AMERICAN PIGEON

We decided to begin from the inspiration of voices that have been all too often misunderstood, mischaracterized, and left to silence by the herd of self-righteous and deafened court of public opinion.

At a time no more politically severed than now, accurate, probing discourse has been submerged, and often it seems consciously subverted, underneath hysterics. The persistent issues of our time demand more than unchecked political assassinations, but examinations into the positions we take, ideological prejudices we hold, and into the throes of objectivity accelerating to a halt. 

It is up to a socially deafened generation, suffering from its own willful blindness, to break the feedback loop of our self-tailored feeds we bury our heads into, believing we are saving the world, at the expense of humanity. Always at the expense of life. 

The unreality of the “safe space” is that within it is contained the small self-pitiful hope that social insulation will perpetually protect the essence of who we are, “whomever that might eventually turn out to be.”  What was initially a physical space has evolved into a digital world, answering why with whatever pathology we might bring to life. 

Developed from the desire to tailor everything to our preconceptions, is the chaos we now see as Americans tear their identity apart, and lose deference, friendships and family. 

I observed that despite our studies of culture and societies, we never asked why they perished; or, if we did, in the answers motive took precedence over truth. As a result, by our lack of historical orientation and gratitude, we manufacture the hatred brewed for our own civilization, allowing our students to actively aid her decadence.

Social conservatism derives from gratitude. When threatened with constant change, the fragile networks upon which social relations depend are upheld by a common moral and political criteria. That criteria can only remain free and valid when dissent is welcomed. 

In the era of 250 characters, and millions achieving their fix with a like, reblog, repost, and captioned rant, induced with self-prescribed dopamine and “feel-good” politics, it’s within the American interest to put their pride aside and contend with truth—and truth is not something that is conveniently agreeable.

But as our social and cultural institutions crumble, families and friends split, sports and corporations becoming political appendages, schools and universities harboring political motives, inflated with power politics, discursive formations, language alterations, hate-promoted ideologies, historical revisions, and much else, we threaten not to succumb to tyranny, not autocracy, not media and establishment puppetry, but because of these, civilizational decadence.

Over a century ago, pigeons were the unsung heroes of World War I, delivering messages to commanders on the battlefield. At the time, technology was inept and unmatched by these feathered soldiers who proved more reliable than telephone and telegraph.

Today is an age where our communication is restricted and increasingly censored along ideological lines in the Information War. We are all pigeons in some way, flying around eating and defecating, eliciting only casual disregard. 

It’s our mission to swing on our carrier bag and helmet, fly above the noisy feedback loops to carry back down what is most important. 

Let the truth stand on its own, as everyone else attempts to write history. 

—Jacob Yusufov, Founder & Editor in Chief