I Was Thinking... Beaten Down

With our easy access to a wide range of media sources today, it is easy to become overwhelmed by everything that is happening in the world. When I grew up, we got one weekly local newspaper and three channels on TV. The radio station was local and presented mostly talk radio, local news, and an occasional baseball game.
Compare that to the multitude of information sources we have available today. We can watch any number of news channels 24 hours a day and also have the option of tuning into channels that fit our political persuasion.
If some catastrophic event occurs halfway across the nation or even somewhere else in the world, we are no longer isolated by distance. Wars in Ukraine or Gaza are brought right into our living rooms. A bridge collapse in Baltimore, a mass killing in Russia, or fires or floods in California don’t affect us directly but now are on our radar and in our minds.
I often complain that the news only emphasizes the bad and ignores the good. But I guess part of that is human nature. More people gather around a car accident or a huge building fire than stop to watch a church group doing a ditch clean up or 4-H kids planting a community garden.
We would also complain if the media didn’t cover a mass shooting, a kidnapping, or a local bank robbery. Yet that very coverage is what often affects our whole view of life. I think twice now about going to the Twin Cities because of stories of shootings or car jackings. Traveling overseas is a dream of many people but one plane that loses a door or terrorist attacks at a tourist attraction someplace makes some people pause.
This is another presidential election year and for months ads will begin to ramp up with allegations and attacks from one side against the other. Research has shown that negative ads are quite effective. Even if those ads are filled with half-truths or misinformation, parties implement them to try and sway voters.
With the advent of artificial intelligence, we may be hearing candidates say things that they never did because AI can create believable false images. Robo calls, internet news, or even Facebook disseminate all kinds of “information” but how much is fact and how much is just accusations or statements created to just push a political perspective.
Voters on both sides fear that if the opposing candidate is elected the nation is doomed. With the massive amounts of negativity that can assail us on a regular basis, it is easy to feel beaten down. Or to quote my grandmother, “the world’s going to hell in a handbasket”.
Sometimes it is really hard to be optimistic. Political dissension has created bitter disputes in Congress, the state legislatures, and even at local levels. Debates over climate change, COVID protocols, gun laws, immigration, and gay rights divide people, even friends and family. Compromise on any issue seems to be a thing of the past. If one party supports an idea, the opposing party must oppose it even if it is a good idea.
A constant atmosphere of conflict and negativism makes it easy to be pessimistic about the future. But then I look around me.
As a former history teacher, I know that human history is filled with devastation and destruction. Dictators have come and gone and resulted in tremendous loss, but life has gone on. People are resilient and seem to recover from most disasters.
I look around my community and see people going about their daily lives doing things to help others. Teachers work with their students, people deliver meals on wheels, nurses and doctors care for the sick, and I even get a smile from the young bank teller. I don’t think I’m living in a bubble either. For the most part, our nation is still functioning despite the political disputes that make the news.
At my age, my future is more limited than some, but while I don’t want to seem Pollyanic, I still want to enjoy the many good things that surround me on a daily basis. Life can still be good, when we look for the positives.
Did You Ever Wonder? — Is it possible to have a “civil war?”