The News Is Insane And Contagious. It’s Time To Move On.
I briefly read the news, as one does, and it’s like an insane robot clown shuffled the headlines.
On Google, on Reddit, every story isn’t a story. It’s an accusation. One that can’t be proven wrong with anything resembling facts. You’ve been accused. Of being racist. Of wanting socialism. Of not wanting socialism. And how can you disprove intent? It’s impossible.
When you look closely, this stuff will be marked as “opinion” pieces. It reminds me of the old “SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION” ads, but instead of selling us a BOSE WAVE RADIO, they peddle mental illness. Some contributor to The Washington Post or Wall Street Journal.
But Apple — Reddit — Google all feed it to us as if it’s real live reporting. You have to look closely to see it’s an opinion piece.
The narrative is compelling and ridiculous. If we weren’t exhausted, it’d never get through. But they’ve spent 5 decades leading up to this.
So we’re stuck with stories like:
BREAKING: GLOCKS AND AMMO SOLD OUT NATIONWIDE AS BIDEN SIGNALS TIGHT GUN CONTROL!
DOZENS OF WHITE NATIONALISTS SCREAMED ABUSE AT A PRO-TRUMP DRAG QUEEN
What am I to do about the above information? Be angry at Trump’s supporters? Hide my guns? Feel better than Biden’s supporters? Give money? What exactly? Feel anxious? Shrivel and die?
What? What would you have me do? I get that it’s URGENT. It’s an EMERGENCY! So what am I to do with that info? I NEED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
On and on it goes. None of it is really true. None of the players are playing fairly, nor do they believe a word of it. They just know…if it bleeds, it leads.
It’s all a distraction…and it’s what Chomsky called a Tacit Conspiracy (go on, read MANUFACTURING CONSENT. It won’t hurt. Even my libertarian friends, Noam is smarter than we are by a wide margin).
This time we’re distracted, fried, and worn out. So we find the Aclove Workstation a little less insane. It’s a reprieve from the news, and the ad copy is positively calming. And, we get to do something. We can buy! (I did find that product compelling. I didn’t buy it. But I came close. I just worried that it was yet another vote for hyperconsumption cum-environmental Naziism).
What are the real battles? Hard to know when we can’t even begin to be decent to one another, kind to one another because we’ve been trained to get ready for outrage. Foam at the mouth, they say, and we do.
THE LEFT IS HERE FOR US ALL! THE ONLY THING STANDING IN THEIR WAY IS A BUNCH OF WHITE NATIONALIST SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS WHO SPREAD COVID TO NURSING HOMES FASTER THAN CUOMO!
Do we believe that the cops are all white supremacists?
Do we believe that the most consistently polled unpopular president who cried fraud every time he lost actually was the victim of fraud?
No, of course not. Those are both ridiculous ideas. But we click, we read. And we get worn down a little at a time. We hate each other. (Speaking of Hate, another good one to read.) We’re lonely as hell, trapped in our homes, and not even able to host a dinner party without losing our jobs or being hypocrites.
We’re to the point where cooking shows have a reaction shot. Sharon is just livid that Marjorie didn’t think her deviled eggs were prepared skillfully. Wait till you see what happens next!
No, it’s time to turn the news off. As soon as we can and as completely as we can and with as much discipline as we can manage, I’m all in just as soon as I finish this article about the secret cabal of pedophiles that has stolen the election.
