I fluctuate through these too. Everything is political. Stay well informed. Through to blocking every possible news site on my phone, my main source on internet wastage time. I have enough to feel angry about in my own life. I really do not need other sources of anger I have zero control over. Time to block everything again I think.
Compellingly written as ever, Abby. And the subject speaks strongly to me. I gave up social media after finishing university 10 years ago (and never really read the news, not even when working in investment!). Sometimes it takes me a few days/weeks for major headlines to reach me, but being a few days late to these happenings hasn’t jeopardised my life yet. 🙂 I had zero idea what was happening through Covid -- I sat at home and wrote a book. Pretty sure I prefer life this way. Thanks for your thoughts!
I think there’s a difference between an anger that is animating and gives us energy to not just name injustice but also to take action and build solidarity with others versus the sort of rage that is stagnating and ruminating and even isolating.
As a non-American who used to live in the northeast US for a decade before moving back to my country, I noticed how while many young progressive spaces are well-meaning, they seem to focus on naming problems with little steps toward concrete solutions. I find when I hear about Audre Lorde or other influential activists of the past, whether they have long passed away or are still with us today like Alice Walker, I notice how they seem to have a very different energy in how they utilized anger toward collective change. I notice that their anger didn’t seem as all consuming to the point of not making any room for love and solidarity and community care. I think it’s because they were not as bogged down by hyper individualist ways of thinking and relating that is defining so much both major political parties.
I have! She's compelling. Of course, anger has its uses; I suppose I'm just more doubtful that the kind of anger generated by the 24-hour news cycle is productive.
I appreciate this post so much. To be enraged can be a highly unproductive state of mind, and I am so frustrated that the social media gods have convinced us that posting about something is a meaningful contributions towards justice. We are so quick to burn it all down, yet so slow to build it back up. Critique without solutions is a dead end. You are wise to proactively draw boundaries and step out of the rage-machine arena.
Same! I heard there is research showing that people who watch news in the morning are sadder as the day progresses (it was a podcast on the Calm app about happiness). Most of the news fluctuates, or is propaganda, so there’s really no point. Give me “The Uplift” (CBS) daily instead. Make the news full of good that’s happening. Let them compete for my attention that way! Wouldn’t that make a better world?
I fluctuate through these too. Everything is political. Stay well informed. Through to blocking every possible news site on my phone, my main source on internet wastage time. I have enough to feel angry about in my own life. I really do not need other sources of anger I have zero control over. Time to block everything again I think.
Compellingly written as ever, Abby. And the subject speaks strongly to me. I gave up social media after finishing university 10 years ago (and never really read the news, not even when working in investment!). Sometimes it takes me a few days/weeks for major headlines to reach me, but being a few days late to these happenings hasn’t jeopardised my life yet. 🙂 I had zero idea what was happening through Covid -- I sat at home and wrote a book. Pretty sure I prefer life this way. Thanks for your thoughts!
Have you read Audre Lorde? (Sister Outsider, specifically.) Anger can help keep us alive, too.
I think there’s a difference between an anger that is animating and gives us energy to not just name injustice but also to take action and build solidarity with others versus the sort of rage that is stagnating and ruminating and even isolating.
As a non-American who used to live in the northeast US for a decade before moving back to my country, I noticed how while many young progressive spaces are well-meaning, they seem to focus on naming problems with little steps toward concrete solutions. I find when I hear about Audre Lorde or other influential activists of the past, whether they have long passed away or are still with us today like Alice Walker, I notice how they seem to have a very different energy in how they utilized anger toward collective change. I notice that their anger didn’t seem as all consuming to the point of not making any room for love and solidarity and community care. I think it’s because they were not as bogged down by hyper individualist ways of thinking and relating that is defining so much both major political parties.
I have! She's compelling. Of course, anger has its uses; I suppose I'm just more doubtful that the kind of anger generated by the 24-hour news cycle is productive.
I appreciate this post so much. To be enraged can be a highly unproductive state of mind, and I am so frustrated that the social media gods have convinced us that posting about something is a meaningful contributions towards justice. We are so quick to burn it all down, yet so slow to build it back up. Critique without solutions is a dead end. You are wise to proactively draw boundaries and step out of the rage-machine arena.
Same! I heard there is research showing that people who watch news in the morning are sadder as the day progresses (it was a podcast on the Calm app about happiness). Most of the news fluctuates, or is propaganda, so there’s really no point. Give me “The Uplift” (CBS) daily instead. Make the news full of good that’s happening. Let them compete for my attention that way! Wouldn’t that make a better world?
Don't forget about apologizing for being white