personally i'm constantly in despair at the state of the world. i'm trying to focus on positive things because otherwise existence itself is too painful. i care a lot about the awful things happening in the world but i don't think dwelling on them and posting about them is going to accomplish anything besides upsetting me
Stop. Let's assume you're a well-meaning individual who feels as though bringing attention to something is in some way a balm against it. Stop. We are in an age where we are hyper-aware of every misery inflicted on the world both human and natural at almost any moment of the day. A cognitohazardous brick of information leaks venom in our pockets and we spend an inordinate amount of the day holding it deliberately. We are not wired to cope with so much news. We are biologically incapable of keeping up with this. We simply do not have the capacity to care equally about every disaster, every woe, every cruelty moment by moment. We can't do it. It's miserable to try.
In an age in which attention is currency, there's a reason you've been trained at the Skinner box to jam on the bar and keep getting those pellets. The momentary satisfaction of 'bringing something important to wider awareness' is absolutely not worth it to you or anybody else.
This isn't to say we should shut up and blissfully bimble through life with our heads in the clouds. Far from it. That little brick of information has good news, too. Sometimes it even has ways we can actively combat the bad news. If you've got a story that needs sharing and has links to resources, donation pages, or some other helpful material related to what's happening, then all the better. Just don't mistake shoveling more helpless misery on the pile as being active about the problem.
People gotta fuckin' breathe sometimes.
tangentially, seeing a dozen different posts about the same tragedy followed by “NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT THIS TRAGEDY YOU ARE ALL USELESS HYPOCRITES” is one of those things that always boggles the mind. i’m already upset about the tragedy, i do not need people yelling at me that i’m not???
