senses. Watch more to feed the echo chamber forming in your mind. 

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Possible Solutions

Honestly, the cat is already out of the bag with our “news” nowadays. Unless you want people to completely change their business models or have billions of people change their viewing habits, there’s nothing you can do to change how “news” media operates. However, what you can do, and what I do, is try and find ways to stay informed while also making sure you aren’t being inundated with headlines that put you into a bad headspace or make you feel like you need to click to find out what’s going on. 

1. Do not watch cable entertainment news. I can’t stress this point enough. Unless it is a legitimately massive story that you feel like you need to be constantly informed about, stay away from cable entertainment news like the plague. Which, I think I could make a legitimate argument that it is a plague and disease in and of itself. My guess is if you polled people based on how much cable entertainment news they watch and compared it to how they see the world and how happy they are? People who watch less cable entertainment news would be generally healthier and more positive while those who watch it incessantly are miserable and full of dread/hate. 

2. Don’t get your news from social media. Yes, I get sports updates from social media (more on that later) but I have most news corporations either blocked or muted on my social media platforms. Sure, you can get breaking news from an update from even the most reputable news source on Twitter, but what you’ll also get is horrific rhetoric surrounding said news in the comments, quote tweets, and then their algorithm will feed you more negative headlines and posts around that subject. Just best to not engage with that on social media at all. 

3. Be discerning with where you get your information. The only 3 news sources I have on my phone are the following:

   • Reuters

   • BBC

   • Goodable

Reuters and the BBC give me a good balanced view of what’s going on when it’s actually breaking news for both national and international information. My friends will sometimes share articles from other sources and if I am interested I will read. But Reuters and the BBC are the only two news sources I allow directly on my phone. And even then, if I want to see their notifications I have to scroll through my notification center. They do not pop up on my lock screen.    

As mentioned before, Goodable is an app and source for only good news headlines. I have praised this concept before, and I am a Goodable advocate (even if they don’t pay me to do so). While over 94% of news headlines are objectively negative, Goodable focuses on sharing only good news on its platform. You can choose the subjects you want good news on, and they also don’t inundate you with notifications. Goodable is a wonderful source of great news I couldn’t recommend more. 

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Conclusion

News should not be inherently evil, but the people with the loudest megaphones out there are pushing news that is bad for your brain and overall health. Full stop. We aren’t going to all of a sudden force mega news corporations or even YouTube news channels to change their ways. That would take a mass unplugging that could only be achieved by a worldwide power outage. 

It is not hopeless though. Please, do your best to cut back on what you are consuming. If you must watch cable entertainment news, do so for a half hour instead of having it on for 4 while you’re home at night. Watch more local news if you must watch your news. Reading is much better, but reading bone dry, boring, facts only news like Reuters gets you the information without going out of its way to try and make you feel anxious, upset or angry. If you get disturbed by reading a Reuters article, that means something is REALLY messed up. 

The point is, most of us in the free world have a choice of what we consume for news. Let’s make healthy choices for our brains and overall bodies. Don’t get sucked into rage scrolling or watching. 

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“Evil” Social Media

The Problem

I’d like to state from the outset that social media in and of itself is not inherently evil. Like many tools, it is all about how we use them. For example, while I am not perfect, on platforms where it allows me to do so like Twitter, Threads, Blue Sky etc., I block all political/politically adjacent accounts and mute a lot of political words. Honestly, it is the only reason I can still tolerate Twitter and once sports Twitter finds another place to congregate, I’ll pretty much have no use for the app. 

However, these are proactive things I do to make my Social Media experience tolerable. I have to be proactive in order to protect my own mental health.

If you just let Social Media, especially Twitter, feed you any old thing it desires, it will feed you negative and damaging posts and headlines meant to put you in a bad place mentally. They want you to doom scroll, rage tweet, get into Twitter arguments with someone who may not even be real, or is at the very least obviously a troll. So long as they have your eyes and a grip on your negative emotions, they can justify whatever they charge for ads. Like I said, I am not perfect, and I have certainly gone afoul of following my own Twitter Rules of Engagement from time to time. But, at least I know what the game is here. 

TikTok is a completely different animal. The way the app is designed and what you like and follow allows for it to feed the things it thinks you will like. Taking the accusations of data collection out of it (though they are severe), this app is as addicting as they come. What makes it worse is that the desktop version is so much more clunky that it is almost as if they are forcing you to their more addicting form that is the app. Also, they started feeding “random” political live debates between TikTok “influencers” into the “for you” feed which has been incredibly obnoxious. But the apps design is so addicting that Facebook and Instagram have been dying to try and replicate it. 

