I decided yesterday to begin ridding my Facebook feed of politics entirely. Stuff I don't like and even the little bit I like -- oh, I may leave Reason magazine, their efforts to make lemonade from sour grapefruit and stones can be amusing -- but otherwise, it's all got to go. Why? Because it is entirely non-productive; most political postings there encourage and feed on rage and smugness. They don't bring about rational discussions of important issues but instead run to shouting mobs of yes-men and naysayers.
Well, to hell with that. Y'all can have your grotty little civil war if you like but I'm not playing; just ring me up when it's my turn to be taken out and shot -- and don't expect me to go quietly.
What, harsh? If that hive of scum and villainy was the only sample you had, you'd be pretty sure bombs and assassinations were right around the corner. The lack of faith in the structure and basic institutions of the Federal government is so predominant as to irk even my skeptical libertarian sensibilities. While a lot of it is arrant nonsense, based on a lack of understanding of sheer inertia of the fed.gov juggernaut and a studied refusal to accept the Law Of Large Numbers,* it is nevertheless dangerous to the extent that a country's government runs on the faith people have in it.
Not even the Chicken Little media is doing a better job of undermining that essential confidence than the meme-of-the-moment fools on social media.
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* Which I will render in simple terms as, "Sucks in detail, works fine in broad outline." This isn't exactly right but gives the flavor of the thing.
BUILDING A 1:1 BALUN
4 years ago
6 comments:
I'm considering walking away from Facebook altogether. I already took a step in that direction -- new hosting for my blog where the shared server isn't being pounded on so hard that I can't even get in to post. (Out of professional curiosity, I'd like to know what else is on that server that someone doesn't like enough to DDoS it all the time. But since I'm off it now, I guess I don't really care.)
Anyway, Facebook is the Dark Side -- quicker, easier, more seductive.
I can understand your disenchantment; most political "discourse" these days seems to have devolved to the "No, YOU'RE the Poopy Head" level.
Foolish me, I expect more from adults.
I spend a fair amount of time pruning political posts and wondering how people appear to have so much more time on their hands than I do.
I guess I'm lucky that I'm such a neo-Luddite that I've never put any time what-so-ever into any social media.
I was on LinkedIn once for several minutes, and the inundation of unwanted e-mail BS (I think something like 30 of 'em piled in during those minutes) that I couldn't wipe my presence fast enough.
So be of good cheer! Eliminating that particular black hole of time-wasting will add to the quality of life.
P.S.: I'd still like to thank you for the time you put into this blog; please know it's well appreciated.
I also appreciate your beacons of sanity on the interwebs
Thank you also for reinforcing my aversion to, and refusal to participate in the Devil's Database.
The only reason I miss facebook is that it was easier to have a conversations with my electronic friends there than in comments in blogs.
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