That phone in your pocket? It’s not your friend. It’s a brain-rotting instrument, meticulously engineered by tech oligarchs to scramble your grey matter, decimate your focus, and keep you hooked so they can sell you more shit you don’t need and further a far-right-wing anarcho-capitalist ideology that is killing the planet. It both undermines progressive thought and serves far-right governments, bad actors and authoritarians across the globe. It’s unregulated, unfettered digital anarchy and for sale to the highest bidder, no questions asked. It’s not just you; it’s a societal affliction, this creeping idiocy by design. You feel it, I feel it. We’re all getting a bit too responsive, easily angered, dafter, a bit more on edge, and that bloody phone is usually the prime suspect.

Now, I could parrot the usual advice:  buy an old-fashioned dumb phone,  look in phone settings and grey-scale your screen, mute notifications, go smell the roses, and chill out. But you’ve already tried that, and it’s a sticking plaster on a gaping wound that just won’t heal.

Why is an artist like me delving into big tech and self-help? The answer is simple: I am appalled by the rot in our society, the political radicalisation, the public apathy, and the hyper-capitalist frenzy gutting our communities and our planet. It’s all amplified, refined, and delivered through that devilish device in your pocket. It’s a weapon of mass distraction and, frankly, mass derangement. So, disarming it, or at least understanding its mechanics, is a political act.

Step One: Recognise your Enemy (It’s Not You, It’s Them)

You know it isn’t good for you, but you feel you can’t live without it. That’s the trap. And how do I know? Because everyone I talk to says the same damn thing. Your time, attention, and sanity are being siphoned off simply to serve you adverts. That’s the grand, pathetic truth. All this psychic damage, this digitally engineered ADHD, this paranoia – it’s so some algorithm can flog you a pair of cheap trousers from a sweatshop via Temu.

That’s the sole purpose of these “social” media platforms: to keep your eyeballs glued long enough to absorb advertising. The brightest minds of a generation, not curing cancer or solving climate change, but figuring out how to make you click on an ad. It’s built on casino psychology – the endless scroll, the intermittent rewards – turning us into lab rats pulling a lever for the next dopamine pellet.

And notice how everything feels a bit… worse? It’s the relentless ‘shitification’ of society, isn’t it? The grim endgame of decades of trickle-down economics that have plundered the working class, with the phone now a key accelerant. These platforms thrive on engagement, and what gets engagement? Outrage. Fear. Division. The algorithms aren’t designed to inform you or make you happy; they’re designed to keep you on the app, even if it means turning you into a raving bigot against, say, migrants, or anyone deemed too ‘woke’ by a right-wing press waging its own relentless war on common sense and decency. Fascism always needs a scapegoat to ‘otherise‘, and they’re adept at finding new ones weekly. Very soon, in the words of the National Lottery, ‘It could be you’.

Researchers and whistleblowers have repeatedly linked platforms like Facebook to real-world violence and even genocide. Social media platforms whip up hatred, fracture communities, and for what? To sell you some plastic tat you don’t need. It’s grotesque. We’re letting them rewire our brains for their profit margins. The phone isn’t a tool anymore; it’s a direct conduit for Silicon Valley’s richest and most morally bankrupt to extract value from your consciousness. The broligarchy is real, and it wants your soul, your vote, and constantly demands your attention 24/7 if you let it.

So, here’s the first practical step: stop blaming yourself. The guilt, the “I have no discipline” narrative – that’s what they want. Instead, get righteously angry. These corporations, these billionaires, did this to us, deliberately, for profit. Channel that anger. It’s far more motivating than shame. There’s a reason it’s called “rage bait,” not “guilt bait.”

Step Two: Reclaim Your Tools – The Humble Computer

You’ve seen the videos: “I cut my screen time by 80%… by using my computer more.” Sounds like a cheat, but it’s fundamental. The phone is the brain-rot machine; the computer, by and large, remains a tool. Computers were built for doing things, not just passively consuming.

