This weekend I spent quality alone time with my dear friend the flu. Constrained to my bedroom and passing between states of consciousness and drowsiness, I dedicated my free time to watching documentaries. Beyond the dilemmas of ethics and authenticity, each documentary holds a gem of mental and spiritual stimulation.

After watching a handful of documentaries, I finally surrendered to my burning and irritated eyes. However even after an extra strength Nyquil I could not shake the feeling of katharsis. I lay in bed for what seem to be days, pondering abstractions of justice and humanity. Watching a wide range of films helped me to understand the cruel truth that is my existence.

I dragged myself out of bed and lay on the ground of my small 3×3 foot shower, embracing the warmth of the hot water. As I left the shower chills ran through my body, and I looked in the mirror only to be greeted by the familiar site of my image. My wet hair was slicked back in an ionic fashion, typically associated with wealth. It made me feel sick to my core; rotten and dirty as if I had been dragged through the muds of poverty and pollution I had seen in the documentaries.

The brutal reality finally came crashing down on me. I am nothing more than a spoiled, first-world inhabitant whom is dabbling in insignificant uncertainty. I have made absolutely no contribution to the embitterment of mankind, and in fact have only supported the widening disparity between the rich and poor. I am trapped in a cycle of consumerism and ignorance. The educational system I was brought up in taught us of these social, political, and environmental issues however it was the documentary that finally allowed me to identify the formal dualism associated with the system.

We are all part of a large bureaucratic system that rewards the elite and exploits the weak. What makes this terrifying however, is that the majority of us are aware of this. There are three stages of social activism, awareness, distress, and action. Many exist in a stage of awareness, in which they know of the issues going on, and do not care. It is easy to take for granted the blessings we view as mandatory commodities, such as hot water.

The second stage of activism, distress, is the state the majority of us exist within. We know the problem and its existence bothers us, however we feel unable to make a change. I can speak honestly when I say most of the time I am more concerned for my own well being and journey for wealth than I am for the those less privileged.

A documentaries ability to humanize a character, and make them relateable, regardless of their different life experiences makes it impossible to go on ignoring their pains and struggles. Spike Lee’s fictional film Do the Right Thing screams the need for active social movement over more passive methods, by illustrating the police forces evil crimes committed against a community who is unwilling to fend for themselves.

All these documentaries made me realize, that just learning and trying to understand the problems doesn’t actually solve anything. As I am now, I am nothing more than a innocent bystander who is guilty of a lethargic existence. If I am not helping, I am hurting, and if I am not attempting to be a hero, I am unknowingly becoming the villain by supporting an unjust system.

Popular internet sites around such as Google, Youtube, and Facebook monitor user browsing in order to customize search results and advertisements. In ways this this is convenient and sensible, however websites often take things too far. Their surveillance of our activity and promotion of content can be disturbing.

Google, arguably the largest internet titan has become a integral part of everyday life and contemporary culture. Serving as a mega online index of information, Google catalogs and organizes websites for search. The company’s widespread success is undeniable and influences so many major aspects of culture. The content of an individuals search on Google is followed and gathered. Google then uses a web of formulas in order to determine possible trends and patterns of your search, so that they may predict and provide relevant information. The formulas often take into account geographic location, country, and most importantly history of searches. By reverse tracing our IP addresses, Google is able to pinpoint our location. For example, since I live on campus if I search for “sushi”, many of the top results are sushi restaurants nearby. Contrary to popular belief, the top results Google displays are not always the most popular, relevant ones. Often times company’s will pay so that their business is one of the top results, thus manipulating the user’s relaxed acceptance of whatever Google presents.

Youtube, owned by Google, also uses many of the same techniques in order to personalize the experience. Constant monitoring of our video viewing, regardless of rather or not we are logged into an account, determines what appears on the homepage and the side bar. Yes, a customization of Youtube allows each individual a personal experience, however it also in capsules them into formulated patterns of expected interest. Keeping in mind that this is a business and website do this to generate revenue, it is saddening to think of how we are targeted as cash cows. One search of food on Youtube, and you are flooded with a sea of fitness, vitamins, and weightloss advertisements. Large markets like these are often the ones most commonly advertised.

Facebook, a multimedia online social site gathers, collects, and stores more information than any other site. Taken directly out of our personal biographies, Facebook utilizes information such as age, gender, hometown, school, and relationship status. As a male college student many of the advertisements on the side pertain to cars, credit cards and “hot singles” in my area. Facebook even takes into consideration how you interact with your friends. Wall posts and conversations are under jurisdiction for Facebook monitoring and eventually these formulated wells of information about us, become our online identity.

Advertisements and suggested content often spark areas of interest for us and provoke our exploration into that topic. Online life is becoming more and more representative of our own personal identities and values. It seems like who we are does not dictate the content shown to us, but instead the content begins to mold our character. We are blinded and shut out of information these website deem unsuitable for us, and our ignorant lives online become more and more self entrapped.