John was something of a rebel in his youth, always challenging things

not blindly agreeing to everything he heard and he was constantly searching for answers

he made an effort to think for himself

holding strong views on many things but willing to listen and learn

as he got older he settled down raising a family and working hard at his job

thinking for himself became a tiring task

without realizing it, he allowed others to do his thinking for him

he only listened to one radio station and watched one TV channel

all his books went unread and he rarely listened to music anymore

John allowed others to inject their thoughts into him

broadcasting and social media became the dirty needles for his news addiction

social media closely tracked John’s browsing habits

adjusting his news feed like the pusher who mixes a cocktail of drugs for a junkie

john happily ate all the words prepared by the media dietitians

he would repeat the same digested words during conversations

his circle of friends dwindled to a few just like him

he only went to bars that had TVs tuned to his favorite channel

politicians who hijack people’s thoughts loved John and those like him

they could easily collect votes without having any real policies or credible manifestos

one day,  John collapsed at work and was rushed to the hospital

he had suffered a massive stroke and his recovery was long and slow

throughout rehab he was totally disconnected from all news media

therapy sessions slowly taught him to speak and walk again

his right side was partly paralyzed and he learned to type with his left hand

the therapist gave him writing tasks and he kept a journal of his recovery

it was exhausting to type even a short sentence at first but John persevered 

John’s mind slowly began to wake up again

he started reading books and magazines and progressed to writing short stories 

after a very long rehab period,  John went home but he did not turn on the TV

he stopped using social media but he read extensively and wrote every day 

his first book was an autobiography

John became a successful author

the politicians who hijack people’s thoughts don’t like John anymore