The blues can be quite debilitating, at times. This represents the prime topic I discussed with my mental health therapist yesterday. I was telling him how chronic pain -- particularly these nasty fibromyalgia flare-ups -- can certainly affect my mood. When the pain becomes this severe, one wonders when and IF it will ever end.
But it's not simply a case in which my pain and fatigue has dragged me down. As I read the news each day, article after article paints a bleak picture for the present and the future. Each time I think the overall storyline can't get any worse...it gets worse. There are so many things to be outraged about, it can feel very overwhelming, at times.
My therapist's advice, while well meaning, is not very realistic. He suggested that I not read the news everyday. You know, take a break from the information overload and insanity.
I know that there are people in the world -- some of you reading this would qualify -- who believe it is better simply to ignore what's happening in the halls of government. They will do what they will do and there really isn't that much you or I can do about it. Besides, it doesn't really impact our daily lives that much. We go about our own business. We follow our own routines. Who cares what laws they pass or wars they start?
The only problem with such a perspective is that it is untrue. The machinations and chicanery going on in federal, state, county and city governments directly impacts each of us. I, for one, would like to know what's coming down the pike before it gets here as opposed to having it suddenly drop on my head like a ton of bricks.
For example, if the US Congress one day decides to dismantle Social Security, I'm up shit creek without a paddle or even a damn boat!! My wife and I only are able to make it from month-to-month based on her paycheck and my SSI payment. Subtract my meager SSI payment from this equation and we may find ourselves out on the streets.
Those streets may not be very welcoming either. Since the various austerity initiatives being currently floated suggest deep cuts in what's left of the social safety net, the services we might normally look to won't be there. Then what? Do we join the growing legions of the homeless?
Look, I'm not suggesting that I sit around everyday contemplating Armageddon, civil war or violent social unrest, but if things keep sliding downhill for those of us on Main Street, something has got to give. There are masses of people in this country and around the world who are receiving the short end of a very short stick and we serfs can only take so much.
That's why I read the news daily. That's why I've got a bit of the blues.
But it's not simply a case in which my pain and fatigue has dragged me down. As I read the news each day, article after article paints a bleak picture for the present and the future. Each time I think the overall storyline can't get any worse...it gets worse. There are so many things to be outraged about, it can feel very overwhelming, at times.
My therapist's advice, while well meaning, is not very realistic. He suggested that I not read the news everyday. You know, take a break from the information overload and insanity.
I know that there are people in the world -- some of you reading this would qualify -- who believe it is better simply to ignore what's happening in the halls of government. They will do what they will do and there really isn't that much you or I can do about it. Besides, it doesn't really impact our daily lives that much. We go about our own business. We follow our own routines. Who cares what laws they pass or wars they start?
The only problem with such a perspective is that it is untrue. The machinations and chicanery going on in federal, state, county and city governments directly impacts each of us. I, for one, would like to know what's coming down the pike before it gets here as opposed to having it suddenly drop on my head like a ton of bricks.
For example, if the US Congress one day decides to dismantle Social Security, I'm up shit creek without a paddle or even a damn boat!! My wife and I only are able to make it from month-to-month based on her paycheck and my SSI payment. Subtract my meager SSI payment from this equation and we may find ourselves out on the streets.
Those streets may not be very welcoming either. Since the various austerity initiatives being currently floated suggest deep cuts in what's left of the social safety net, the services we might normally look to won't be there. Then what? Do we join the growing legions of the homeless?
Look, I'm not suggesting that I sit around everyday contemplating Armageddon, civil war or violent social unrest, but if things keep sliding downhill for those of us on Main Street, something has got to give. There are masses of people in this country and around the world who are receiving the short end of a very short stick and we serfs can only take so much.
That's why I read the news daily. That's why I've got a bit of the blues.
I was going to recommend what your therapist did even before I read what he said. I'd say turn off the TV and get away from the websites for a month, a retreat, and see what happens. Turn your attention elsewhere, inward, to something more lasting than the dust of politics and corporate machinations. If your fear-fed/ fear of Fed blues continue or get worse after the trial period of abstinence, then resume the habit. There's a reason for the term "news junkie." I have a couple of friends who are constantly sending links and talking about Keith Olberman/Fox News/Jon Stewart/Jay Leno/Oprah/C-span and other sources to which I pay no attention, and the only difference between them and me is they are always nervous and on alert. (I am not ignorant or uninformed.) The news (and advertising) becomes some kind of sacred text to which they refer to understand every moment. I can only assume they like living that way.
ReplyDeleteCongress is going to do TO us (not FOR) us what they will whether we obsessively monitor them or not. (Although with the House and the President from different parties, I suspect that nothing will get done, one way or other. ..which can be a good thing. I just wish they could build a rail system in Hawaii.) The trick is to find a balance between total ignorance and total obsession. There are Taoist lessons to be learned.
There have been masses of "serfs" on the short end since time immemorial, and most of them have been way worse off than you or I can even contemplate.
I also found that I changed my web news feed from domestic to international, (partly because I'm a China watcher) and it gave me a lot more perspective.
Now I am going to return to my DVD series about the Art of War....useful stuff for the serfs to know.
Here's my problem with that kind of strategy: It is defeatist. While I will acknowledge that there isn't a lot average folks can do, we guarantee our own impotence if we don't pay close attention to what's going on.
ReplyDeleteBill Mahr has described the vast majority of Americans as "sheeple." I so agree with him. Far too many folks are more concerned with who wins "American Idol" than the direction the country is headed. If only a significant portion of them was paying any attention, we might be able to turn the ship around.
As to your comment about other people in the world being far worse off than the average American, I couldn't agree with you more. However, American and American-supported policies often are to blame. If we have compassion for these folks, shouldn't it be incumbent on us to try to change the dynamics?
Actually I agree with you.
ReplyDeleteI was just commenting on your particular blues. Really, try a retreat for a month.
You'll see nothing out there has changed.
But you might.
Inhale, exhale.
And regarding the serfs' troubles...I was thinking about historical contexts. Are you ready to live on boiled bark and he flesh of your own infants?
Turn off the fucking television. Better yet, shoot it, Elvis-style. Try it. You'll feel better. Unless you don't want to.
"we guarantee our own impotence if we don't pay close attention to what's going on."
ReplyDeleteActually we are all impotent in that world of dust.
The news junkie is just looking at porn.
You're right, I am one of those who'd say you need a break from what baroness called "obsessive monitoring." I remember on my AT thru-hike, being out there for months without any news was great! Media blackout all the way, very healthy. Anyways, there's nothing older than the news.
ReplyDeleteNow, you're right, we do have some semblance of power if we stay informed. Here is the real question, though: you're obviously one of the informed. But do you do anything with the info, or do you just stew on it. Most people just stew on it. It becomes like a drug, where we obsess about knowing, but it doesn't result in anything.
So, I say keep a finger on the pulse, but let most of it be. If it's bringing you down that much, it's not healthy at all.
I feel our power is not largely political, but practical. "Vote with your wallet" and with your lifestyle. Simplify, break from the old system little by little (or all at once) and live an alternative way. If the oligarchy owns everything, I say don't necesarily seek to overthrow them, I say seek to not buy into their system in the first place. Knowing what evil they're doing this week isn't a big help in all that. It's not about fighting them (opposition strengthens both sides, read Chapter 2 in the TTC), but ignoring them. That is how we will weaken them.
Well put, Brandon.
ReplyDelete