Speaking of Instagram, what even is that thing anymore? Maybe it’s because I rarely post or am on it anymore, but even still there are almost more ads than posts from people you follow. They also have a bot problem…I’ll just call it that haha. Threads is dealing with the same issues. But, Instagram used to be a place where you could find some community with hashtags, let people know what’s going on with your life with photos. That’s all relatively harmless. Now at its worst it's a place where people show off only the best things going on in their lives and it’s all through heavy filters. I’m not knocking the influencers, because they’re making money off of what these companies and sponsors pay them to do. Also, many of them are REAL about their struggles which is refreshing. However, there’s so much fake and bad that it’s hard to balance it out. 

We won’t even talk about Facebook. That’s where your uncle shares a conspiracy theory created by AI to scare him and unless you’re in a group for specific reasons, it’s pretty much a free or all. 

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A lot of problems here to be sure. What I think is the overarching theme is the fact that all of these platforms in their own way claim to want to bring people together. I think in some way that used to be the goal. Facebook was about connecting with old friends. Twitter was saying what’s on your mind and maybe finding some folks that agreed. Even with it being a cesspool now, sports Twitter is somewhat tolerable if you have the right roadblocks. Instagram used to be about pictures. 

Now, they’re all about engagement, content, making money, and getting you addicted. If they were really about what they say, then there would be a push for getting good news into your feeds rather than stuff made to piss you off. You’d see far fewer ads and more posts from friends. They certainly wouldn’t promote political discourse because let’s be real. Talking to politics online respectfully is about as realistic as trying to get a toddler to sit still for 15 minutes. If you manage to make it happen, it’s a miracle. 

So, if the goal of Social Media companies is to get you addicted to their products, degrade your mental health, and make you angry, how can we still use it, but avoid the pitfalls?

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Possible Solutions(ish)

I don’t think there’s a one size fits all for fixing social media, especially since many people do use it for legitimate business. But I think my advice can apply even to folks who make their revenue from these platforms. 

1. Be conscious of your time. Something I do with Twitter and TikTok are time limits. I also have one for Facebook, but I am almost never on there. They don’t have to be hard stops (I blew past mine for Twitter during the Olympics Opening Ceremony), but they can be a check in to let you know how much time you have spent there. For me, it helps me keep track of my screen time, but it also helps me be discerning when I do choose to use the apps. I often find myself asking, “Do I really need to Tweet that?” or “Why am I still scrolling?”. It’s a good check in.

2. Choose where you spend said time wisely. As Twitter has gotten more and more toxic, I have found myself spending more time on Threads and Substack. Neither have the robust sports community that Twitter still has, so I haven’t made the switch permanent, but hopefully over the next few months more and more sports folks find alternatives. If we want Social Media companies to change their tactics, we have to take away from them what gives them power. Our time and our eyes. More and more you see Twitter pushing for users to pay for the service because advertisers don’t want to deal with the hateful rhetoric their ads have been showing up next to. If big companies are pulling out, perhaps we should do the same for certain platforms. 

3. Limit notifications. In a piece I wrote not that long ago I talked about how I limit the number of notifications I get from my phone. It helps me stay off my phone, and makes it less likely for me to fall into the trap of mindlessly scrolling after checking on a notification. The only social media that shows up on my lock screen as a notification is Substack, which is much different. Otherwise, I have to go to my notification center to see the others. I think people would be surprised how much less they find themselves scrolling their apps if they cut out the constant ping, vibration, or visual stimuli that is social media notifications. 

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Conclusion

For those of us of a certain age, social media is a necessary evil that is not going away. In fact, it will continue to be more intrusive as we continue to integrate technology into our daily lives. So, as a result we need to protect ourselves from the pitfalls. I genuinely believe there are still ways to use most social media for a purpose. But we have to make sure we are using this tool as a tool. Otherwise, social media is using us, and none of the ways in which it is doing so are for good reasons at all. 

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Overall Thoughts

To be honest, this article could be much longer than it already is (yikes!). But Dr. Amen’s book often makes me think and want to write out my thoughts. The concept of the Evil Ruler vs. Good Ruler opens itself up to many comparisons that I would love to explore more. If this article is received well, I may ask followers and subscribers on topics they would like me to discuss within those parameters. 

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For the three that I brought up today though, they are some of the most corrosive when it comes to evil people/corporations with power and how they negatively affect our lives. The food we eat, news we consume, social media we scroll through…it’s all incredibly intrusive in our lives and will have an effect on how long we live and how well we live. The folks at the top of these companies do not want you thriving. They want you addicted to their products, no matter how harmful they are for you. That’s a terrifying thought. 

Hopefully though, I have provided something that is a light in the darkness with some of my suggestions, and hopefully you can implement some of them so you can live a healthier life! And, have a healthy relationship with things that should and could be healthy for us. 

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