I've been in a constant state of outrage for months now. It's not healthy. I need a break. I'm starting to envy the blissfully ignorant.

>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:

I've been in a constant state of outrage for months now. I'm starting to envy the blissfully ignorant.


The ignorant seem to be in a constant state of outrage too.

The only blissful people seem to be the amoral ones who are able to amass power and fortune by harnessing the outrage of everyone else, and they're far from ignorant.

My experience is that the ones who may be ignorant(just not interested) in politics, state of the world and most things outside their sphere of influence, are generally happier people. The over the top ignorant people the news networks show you, may be out there in a constant state of outrage, but I've not come into contact with them. They are not part of my everyday life. Ignorance is bliss doesn't sound as bad as I once thought. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with getting older. Just my two cents.

>> ^NetRunner:

>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:
I've been in a constant state of outrage for months now. I'm starting to envy the blissfully ignorant.

The ignorant seem to be in a constant state of outrage too.
The only blissful people seem to be the amoral ones who are able to amass power and fortune by harnessing the outrage of everyone else, and they're far from ignorant.

@eric3579 yeah, I've noticed the same thing, but a lot of those same people are generally still upset about something that's related indirectly to politics, like layoffs, not getting enough hours at work, gas prices going up, health insurance companies fucking them over, etc., etc., etc.

They just don't really seem aware that there's a larger picture they're a part of, and that maybe there's actually something they could do about solving those issues, rather than treating it as an exercise in coping with adversity.

I come in contact with them constantly. My guess is that this has everything to do with geographic location. As of a few years ago, 26% of Texans report getting ALL of their news exclusively from decidedly right wing sources. These are the most outraged, ignorant people of all.

I do not watch television at all and I am generally fairly blissful. The only time I get unblissful is when I'm forced to interact with people who are both angry/terrified and horrifically misinformed. Or when my brain chemicals turn against me and cause me stay in bed all day and think about everything thats ever been awful ever. I suspect with a little prozac and a better ability to play dumb when confronted with obvious corporatist mind game fuckery, I'd be the happiest person on earth. My brain would sort of resemble disney world. People would vacation there with their children. We would all fall in love and garden together. We'd make dinner from the vegetables we grew. Nothing would be harmed in the creation of our consumables. And hearts would drift out of the top of our heads and float around in the air .. in the directions of our beautiful neighbors. >> ^eric3579:

My experience is that the ones who may be ignorant(just not interested) in politics, state of the world and most things outside their sphere of influence, are generally happier people. The over the top ignorant people the news networks show you, may be out there in a constant state of outrage, but I've not come into contact with them. They are not part of my everyday life. Ignorance is bliss doesn't sound as bad as I once thought. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with getting older. Just my two cents.
>> ^NetRunner:
>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:
I've been in a constant state of outrage for months now. I'm starting to envy the blissfully ignorant.

The ignorant seem to be in a constant state of outrage too.
The only blissful people seem to be the amoral ones who are able to amass power and fortune by harnessing the outrage of everyone else, and they're far from ignorant.

This is why I started smoking pot again. Arguing politics on VideoSift is about as worthwhile as... um... doing something that isn't very worthwhile at all. I think weed may be numbing my wit.

Weed sometimes allows me to see the forest for the trees, politically speaking. It turns down the ego a couple of notches. Sativa more so than indica.

>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:

Weed sometimes allows me to see the forest for the trees, politically speaking. It turns down the ego a couple of notches. Sativa more so than indica.


You haven't tried Hubba Bubba indica yet.

I've never been interested in politics. It seems to me like investing precious life into the decadent theatrics of politics can be, in a sense, "putting all of your eggs into one basket" since the only thing known about what is going on comes from a potentially biased source. So deeper you go into the rabbit-hole, trying to make heads and tails of what is going on, and in the end, you've amassed a large chunk of your life so upset about the way things are, you lose your sense of what is real.

If you want to crawl out of the hole anytime soon, remember that politics is people and people are horrible.

I've been that way since 1991. I've been watching the loooong slide. It sucks.>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:

I've been in a constant state of outrage for months now. It's not healthy. I need a break. I'm starting to envy the blissfully ignorant.

This is the exact dilema from Huxley's Brave New World. >> ^eric3579:

My experience is that the ones who may be ignorant(just not interested) in politics, state of the world and most things outside their sphere of influence, are generally happier people.

I periodically try to isolate myself from the news media for a few days or weeks or whatever. Like *all* news. So no videosift, no TDS, no Blue's News, no /., etc. etc. etc. Pretty much limits my Internet usage to what's required for work and webcomics.

I've gotta say, it's pretty wonderful. The mind clears.

>> ^direpickle:

I periodically try to isolate myself from the news media for a few days or weeks or whatever. Like all news. So no videosift, no TDS, no Blue's News, no /., etc. etc. etc. Pretty much limits my Internet usage to what's required for work and webcomics.
I've gotta say, it's pretty wonderful. The mind clears.


I basically try do this every weekend, though it's specific to politics. No news, no political blogs, minimal Videosift, etc.

DFT, been there, done that, tuned out. I tuned out from national (german) politics, because each time a politican here opened his/her/its mouth, my blood pressure jumped 100 points. It was obvious they didn't get it, and they didn't care, since there was no electable alternative.

After a while I gave up and stopped following german news, watching US politics instead. Much easier on the blood pressure, because without any immediate impact of what your fools in power are doing, it has a much higher entertainment value (though at times very infuriating, when those in power bought by BigMoney(tm)(c)(r) get the masses to vote against their own self interest YET AGAIN).

After a break, I went into politics for a year or two for a small opposition party but gave up in disgust after seeing what kind of weirdos crawl around the parties with reasonable views. Tuned out again.

The biggest argument against tuning out on a personal level is that the world starts to pass you by and you'll only notice it when the tail lights disappear behind the horizon. Other than that, it does make daily life a bit less stressful. And thus more healthy.

As a conservatarian these GOP antics embarrass me, but not more than His Earness bowing to everyone.


If your worldview is that 'cosmic justice' is up to government and everyone should be made equal or given equal things at gunpoint, you'll be unhappy when the scheme fails and really unhappy (or dead) when it succeeds.