The final innovation which profoundly affected my personal sense of identity was the advent of the Internet. By the time my wife and I broke down and bought our first PC in the early 90s, the World Wide Web was already a full-blown global phenomenon. The Internet opened up entirely new vistas of research and understanding for me, and it helped to socialize my world view and it allowed me to see myself as part of a group, with a greater purpose. I found out I was not alone in my interests, desires and beliefs – I was able to identify with other people for the first time, really – and it was empowering. I discovered there are millions of people interested in subjects which I thought nobody cared about except me. This was a transformative moment in my life and it contributed more than anything to my sense of de-individuation. For once in my life I could identify with groups of people: conspiracy theorists, alternative news sources, Bill Hicks fans, etc. – who were interested in the same things I was interested in. This helped me to de-individualize and identify with others.

This gradual process brings the operational framework of ‘agency’ into the mix. Just knowing there were other people out there who shared my views helped to empower me.

Initially, I was optimistic that the Internet could bring about positive change through networking but it hasn’t quite worked out that way, has it?.

My main focus has been on the relationship between media and society, specifically the relationship between media and the government. Throughout my life, I have used most of the available media products with the intent of seeking knowledge in the “uses & gratifications” model. The media’s primary purpose for me has always been to seek out alternative sources of information and attain hard to find knowledge; and ultimately, the Truth.

I am 52 years old. My age certainly plays a role in how I view the current media climate. I do not have a presence on social media. I don’t even have a FACEBOOK page and I have no plans to create one.To this day, I still don’t own an ipad, Smartphone, or even a cell phone. I recently broke down and purchased a laptop which is currently gathering dust somewhere, and I am completely tattoo and piercing free. My hair is not pink.

Still, I am a freak.

I have never, nor will I ever, tweet anything. I’m not even sure how it’s done. I am only capable of writing complete sentences. That’s just the way I think. And yet, my quality of life has not suffered for the lack of any of those things. My unique sense of self has remained intact through a kind of voluntary exclusion.

My refusal to participate in popular media is part of my self-confirmed status as an ‘outsider.’ I have chosen to exclude myself. I do not participate in our society because I disagree with virtually everything about it. Everything is exactly the opposite of the way it should be as far as I’m concerned: politically, socially, culturally and economically.

Without question, today’s media influences the tastes of the majority; especially the students I’ve met. Personally, I resent being viewed as a mindless consumer and therefore I do not consume. I refuse to validate a system which is so obviously evil and backward, and I don’t want to contribute any further to the long, slow decline of civilization. Most current mainstream media [MSM] is geared towards the lowest common denominator. I’m more interested in creating a unique identity than being part of any group.

I’ve never been a “joiner.” I emphatically do not share the same banal, utterly mainstream tastes of the general public, and I never will. Believe me I have tried. I am very suspicious of most new forms of media other than the Internet, which I acknowledge as the last bastion of free speech. Just barely.

I read a lot of books and magazines. I like to look at pictures. I rarely watch TV. Never seen Seinfeld or Friends, or even The X-Files. I don’t like a lot of movies: they’re predictably formulaic and derivative for the most part, especially the typical Hollywood fare.

One recent film I highly recommend is Kingsman: The Secret Service. It’s a ‘James Bond’ sort of parody, and I can see why it wasn’t very popular in America. It touched on a lot of painful issues like climate change and over population and the avarice and greed of the One Percent. Samuel L. Jackson’s “bad guy” character has a lisp for some reason, and most of the other actors are English. There is even a reference to anal sex. With a woman! The kind of stuff Americans really hate.

The funniest scene was when Colin Firth wiped out an entire church full of fanatical Christian hate mongers. It wasn’t very PC, let’s put it that way.

My kind of movie.