General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIt's either age, apathy or just plain not caring anymore...
but I have come to the realization, after being a DU member for almost 10 years, there is very little in "todays" news that shocks or surprises me anymore to the point of outrage.
any of you feel the same way?
It kind of makes me sad.
Blue_Adept
(6,384 posts)Partially because there's always a daily outrage over something that the value of the word is pretty much gone.
We're all just numb at this point. Thankfully, I do see a lot of younger folks, not necessarily here, that are taking on the crusade in a big way. They just don't get the mainstream notice and when they do, they're marginalized. But the changes are coming.
AngryAmish
(25,704 posts)You can enjoy it still as a display of athleticism and staged drama but realize that the peiple wrestling are actors.
Javaman
(62,439 posts)wandy
(3,539 posts)ConnorMarc
(653 posts)I was an avid wrestling fan as a boy, we used to watch wrestling as a family -mom, she would do something else.
I was 10 years old when I found out it was fake. So we're talking '86 here.
Broke my little heart.
I've been pretty personally anti-wrestling since.
I'm getting angry thinking about as I type in fact.
PowerToThePeople
(9,610 posts)Personally, I am damaged goods. I have little faith in any positive outcomes at this point.
Puzzledtraveller
(5,937 posts)I find I do not even want to be outraged. I may be concerned as a human being, but actually allowing external events to make me mad? Nope. This is partially from burn out and from making a choice to not allow these things to control, influence, or dictate my emotions to the point that they manifest physically, and emotionally.
el_bryanto
(11,804 posts)but the overall thrust not so much.
My belief, though, is that very few people actually believe they are doing evil things; so I find it interesting (if often depressing) seeing why they do what they do.
Bryant
socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)AFAIC, it can ALL be laid at the door of capitalism. And THAT still outrages me.
MindPilot
(12,693 posts)No matter who wins the election, we get corporatist conservative policies. Willful ignorance and anti-intellectualism win the day.Frankly America at this point is kind of a self-parody.
As far as DU is concerned, it used to be a place of reasonable discussion, up-to-the-moment news, and interaction with some of the smartest people around. Now it looks like an echo chamber of people desperately trying to achieve victimhood.
PowerToThePeople
(9,610 posts)How do you go about avoiding being a victim of capitalism? At some point we all sell out in order to eat and house ourselves. There are small steps one can take, buy local, grow your own food, etc. But really, it feels like plugging holes in a leaky dyke.
MindPilot
(12,693 posts)DU it seems lately takes it to extremes.
PowerToThePeople
(9,610 posts)If there is no way out, you can not expect people to just stay quiet and take their "lumps." They will complain.
The2ndWheel
(7,947 posts)As they say about thermodynamics:
You can't win, you can't break even, and you can't get out of the game.
Puzzledtraveller
(5,937 posts)maddezmom
(135,060 posts)rug
(82,333 posts)HERVEPA
(6,107 posts)It's not simple as it was being prtrayed and will not affect pretty much anyone.
rug
(82,333 posts)But I did read the patent application. I still say it's stupid.
HERVEPA
(6,107 posts)and harmless.
Katashi_itto
(10,175 posts)Otherwise I no longer care. Maybe if Warren was running I might, otherwise we will have another corporate shill as president.
Javaman
(62,439 posts)my sister and I were have just such a conversation. I said, "If Warren runs for Prez, then I feel I would have a renewed sense of optimism".
But alas...
TransitJohn
(6,932 posts)n/t
Nictuku
(3,570 posts).... I remember when 'billions' went 'missing' in Iraq, and the American Public didn't seem to care. That was when I realized this is the United States of Apathy.
raouldukelives
(5,178 posts)Which is what has happened to our party over the years.
They push you really hard to the right, then they release some slack in the line, then they push you again. It as if we have been wearing corporate braces on our teeth for the last 30 years and every once in awhile they give em a good tightening. You can only eat soup for a while but you'll get used to it.
mountain grammy
(26,568 posts)At least we still had a somewhat independent press during the Nixon years. The right wing corporate media sure fixed that "problem."
Lars39
(26,093 posts)but the comments by Joe Fake Plummer still has me wanting to slap the shit out of him.
mountain grammy
(26,568 posts)The2ndWheel
(7,947 posts)It's all the same. Every now and then something new will actually happen, but there's a lot of time to fill between those instances.
It's like the movie business. Most of the movies that come out are all the same thing, but if they don't come out with a new movie every week, how many people would lose jobs? Not just the highest paid actors, but all the way down the line. Are all the movies terrible? No. Some are ok. There might be a story or two that ends up being really well told. If they didn't have 24 hour news channels or whatever, even though there is not enough new stuff that happens in a day to report on, how many people would lose jobs? Or look at how many books get written. Are they all good? Probably not, but they have to get written.