Think about “apps.” If, back in 2007, Twitter had said, “To read these short messages, you must first download and install our proprietary program,” we’d have told them to sod off. You’re a website, mate. But on phones, this became normal. We stopped visiting websites and started living inside these corporate-owned, walled gardens. Each app’s sole purpose, remember, is to keep you in the app, away from the open internet, so they can farm more data and show more ads. Click an external link on Instagram? “Are you sure you want to leave our lovely, data-rich environment? How about our terrible in-app browser instead, so we can track you further?” It’s insidious.

On a computer, you have the whole messy, wonderful internet. Plus, actual programs you can (sometimes even legally) own and use. You can still doomscroll on a PC, but it’s less appealing, less immediate. And crucially, you can do other things. My survey showed most use phones for mindless entertainment. But for creative pursuits – music, writing, coding, art – it’s the computer that truly serves as a tool for active engagement, not passive consumption.

The early internet was a “Wild West” precisely because these tech feudal lords hadn’t yet enclosed the commons for profit. You can still find that spirit on a PC. That’s how I learned most of what I know – by stumbling across something interesting online and giving it a go.

Worried about DMs? Apps like Beeper or Texts can pull all your messages onto your computer. You see the funny tweet your mate sent without falling down the Twitter rabbit hole for an hour. The point is, on a computer, you can walk away. It’s not physically tethered to you.

And enhance your computer’s defences:

• Unhook for YouTube: Kills the recommended videos, stopping the endless rabbit hole.
• uBlock Origin (or similar for Reddit): Block those distracting, addictive homepages.
• SelfControl (or equivalent): When needed, hard blocks sites and reclaims your focus.
• One tool is absolutely non-negotiable: AD BLOCKER. If Chrome phases them out, switch to Firefox. Seriously. Once you experience ad-free internet, going back is like being waterboarded with commercials. This is about reclaiming your mental space from corporate bombardment.

This fights “algorithmic complacency”, that passive acceptance of whatever Zuckerberg or Musk decides to mainline into your brain. Don’t let them be your curators. Actively choose your information. That’s freedom of thought. On a computer, you have more agency. You could scroll Twitter, or you could open a tutorial and learn something, create something, or engage with something real.

Step Three: Sundry Practical Defences

• Screen Time Passwords: If you use them, get a trusted friend to set it, or do it with your eyes closed and forget it.
• Replace Bad Habits with Less Bad Ones: Instead of Twitter, try Sudoku, chess puzzles, a language app, or even an e-book from the library. Something engaging but not soul-destroying. Replace mindless scrolling with things like general knowledge or puzzles.
• No Phone in Bed. Ever. It’s the devil’s work. It’s the mind-killer. Keep it charging in another room. Your alarm can be a cheap, old-fashioned clock.
• Fidget Wisely: If you’re like me and your hands need to be busy, find an alternative. Draw, write, play a tune, sing, have a conversation, go for a walk. Anything to stop that reflexive phone grab.
• Embrace Full Albums: A night listening to actual, complete albums, perhaps with a nice cup of tea or a glass of wine, if that’s your thing, is infinitely better than doomscrolling.

A Final Word on Accessing Culture (and Sticking it to the Man)

Are you really going to subscribe to Disney+, Netflix, HBO, Now TV, and whatever else these media conglomerates cook up, especially in this economy, while writers and actors get shafted? Consider where your money goes. Typing ‘TV show online free’ or exploring alternative ways to access culture isn’t just about saving a few quid. It’s about questioning who controls information and art. The knowledge that Jeff Bezos or some other media baron isn’t getting another cut, while you still get to engage with culture, is liberating. Think about supporting independent artists, local venues, or buying directly from creators, rather than padding the pockets of massive corporations who increasingly treat art as mere “content” for their streaming wars.

Ultimately, this is about reclaiming your mind, time, and agency from systems designed to exploit them. It’s a small act of rebellion, but it is vital for your sanity and, dare I say, for the health of our democracy and planet. Use your tools wisely. Don’t let them use you. Your mind is the last uncolonised territory; defend it.

Switch off data roaming on your phone and Wi-Fi while you are at it. Make your use of the devil in your pocket a conscious choice, not a dopamine-fueled automatic reflex that feeds the machine. Look at the world outside; see the beauty of life beyond the tiny screen in your hand.

Turn off. Tune in. Wake-up.

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