CURRENT EVENTS
December 31, 2004
I've had an ongoing battle with current events all my life. I can't make up my mind. A side of me wants to completely ignore them, another side can easily get wrapped up in (almost addicted to) them.
The side that wants to ignore them keeps carping about the same thing, how there's nothing you can do about them, it's just stuff totally unrelated to you and your personal life. Why waste your time with it?
The part of me that's so easily intrigued by what's going on in the world responds that it's wise to know what's happening, especially in your immediate environs. You never know how it can affect you. It's like a form of preparation.
I'm not really sure, but I think I read somewhere that current events can have an effect on your stress levels. The Scott Peterson thing was grueling. Every time you came across it in your channel surfing, you couldn't help but get a visual of his horrendous crime, a visual you'd just as soon not look at. It couldn't be healthy. And the thing with Michael Jackson? What the hell is that all about? Is it possible? Again, I don't want to go there. At my age, I know there's a lot of crap in this world. Do I have to be constantly reminded of it? And made to dwell on it?
But the worst, except for the most recent, and totally unbelievable, Asian disaster, had to be the national election. I have lost considerable respect for the American people because of this election. I still can't believe that so many of them (approximately 60-million voters) are really that stupid. It's not a good thing to dislike the people who inhabit the country you happen to live in. It's not good at all.
Actually, I shouldn't say I dislike them as much as their tastes, what you might call their aesthetic sensibilities. I've mentioned more than once the television show Hee Haw, the way the American consumers supported it for twenty years. How can you respect a class of people that actually likes such nonsense? For so long? The same holds for the class of people that support cRAP music. Music? Somehow, I don't think so.
For the sake of my own mental health, I need to find something good that took place in 2004, and not just on a personal level. I could make a list of things to be personally happy about, and grateful for. But what happened in the world at large that pleased me? I honestly can't think of anything. Every time I look back on the year, I find myself swimming in a sea of crap. Here is a partial list:
George W. Bush
(and all of his gun-toting, redneck Christian supporters)
Iraq
Scott Peterson
Michael Jackson
Martha Stewart
Republicans
Steroids and
Baseball
I take one look at this list and a light flashes inside my head. Maybe the majority of Americans are onto something with their tireless predilection for inane, insipid entertainment. If nothing else, you've got to admit it's a hell of a diversion from the real world. Maybe it's healthy to watch Hee Haw.