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Among the failings my family has, there is the habit of absorbing unnecessary information and reacting poorly to it. The people responsible for television and all that comes with it can rub their hands together and gloat because my family eats it up, hook, line and sinker. Oh, we may deny the effects of television, but they are happening. ‘Nothing good, either. So, if that’s your intent, congrats. You got us.
Local and world news programs cannot avoid reporting matters that are devastating and vile, far more often than they can report good, helpful news. In fact, strangely enough, if something good is reported, it usually comes with a website or code to scan to get more information some other time. Oh, the reporters could be more useful, but they don’t have the time. No one does that with bad news. If there’s bad news, you’re going to hear some part of (not the whole, never the whole) of it. And, there is no link or code to scan that will tell you more than what the internet and broadcast TV already license and allow. Everything’s bad…except for one tiny kernel of good news from some Samaritan who helped the victim of a car incident. But, the rest is horror stories and crimes of all kinds, as if this world is no place to live.
Well…
Are we not still living?…in it? Are we not still alive.
Let me ask you this. Do you live better knowing how many lives have been destroyed by monsters and fools? Or, do you get through your day better by having people you know are good at your side and weeding out the crap? I’d vote for the latter. Right? I mean, that’s not what I am sufficiently able to do…because the people I deal with are the sort who watch all the crap and react poorly to it, my family. Such is crappy luck.
But, you, you who function and find some measure of success in your lives…whether it’s good family relations and friendships (which seems almost mythical to me) or financial (oh, so many financial dealings going on around the world, stirring up trouble for one group or another). You productive souls don’t absorb any of this talk about the horrors of the world; you’re probably working in the area and ignoring the scenes.
There isn’t a day when some member of my family presents a case of something they saw online or on TV which grinds their gears and makes them an emotional tornado. And, me, completely unprepared to adequately process all of that anger and other emotion, is left to paddle against the current to stay afloat in my own troubled head. It’s not right. I feel like I’m surrounded by piles of garbage being ignited by jerks with cans of oil and matches; I just about put out one fire, and another dozen are going up behind me. I’m not a god, and none of us should feel like we have to play one.
When I finally take a moment to consider the local and world news being televised, something starts to fester and boil in my brain…starts to come into perspective.
We, the humans of this planet, are in a state of denial of responsibility, as well as a state of “static” information overload. A majority of us WANT something, perpetually, but are not getting it and are not taking the proper steps to GET it. I think of all the historical movie footage I’ve seen and would be inclined to think this wasn’t the case before my time. [Then again, surely that’s what happened with the Pilgrims and the “Indians.” The Pilgrims wanted and they took and made the “Indians” suffer.] But, IN my time, I see more and more people getting angry and pointing fingers rather than doing something positive to make improvements. And, rather than improving one’s own life by making healthy decisions, more and more are making unhealthy mistakes and then having the audacity to blame others.
I may even be guilty of doing this myself! But, all I can say is it’s not my fault, alone. I’m not denying complete guilt. But, even I can only take so much blame before I self-destruct, which isn’t fair. I wish I had a better grasp on my own thoughts and decisions. But, try as I may, there are influences from family and authorities who tell me what I can and cannot do, even if I have a measure of decision-making power. It seems my power is still not sufficient to make a sensible, happy life for me. And, while I may not be the most charitable, I like to think I do my part to heal this world, to make peace among those who would rather self-destruct or harm another. I do my part to put out the fires of temperament and dry the “uncontrollable” tears when the mourning becomes obsessive, compulsive and/or obsessive-compulsive.
Now, trying to get all of this talk back into some more sensible focus…
People are too busy getting mad and pointing fingers to get things that need to be done…done. It’s not a particular political party’s fault, nor the fault of a particular president. And, the televised and internet news isn’t helping. It’s just gasoline on the fire!
We^^ need to tune out the news outside of our realm of influence and let the journalist and whatever they choose to call themselves figure out what else they can do to “make a living.”
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^^Let me clarify this. “We” refers to people who do not have exceptional wealth and networks of people to make things happen that other folks find bewildering because they’ve never had such “power,” such influence, myself included. I think all of the reported news should be shown only to people who CAN do something about those matters. There’s a drug or immigrant crisis at some country’s border? Get those in charge of that department on the line to deal with it. Don’t show the stories to general communities and call it clarity or transparency, unless you’re also showing the situation being resolved in a humane manner…which you’re not. No one is. No, it seems more…conventional to depict things going wrong and people making horrible mistakes which leads to other hardships and misery, a vicious cycle of crap.
The military and government are so “hush hush” about so many matters, yet the news tips the rest of the world off to just enough to cause confusion and chaos. Is it any surprise those who partake in government and military affairs then take crooked action or suffer some mental breakdown? Nope. It makes total sense.
