The World They Sold Us
It upsets me that we have been through so much bullshit in recent years to the point that when someone sends me a news article nowadays, I can no longer distinguish satires from real reports without mucking around a bit. Are you fucking kidding me? has been a sentiment more common than it ought to be. Worse, every single time I think this thing is just another worthless sensationalist piece, I find that while the headline might be egregious the content itself is correct. What a mad world to be in.
I used to think people who bought into conspiracy theories were ignorant. Or at least highly insular, feeding off an echo chamber for an uncomfortably long time. Today, you find even the most vigilant person growing wary, the foundation of truth not only shaking but collapsing beneath our feet. For those who would do their homework, the environment is getting increasingly hostile. Search experience goes downhill. Reputable sites are polluted. Where else to turn to? A large number of people in my circle works in or around cybersecurity, smart and experienced, equally disoriented and stranded.
At night, I'm kept awake by anger.
Recently, I found out about the recent iteration of an old scam, packaged in a specific way that hurts my soul: the ad would list off symptoms relatable to neurodivergent people, correctly preying on the problems undiagnosed/unaware people would feel pertinent to address. As with previous iterations (sports community, art class, the list goes on...) it's just a front to a subscription program that would suck your money dry and impossible to cancel. It makes seeking neurodivergent supports so much more difficult, and it goes straight to the people who needs help the most. It took me a decade to make peace with my own brain, learning its quirks and working on a way to live. I could see myself contacting one of these sham consultation practice in one of my darkest days.
Dealing with a non-tech savvy parental unit was tiring, and more than once I got so frustrated I would say painful things. However, who can blame them now? The ecosystem makes no sense. She is healthy enough to walk to the nearest branch of whatever institution she has business with, except none of them would take walk-in customers anymore. My arrogant self would once call people clicking on random messages on Whatsapp a fool, but today's security best practice seems to be telling mom not to engage digitally with anything. Or maybe not to engage with anything period. You tell them to communicate only with messenger pigeons and someone would still find a way to intercept them, exchanging your obligatory greetings with an offer for free community classes you can enroll by scanning a QR link.
Making money is easy if you have no ethics.