Throwing Rocks at Tanks

Picture it: United States of America, 2001. You are an old white man, a former Baltimore Sun reporter, and your writing partner, a former police officer and teacher, are in the HBO offices about to pitch a television series about the drug trade and broader sociopolitical and economic structure of Baltimore through the eyes of predominantly African American people, through all facets of the city, from the drug outfits themselves and the police officers to the dock workers and even the newspaper writers.

Like many things in life, or mine specifically, the first question anyone should ask when doing anything or experiencing something, or for that matter before they take a step out of the bed and decide to live for that day, is to ask why. It’s the very foundation and fundamental question to us as people and as society. It is the hive mind that spawns the dissenters, the sycophants, and the entirety of the congregation.

In an age where outrage is entertainment and truth bends to the highest engagement, this essay traces the lineage of our modern media—from Network’s prophetic satire to the infinite scroll of the algorithm. Drawing on Nietzsche, Mill, Dostoevsky, and Achebe, it examines how the pursuit of truth has become performance, and belief a curated identity. Through politics, journalism, and social media, the piece unravels how spectacle has replaced sincerity and noise has drowned out nuance. What remains is an unsettling question: when everything demands our attention, what becomes of the truth?