When a married couple is on the verge of divorce, there is usually a measure of secrecy in play. Someone is up to something and not saying anything to the spouse. Undermining behavior is afoot. The demolition squad is planting explosives at the foundation. It’s about to go down. Neither partner wants to talk about what’s going on, but something will leak out, eventually. And, it won’t be a happy ending. Something wasn’t being dealt with in a more healthy way; thus the only solution in sight is to pull the plug some unpleasant way. You don’t want to deal with it. I don’t want to deal with it. We can’t deal with it. Shut everything down. Oh, but there is baggage…and fallout…and PTSD.
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You want the important news?…the news that’s going to really impact your day, your life? Talk to your neighbors. You want your area to improve somehow? Work with those neighbors to make it happen. And, by improving your own “garden,” you’ll be helping others stay out of your business and improve their own areas, ideally, so we all improve. You see a mess? Clean it up, if you can/will. Don’t just point and fuss.
If you prompt someone to do something, to help, don’t fuss so much about HOW they do it. Be glad anyone did anything to help. And, if the help not good enough, I guess you have to do the job, yourself. Just don’t stab the other person, the hired help, for being lousy service. You hired them, didn’t you? And, if someone volunteers, and you accept the help, well, we all do what we can. Right? None of us are flawless superheroes…are we? Because I’d love to speak with one of those, right now.
If I had the proper tools every time I went for a walk, I’d be collecting garbage other fools dumped along my path. I cannot take responsibility for littering (because I don’t), but I can help pick things up…even if I’d rather not, simply because it sickens me to think anyone would litter the way they do, and it shouldn’t be my job to pick up after the rest of the world…but that would surely happen if enough people who like to gossip saw me picking up the trash.
They’d say, “Hey! You like doing that? Great. The job is yours.” [And, I’d dump a big smelly load right on that loud mouth.]
I may not like it, but I know my area would look and feel nicer if more people like me, at least, thought to collect the trash and dispose of it sensibly. [I wish I could do the same with verbal trash going around. I’d like to stab it with a stick and stuff it in a dumpster.] I cannot correct those who litter; I can’t dish out a punishment for the crime, even if I had the authority, without hurting the innocent in the bargain. That’s the same sort of problem that would happen in my school days; you could punish everyone because no one would come forward to accept the blame and take his/her punishment. Yet, those with power, money and other influence could just as well dodge the punishment and look the other way; they can pay to ignore and dismiss.
[Isn’t that just sick? We may not take a certain responsibility/duty upon ourselves, but we’ll trust and/or appoint others to take it just for those who have the power to shrug off the duty and stir up trouble, simply because they can, because others give them the resources and authority. Yet, if we took every task upon ourselves, self-governed, I wonder just how long it would take for the whole human race to implode and destroy each other. Sure, certain pockets of humans would get along great, but too many others would compete, thrash and dominate out of unrestrained emotion, like primitives, like savages, just because the conventional system of order, which had been raising them like cattle for so long, suddenly vanished. It would probably make Mark Twain and any other survival-of-the-fittest theorist nod with satisfaction, saying, “I told you so.”]
Did someone in the neighborhood get shot or hit by a vehicle? How might that affect your area? Did you know the person? Can you console the neighbor who lost that someone? Can you help in some other way? [These are just possible questions. You and I need to find the possible solutions and make them happen.]
If someone gets hurt in another part of the world, or even a distant part of your own state or country, what are you going to do? Send money? Fly out there and help those affected by the tragedy? If you can do that, well, aren’t you just amazing…or too generous and risking your own lives to help others. I just hope that money or other resource is put to proper, good use. [And, that’s an issue for another argument on some other day.]
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Charity is good, but charity that leaves you blind to your own suffering is…well, dumb. And, charity that is deceptive, taking money but not following through with promises made is absolutely immoral and criminal. If you are not a corrupt charity and you cannot follow through on your promises, you’re not much help. Are you? You’re just a costly good intention. Nice thought, but can you be more helpful some other way? Stop taking donations and maybe pick up a tool that could help or donate time, talent and energy. [I say this and hear myself pointing fingers. Sigh.]
The rest of “us” can only feel helpless and go down some unnecessary emotional paths. For many, it doesn’t take much to light up something to smoke or have a drink, simply because of a little emotional distress caused by information received.
One other point about charity: You cannot throw money at a problem to make it go away, even if you’re stinking, filthy rich. You could pay someone a fortune to do something for you and still be disappointed by the help you get. Money didn’t make it better. Taking responsibility and doing the best we can to help each other is more effective. [Let that much process through your already troubled brains. Accept what happens, good or bad. Odds are the result won’t be perfect…but can you live with it? If not, can you make it better? And, if you cannot, that’s as good as it gets, for now.]
