A potentially fruitless endeavor 

 

I took a step back from writing and making videos as I became more aware of the massive impact of information being spread on the internet. I saw the horrific condition that our current media system was in and I felt as though I was doing nothing to help, I was trying to capitalize off the downfall of the organizations that were put in place to provide us with the truth. I felt like a vulture circling the same corpse over and over again. The world got so dark there for a minute, it didn’t feel like there was room for anymore tongue in cheek analytics of the news. I have always done my best to come correct for this page. But I feel like I was just becoming another taking head. Someone just spewing forth opinions that no one asked for.

 

I would watch and read these videos, podcasts, and blogs that I was putting out and I thought I was just adding to the division that is already so pervasive in our contemporary society. I was worried that I was losing credibility by attempting to find humor in the news in order to make it more accessible. I became genuinely afraid of being another dumb opinionated asshole on the internet. 

 

But then I realized a few things 

 

1. I will always be perceived an asshole to someone. And that’s just the way life goes.
2. I am in fact a bit of an asshole.  
3. I am certainly opinionated.
4. But I am not dumb. A little impulsive sometimes, but certainly not dumb.  

 

I believe that I am intelligent. That could be mistaken as pretention, but it’s not. I just know that I have put plenty of work into myself as a journalist and a writer at this point. And carrying myself with anything other than confidence would be a waste of those efforts. I believe that my perspective on the news media is worth something. And I believe that remaining silent in this awfully divisive time yields nothing beneficial. The world feels like a fever dream and the worst thing we could do is not document this day and age.

 

In addition to the worries I felt about the context of the content I was producing, I fell into a nasty pit of anxiety and insecurity. I have always been incredibly insecure and creating content that was original made me over analyze myself. And because I got inside of my own head, The Second String Debate Team was no longer fun. But after some pain staking time spent swimming around inside of my own soul, I came to a realization regarding my insecurities. They are similar to my recent levels of silence. They are useless. My insecurities have garnered me nothing except for a sense of inadequacy that I fucking manifested.

So now I am going to dismantle that which I created.

 

I am going to continue to do what I love which is report on the world around me.

You could embrace my messages with open arms, or you could simply throw me in the gutter. It doesn’t matter anymore. The only thing that matters is being honest.

 

I have made some truly absurd content for this page, but one thing I have never done is lie or provide any false information to any member of this page’s audience. My perspectives, opinions, and biases (we all have them) may not align with everyone that interacts with the content, but it’s all based in fact. I don’t develop narratives. I dissect the narratives that have already been established by media conglomerates. After I chop those apart, I am left with what is left. The truth. And the truth is inherently divisive depending on who is being forced to come face to face with it.

 

Worry not about a narrative. Worry and care for earnestly the truth. 

 

The truth is powerful. 

 

The truth is vindicating. 

 

The truth is exonerating. 

 

The truth is tedious. 

 

The trust is upsetting. 

 

The truth is life altering.

 

The truth is the enemy of narrative driven reporting.

 

But no matter the form in which the truth arises, it is always necessary.   

 

Gaining any type of notoriety or fame as a reporter, journalist, or podcaster from the content created for TSSDT may be a fruitless endeavor. Who knows? But as long as I can continue to share the truth within an environment that is constantly trying to do the opposite, then I have accomplished something truly virtuous.

 

Welcome back to The Second String Debate Team…