"You see there is only one constant. One universal. It is the only real truth. Causality. Action, reaction. Cause and effect."
I've all but stopped paying attention to political news in the past year, and feel much better off for it. This is partly because all for-profit media is by definition biased and therefore uninformative -- Keith Olberman and Glenn Beck are the same person, they just happen to play for two different teams -- and because I feel like America has already defined itself. There haven't been any major changes in the country since I've been an American nor do I expect there to be. We generally agree on where we fall between socialism and free capitalism, evidenced by the fact that we've had a divided government for around 75% of my life. In other words, the status quo hasn't really moved.
You can get ahead quicker here if you work hard than in other countries. Whether you work hard is a choice. At the same time some people fall off the table. The fact that among these some are needy is a shame, as is the fact that some are lazy. But I believe, for better or worse, this is how we have defined ourselves.
I vote, and occasionally give small amounts of money to campaigns I like. These are the only two things I do in terms of politics that have any real consequence, and "causality." And when I do them, I inform myself so as to make decisions I feel are good.
Everything aside from that, reading or watching daily political news, taking time out of my work day to blog about my political apathy, or pretending to be incensed about some particular topical political issue just to exorcise general frustration is not real action. So why not spend the time on things that do have real consequence in society: doing good work, trying to be a good friend, volunteering, starting businesses, being healthy?
And let the information you consume be about these things? Or be about being fun? Like videos of dogs doing parkour or awesome Europe-themed dance videos?
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