Once upon a time, I was a News Junkie. I flipped channels between FOX, CNN, MSNBC, BBC, and the other forgettable mainstays. I listened to the radio, but seldom listened to music. Instead, I took in the monologues of Rush, Hannity, Glenn Beck, Michael Savage, Lars Larson, Tammy Bruce, Laura Ingraham, Air America (when it was on here for a while), college radio and NPR among others. My favorite show, though it was often spooky, was COAST TO COAST with George Noory. (I used to listen to it when Art Bell hosted the show – Noory is better, but Art was scary in that cigarette smoking, film noir sort of way -- via radio -- which gave me nightmares). I read a variety of news mags and newspapers, each with seemly valid opinions and points of views.I was irate most of the time. My stomach churned with anger and it wasn't safe for me to venture out in public to places like The Farmer's Market or other such popular, people-filled places without feeling apoplectic. I fanned my own internal flames by listening to other people’s battles and wars. Before the last presidential election, I was involved in an extremely heated political email argument with my in-laws that very nearly tore our family apart – my in-laws hated us for a while. Ironically, four years later, that part of our family has broken away from us, but not over stupid political opinions. Now we cut ties over other stupid opinions – c’est la vie. What will be will be. Right?
The recent fight with my in-laws is somewhat related to my recent lack of interest in politics. The 2008 election, just as with my in-laws, has nothing to do with our family’s immediate wellbeing. Nothing I hear or read seems to matter. It’s all a bunch of blather, speculation, half-truths and convenient amnesia. Political leaders: wrong or right, whoever is in or out, whether I agree or disagree, just as it is with my in-laws simply are not important because my opinion is meaningless to them. Likewise, I care only about the opinions of those I respect and trust, which means I no longer have an interest in politics except for peripheral knowledge and I no longer care about my in-laws opinion of me. My life is too short to focus or waste time listening to news, people or absorbing information that makes me unhappy, brings me down, or causes me to lose hope. That includes Reality TV and Michael Savage, though Savage sometimes makes me laugh out loud, he also makes me want to slash my wrists and succumb to the doom.
These days, I am barely able to tolerate 30 minutes of attention on today’s news. Both sides have their corruption. Both sides are power hungry (you’d have to be in order to willingly work so hard to win the top seat in the country). Both sides have people hoping to ride the coat tails of the winners and who don’t give a rat’s ass about this nation’s or any other nation’s people. They are in it for themselves – just as we all are, even though we’d like to think better of ourselves. We all want to survive and if we could, we would all prefer to live in our own idea of luxury. For some it’s a house on the beach, for others it would be out of the flood plane or the path of a tornado. For me: It’s seven of us, plus the dog and cat all under one roof that we own. Ooh, and I must have a big back yard – with water rights. We all want just a little more. Our politicians are reflections of us. We made them. So kick your own ass the next time things go awry, and I will kick mine if I think it’s necessary.
In the meantime, I am working on improving my own standard of living by honest means. It seems to me, that if we all just focused on our own situation and do what we must to improve ourselves and our lot, that the world might just tick along quite nicely. But what to do about those pesky folks (evil warlords and dictators) who enjoy coveting from their neighbor (their subjects)? I don’t know – tell them they’ll go to hell or something. Scare the bejesus out of them using some Art Bell-like hocus-pocus. Maybe that will work. Otherwise sometimes, like it or not, fighting back is a necessary part of taking care of oneself. (I am the daughter of a Marine – what do you expect? No Zen philosophy here.) Other than that, if we all could attempt being decent to each other, even when the other guy is an asshole – maybe slowly good will could change the world. At the very least, it might make one hour of our day (or someone else’s day) better than it would have been otherwise. (This from a woman who is sort of known as an agitator—I know. Go ahead a call me a hypocrite).
For fun, here are some little proverbs from various religious sources that may be apropos:
- Call on God, but row away from the rocks.
- Lower your voice and strengthen your argument.
- A man should choose a friend who is better than himself. There are plenty of acquaintances in the world; but very few real friends.
- A clever person turns great troubles into little ones and little ones into none at all.
- If you understand, things are just as they are; if you do not understand, things are just as they are.
- Only when you can be extremely pliable and soft can you be extremely hard and strong.
- The Obstacle Is The Path.
- Don't give up. ( I don't think this is a proverb, but it a personal favorite of mine nonetheless.)
