#343

Would I be Captain Obvious to say that people seem peevish lately about politics, the President, the media, conservatives / liberals, Republicans / Democrats, accusations, lies, the horror! IT'S WORSE THAN EVER! Or is it? What would people from Kent State in 1970 say? Or people who marched with Dr. King in 1963. Are things worse? The same? My hunch is they're better, but I've been embarrassingly naive before. I don't live in Aleppo either. I'll admit humanity isn't running low on flaws. I'm afraid we'll always, in some circumstances, treat and govern ourselves poorly. And we keep growing. Over seven billion people now, maybe 10 billion by 2050. What does that do to the world? We'll see. I predict progress, but setbacks too, swings and shiftings; it's never as bad as we think, or as good. The apocalypse will suck, but.... Ah, kidding. In fact, here's a simplification or distillation of how I truly feel, pure, untwistable, ultimately optimistic: I feel lucky to be alive now versus any era previously. I say this considering the safety, well-being, and experiences of M 'n' m and everyone I've shared life with.

So I'm optimistic, even though people and institutions can still be grossly and destructively possessive, greedy, negligent, e.g. ongoing wars, North Korea, starving children, the financial crisis of 2008. Humanity isn't running low on flaws. Will history repeat itself? All the bad things? I hope not, and in the meantime, I root for the good guys, and there are a lot of 'em. We know, in our hearts, who they are; we know what's right; we're just slow or back-and-forth arriving at it. There are good people everywhere; it's always been this way and always will be. That is inspiring.

So what's left to complain about? Lately, for me, it's one of institutions mentioned above, one that has modernized and spread, but also splintered and veered toward a ridiculousness that might, ironically, save us from it, save us from taking it seriously. The media. More Captain Obvious: Humans like to be entertained, informed, and warned. It's evolutionary. We assume the worst and almost crave it in shocking headlines. And news outlets are happy to provide and profit. When I was M 'n' m's age, I thpught the media was a tone-setter and truth-keeper for society. It's never been that exactly, but it isn't now for sure. It's entertainment, propaganda, overdriven by emotion and opinion, incendiary, defamatory, divisive, scary, heavy on commentary, light on facts. I'm afraid they're all paparazzi now, even the anchors; break the story, get the shot, no matter who you trample, tarnish, violate; truth is an afterthought. I hope M 'n' m are wary of how they consume news. These days it feels like 'pick your poison.' They'll probably 'pick' Instagram instead of the networks I'm referring to.

"Thank God the cable-news punditry and the online peanut gallery were on the job 25 hours a day to put vital developments, no matter how trivial, into warped perspective and make matters worse." 
     – James Wolcott

"If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you do read the newspaper, you're misinformed.... We live in a society now where it's just first, who cares, just get (the news) out there, we don't care who it hurts, we don't care who it destroys, we don't care if it's true, just say it, sell it. Anything you practice, you'll get good at, including BS." 
    – Denzel Washington