All this info is getting me down

By Chris Tackett

Thursday, December 13, 2007

This piece and the article it links to really hit home with me.

The two posts I'm linking to touch on how depressing it can be to stay informed. If you've ever felt a similar way, go give them a read.

It really is depressing to keep up with the important news. I thought about adding "these days" to end the previous sentence, but I don't pretend that today is anything different. I know there has been terrible things going on for as long as things have been happening. But with high-speed internet, RSS feeds and thousands of bloggers, it has never been easier to bum yourself out.

I think of this every day when I update my Shared Items from Google Reader and begin to think about how terrible the world must look to someone that is just reading what I share. And while it can be said that there are a lot of great things going on in the world, the fact remains that there are easily (I would argue) just as many terrible things going on, if not more. And for me, it seems that letting people know about the terrible things is more important because those are the things that we need to stop and try to fix.

At times I even think about what it would be like to go back to the blissful ignorance I enjoyed several years ago. I think sometimes of what I would do if faced with the option ol what's-his-name faces in The Matrix and whether I'd take the blue or red pill. (For those of you not familiar with the scene, I've only seen it once, but I think one pill would make him forget everything he knew and the other would let him continue on learning more. Correct me if I'm wrong, MovieFolks) And as depressing as keeping up on the various scandals and injustices being perpetuated by assholes throughout the world is, I always conclude that I'd stick with reality and knowing what I know. Kids have it easy. They aren't burdened by the responsibility of staying informed like a good citizen should. So maybe a pill to return to my childhood would be a nice retreat. But when I come across an adult that is truly ignorant about something that any good citizen should know about, I pity them.

I'm traveling today. And earlier in the airport two men in front of me, probably in their mid-thirties or forties, were discussing the long line for the security check and one of them said to the other, "Gosh, do you think they are water-boarding people up there?" And the other guy looked at him blankly and said, "Water-what?" He really didn't know. It took a bit for the first guy to explain it to him because he not only had no idea what water-boarding is, he had no idea there was even a controversy over its use.

I can't really fathom how one could go about being so uninformed about an issue that we should all be concerned about - that is if you care about this country - but somehow that jackass had figured out a way. No amount of peace of mind or restful sleep would make me want to be that guy. But sometimes I still think about what it would be like.

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Have you felt sometime similar? If so, what is your solution? For me, I try to add useful and entertaining things to my shared items interspersed among the depressing stuff. These are things I'd want to share anyway, but it makes me feel better to drop them in among the downers. Maybe it helps, maybe not.

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Posted by who_mikejones1978 (anonymous) on December 13, 2007 at 12:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)

safe travels, man. good luck.

I feel your pain on this one. I don't claim to be the most knowledgable guy, but I do try to stay as informed as I can about major issues, and I also find it frustrating when I see just how many people don't seem to pay any attention. It's like they view the world as republicans or democrats, or americans and not americans, or they don't even seem to view the world at all. so many people don't pay any attention.

no real good ideas of how to deal with it. when it ticks me off enough I go for a run.

Posted by mitzibel (Misty Nuckolls) on December 13, 2007 at 12:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)

When the news gets me down, I just find someone to waterboard. That means peeing on them while they lie stiff as a board, right?

Posted by DOTDOT (anonymous) on December 13, 2007 at 2:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)

As a species we suck. The internets just allow us to suck harder and faster.

Yeah, yeah, I'm tired of saying it. But how 'bout that Led Zeppelin?

Oh let the sun beat down upon my face.

Posted by OnShakedown (Chris Tackett) on December 13, 2007 at 5:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Led is always a pick me up.

And thanks for the well-wishes, whoismikejones

Posted by OtherJoel (anonymous) on December 13, 2007 at 6:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)

And stars fill my dream
I'm a traveler of both time and space
To be where I have been

Posted by OtherJoel (anonymous) on December 13, 2007 at 6:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)

DOTDOT -- seen any of the reunion show footage? The band sounds great, except 40 years of screaming seems to have taken a toll on Robert's voice. All the bits I saw were transposed into a lower key. Page rocked it though. Hopefully there will be a DVD at some point.

Sorry Chris, but hey -- this is the kind of stuff that helps when the news gets me down. There's always good music to geek out on, or art, or bicycling, or basket-weaving, etc. Diversions are good things.

Posted by OnShakedown (Chris Tackett) on December 13, 2007 at 9:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)

otherjoel, don't worry about me, i've got plenty of ways to geek out and enjoy myself. maybe my tone was more depressed than i meant it to be, more than i am. i mean, things really are eff'd, but i'm not looking for razor blades or anything. i know a lot of folks doing everything they can to fix it, occasionally myself included. i just wish there were a few more.

but hey, if all those folks Tom's been talking to are right, in 2012 we'll have a lot bigger things to worry about. though i think that's all bull and our biggest concern in 2012 will be getting Rudy's ass out of the white house.

Posted by DOTDOT (anonymous) on December 14, 2007 at 10:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Who cares about Vice President Guliani? President Huckabee is the one that scares me, praise god.

All this info is getting me down

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