Help Me to Stop Caring

[drgonzosghost]

A man I once looked up to my entire life just called me a communist today. I watch as the ignorant hordes of easily manipulated masses are poised to allow the wolves to feed upon them once more after this year's midterms. And as they are being fed upon, the pain they will feel will be blamed on those who tried to help them. What happened to America? We live in an age where truth is literally at your fingertips yet no one bothers to look. No one checks the facts of those who would deceive. I'm not a patriot because I love my country and don't want to see it's less fortunate suffer, I'm a marxist terrorist who wants to kill babies. The good (not great....sorry) man I elected President is so frightened and our party so weak, that we have more conservatism to look forward to. The burning earth will be put on the back burner, we liberals will be further vilianized for our very thoughts, Fox's ratings will climb, and the rich will feast on it all.

I'm sorry to all who read this. Un-rec it to your hearts content. I've had a really bad day and I just don't want to see the great American people do something so stupid again. I moved here to Costa Rica days after I learned we were torturing people. TORTURING PEOPLE for eff sakes... US! And yet, when the wingnuts get the House back, Obama will be impeached for whatever convoluted reason they can think of. Speaker Boener will be a reality, Bachmann will be a Committee Chair.

Help!! I just want to turn it off and stop caring about it. I want to become a-political. I want to be more enthralled by American Idol than American government. Does anyone seriously have any advice short of starting a smack habit?

[RandomThoughts]

1. Get out of your funk.

:shrug:

I have not been paid what is due for years, doesn't mean quitting is what you do, be nice and let the chips fall where they may, whether they are bull chips, poker chips, or Tostita chips in many shapes for many different types of dips.

I will collect on the financing and good times that are due to me. And if I have to do nothing to do that, then nothing I will do.

[maxsolomon]

2. turn it ALL off for a month.

it's never as bad as it seems from the trenches.

[county worker]

3. You are in Costa Rica? What freedoms and prosperity do the poor there enjoy?

I was there on business in the 90's. It seemed to me there were the wealthy in gated communities with guard houses on the corner, the educated who could speak English and had middle class jobs working for multinationals and the poor who outnumbered everyone else. The middle class wasn't large it seems to me.

[drgonzosghost]

5. Believe it or not, quite a bit.

I can't speak to the 90's, but in the last few years there's been somewhat of an economic boom here. There is a vibrant working class and a pretty solid middle class. Yeah there are the rich in their palaces to be sure, but people aren't as materialistic down here and it's not to Charles Dickens-esque proportions.

Funny thing too...

When I order a pizza, the recording always says "For Eeengleesh, press one"...have yet to hear a Tico complain about that!

[ProfessionalLeftist]

8. I'm wanting to move there -

what's the cost of living like and the internet access?

[housewolf]

4. I finally quit watching the cable news and political shows two weeks ago

and greatly reduced my online political reading time. I'm not saying it's easy... it's not. It all finally reached a point where I can't take it any longer. It doesn't mean that I don't care anymore... I do. I just don't need to feed the outrage on a continual basis any longer. I had to find other things to give my attention and interest to.

So... for you... I don't know. Pick up an old hobby or find a new one. Volunteer some time somewhere. Find a way to help others and get out of your own head. Go exercise when you feel like watching/reading. Do anything but immerse yourself in it.

[vduhr]

9. Great response...

I too stopped watching cable news, and I try to steer clear of some online political news (although, I do need a DU fix once in a while).

I feel like, if I followed politics as closely as I had before, I would either have a heart-attack from stress, or go insane.

The only thing I will be sure to do is to follow information about the candidates in this year's election and VOTE!

[drgonzosghost]

6. Thanks everyone....I'll quit whinning now...

[Ricochet21]

7. It's not whining

everyone is feeling it, chin up
we'll pull it all together

:hi:

[sadbear]

10. I'd rather be called a communist than a republican.

[Atticus]

11. Sometimes it helps to separate concerns into "things that I can acually change"

and "things that I can only scream loudly about".

Scream about the second category.

DO SOMETHING about the first category.

It helps also to spend time with like-minded positive people.

Easy advice to give. Hard as hell to do sometimes.

Good Luck.

[Crabitha]

12. You're not alone.

I think quite a few of us are feeling the same way you are right now. I've been called everything from a Marxist to a libtard and everything in between. Every single thing I was reading or hearing or viewing on the TV that was supposed to be news is really nothing more than infotainment designed expertly and successfully to sell advertisement. There's a reason that MSNBC and CNN emulate Fox news television by lining up a few hosts every night instead of actually reporting news. Fox has been successful because its strategy is based solely on profits. CNN started off trying to do real news way back when but the news cycle quickly got old and boring when it was 24 hours. I've watched MSNBC at times just to make myself feel better (Olbermann makes me feel better). But it's not real news. It's basically rabble rousing for dollars.

I am at the point where I am just totally disgusted with the increasingly loud, intolerant, ignorant, angry mob mentality that cable TV portrays as the every day American. So I quit. I quit the cable rabble rousing for dollars disguised as news and have dropped out of the fray for a while to regain my sanity. As long as the rabble rousers on Fox, CNN and MSNBC, etc., keep people whipped into a frenzy of fear and or anger, they will keep making their dollars and keep producing their frenzied furor.

I have had to stop it all, sit back and remember that I'm an anthropologist, have studied the human species over time and recognize, that this is all part of the cycle and that it always, always always comes down to ecology (read economy for today's terms). This swinging of the ever wobbly cantankerous pendulum to the right won't last forever.

I'm really happy to read all the things people have said here and know I'm not alone and that we're all feeling rather inundated. We will prevail eventually but only if we keep our wits and take a break now and then. And that is what I am doing. Like someone else here said, that doesn't mean I won't be voting.

[JustAnotherGen]

13. no subject

We are two voices, and we are singing.
We are two voices and we are singing.
We are two voices, and we are singing.
We are not alone.

[roody]

14. Turn it off and take care of yourself.

Go to the beach!