You want to help poor, suffering animals? Adopt one. I said ONE! Not fifty. And, raise it like the child you don’t already have. I said like the child you don’t already have! Don’t adopt if you’re juggling a brood of your own. Adoption isn’t some trendy can you feed coins and call it done. It’s about treating someone outside your genetic pool like family, whether that someone swims, flies or walks on land with two feet or more.
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I think of my school years and how gossip could drive inappropriate behavior and really screw some kids up. There are kids who become spectacles and ostracized because of changes and hardships in their family become skewed public knowledge. That news didn’t directly impact the rest of the school. But, because it got out in some inaccurate capacity, it started a buzz which got fingers pointing and provoked a number of unhealthy consequences.
How sad is it that someone who experiences something (and I say that in such vague terms because it seems anything anyone experiences or faces can become a powder keg of emotional and social conflict) cannot adequately deal with that matter without someone else hearing about it and stirring trouble? Why can’t news get out and spark sympathy and contribution instead of negative talk, drug abuse, violence and/or other scandals?
Let’s go back to my title…
Be socially aware, not socially overloaded.
How can you be socially aware without being overloaded?
Well, think of a radar station. A radar that picks up too much information causes any system attached to it (and anyone at the controls) suffering. Signal jam. System overload. ‘Can’t get a clear picture. If there are too many “blips,” you cannot pinpoint anything. It’s that whole seeing the trees in the forest analogy. Do you see individual trees or just a bundle of green over brown/gray?
The radar works just fine within a certain range and limit of variables. So do our brains. You cannot hear every radio station at once without going mad. You cannot enjoy a single radio station until you tune the dial(s) and clear the signal. If something disturbs or obstructs the signal, you only hear part of the transmission and probably get a bunch of agitating feedback. Suddenly, a solitary form of entertainment becomes fuel for more conflict. [Now, I think of all the old family TV shows in which the father comes home from a day job that wears him out just to get mad and attack the rest of the family when the TV is malfunctioning and making him unhappy.]
Even some of the trending violent crimes would make more sense if the criminals had clear and focused radars. These are not incidents in which one assailant targets one singular source of their discontent. These aren’t serial criminals. Instead, they are nuclear meltdowns, inappropriately managed (not to mention inappropriately nurtured and supported) individuals, who operate on overload and out of distress. Someone didn’t adequately deal with something sparking inside these individuals, didn’t put out the fire, so, left unattended, the quiet cinder becomes a bewildering blaze. And, some, I would not be surprised, could be affected by others who are overloading themselves with what they take from television and the internet.
Why does every situation in the USA have to be the fault of the Republicans or Democrats? Are you kidding me? If it was just the fault of one party or one person, as so many arguments these days seem to suggest, we could just go to war and kill all the offenders! Right? As if. Hello, American history? Does the Civil War or just about any revolution ring any bells? War isn’t solving anything. Neither is segregating. And, sadly, no pride fest can resolve the conflicts still arising in matters of gender and equality.
It’s not a party or gender-choice problem. It’s an excess-of-incomplete-information and poor-education problem. It’s a not-telling-the-whole-story problem. It’s a lack-of-taking-responsibility-upon-oneself, instead of ordering someone else to fix the problem…problem. And, in general, it’s a poor-cooperation and failing-to-be-humane-with-each-other problem.
Well, Tommy the Democrat won’t do it. So, why should I, the Republican, have to do anything? I don’t wanna! But, it’s totally Tommy’s fault!
No. It’s not. And, while I’m fussing about Tommy, I’m not doing anything to improve this situation…or any situation.
Now, I’ve rattled on long enough. Let’s all find a way to clear our heads and get to work on saving this planet from ourselves. Yes. You heard me. ‘From ourselves. Turn those eager-to-point fingers inward and see what improvements you can make. [And, I don’t mean purely cosmetic.]
As the band Green Day once said, we shouldn’t “subscribe” to television (or the internet), lest we follow in those unpleasant and confusing footsteps to our own demise. “For that’s enough to irk you.” [At least, I think that’s what they said.]
I realize I’ve said all of this on an internet platform. Well, I wish I could reach all who read this in a more personal way without overloading myself. So, to be fair to what I’ve said and you, if anything I’ve said doesn’t affect you personally, you have my permission to dismiss it…even if that makes you look wealthy, ignorant and arrogant. I am merely choosing this portal to send out my message. I pray it serves a good purpose. That is all I can do.
Writingbolt's Creation 