When you're 20, outrage is easy. Especially because you have all the answers. Then time gets a hold of you, and you figure out that if all these problems were easy to solve, it probably would've been done by now. The outrage then dies down a bit, because who has the time and energy for that when life gets in the way? Then out of nowhere you get too old, and you've seen it all before, so there's not much new under the sun. Then you die. That's life. Nothing new there. It's not shocking. Nothing to get too outraged about.
leftyladyfrommo
(18,815 posts)it has all happened before and before and before. And we lived thru it. And went on to do the same dumb stuff all over again. And again. And again.
Takes a lot of the edge off.
abelenkpe
(9,933 posts)beachbum bob
(10,437 posts)news coverage is given to idiots
tclambert
(11,080 posts)The Battle of Gettysburg. So much struggle. So much bloodshed. 50,000 casualties. And for what? Historians often call it "the turning point of the war." But it didn't decide anything. What happened after the battle? The war dragged on for years. The Union side "won," yet it didn't destroy Lee's army. Lee didn't surrender. The South didn't surrender. They had many, many more inconclusive battles. And the little town of Gettysburg was left drowning in wounded soldiers and dead bodies.
When you look back at slightly older history, who cares anymore about the battle of Waterloo? Yet several people thought it was important at the time. (Like the 75,000 casualties.)
So when I look at today's news, I sometimes wonder, "In 200 years, will anyone care about this? Will anyone remember this?"
tridim
(45,358 posts)I never want to say "I don't care anymore"... Because I do care, about good people, and art, and nature.
There are so many good things in the world that have absolutely nothing to do with politics. My advice would be to take a break.
City Lights
(25,171 posts)Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)Trajan
(19,089 posts)There is no good reason for optimism, in the face of a grinding, continuous stream of negativity that appears to be the only path of humanity ...
Having said that; barbarity has been the essential thread of humanity, throughout time ... harbor no beliefs that it was 'better' in the past ... it has always been a jungle full of wild, unpredictable animals, ready to shed blood for the most trivial slights ...
It is not worse now than it 'used to be' ... nothing much has changed over the great arc of human history ... still bashing heads and slicing flesh like there's no tomorrow ...
Dustlawyer
(10,493 posts)I will not stop advocating for Publicy funded elections and complete campaign finance reform. I understand that it would take masses of people to ever have a chance, but it is my hope that the next time something triggers an OWS type protest that enough people realize that we have to stop fighting the symptoms of our political corruption and attack the true cause. I guess I keep going because I still believe that it COULD HAPPEN. If everyone fighting issues like gun control, women's rights, LGBTV issues, immigration, public education, NSA spying, MIC, MSM, Wall Street, war on drugs and legalization, voting rights, racial equality, and many others, joined together we could do it. At least I certainly HOPE so!
zeemike
(18,998 posts)Humans like Pavlov's dogs can be conditioned by repeated acts...to the point that they no longer care...and that is where we are.
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)I may tune out for awhile when it all gets to be too much. Having said that, I always get back in it because the alternative is to do nothing and I refuse to do nothing.
I find activism is the best way to counter apathy. Just my experience.
olegramps
(8,200 posts)The Republicans launched a war against his administration resulting in absolute stagnation and hope for real changes crushed by their hatred of him. I am just too damn old to hope for any significant change in our ME! ME! culture. In stead of holding a common core of beliefs that everyone deserves fair treatment we have become a nation of narcissistic cutthroats. The Republicans, especially, have metamorphosed into little more than a band of evil bastards willing to stomp anyone into the ground who would challenge their preferential status in society.
How can a nation hold much promise of a future when the working class are cast as lazy good for nothings when their jobs are outsourced to enrich the wealthy and then denied basic assistance to survive. It is the bottom of the barrel when politicians who claim to be Christians willingly cut off nutrition programs for innocent children. Nothing is sacred as demonstrated by oligarch's political minions who willing to repeal every safety net program in order to award their masters with additional tax breaks.
I can't imagine the disappointment that Obama must feel when he sees every attempt to assist the working class crushed by the likes of bastards like Boehner and the Turtle. I hope that bastards burn in hell.
ConnorMarc
(653 posts)Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the definition of Apathy, just not caring any more?
FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)...however, they claim that no one has shown the slightest bit of interest."
-- Carlin
ConnorMarc
(653 posts)Exactly!
lol
ProdigalJunkMail
(12,017 posts)Javaman
(62,439 posts)but my apathy prevents me from caring.
Demo_Chris
(6,234 posts)ProdigalJunkMail
(12,017 posts)nothing is new under the sun...
sP