I haven't been writing in my journal for quite some time, though with my daily Wordle dose, I feel rather guilty about avoiding far more important world and local issues, something as important as Covid-19 which has turned the whole world upside down, literally and metaphorically. I must put a few words in my journal for these events.
Trump
Of course I've followed the events. How couldn't I? While I jogged down brief thoughts of major topics in my usual year-end review and looking ahead, my mind has been much more preoccupied by these news and world events. At the same time, I feel exhausted by the repetitive headlines in both main news and social media. Although I don't do social media (for the obvious fact that it's primarily echo chamber that I don't feel like I learn that much or grow with those tidbits of info that might - but oftentimes might not - be truth or facts), even within limited social circles (that I try to restrict myself to these days), one can't help being bombarded with fake news, half truth, or simply the presenting of "news" from one side of the story. Nay, I don't want to be part of those social setup.
On a larger scale, I've stopped following on any Trump-related news (which is simply just same-old-same-old). It's just clickbait that even main news media like Washington Post or New York Times or Boston Globe have become adept in playing the game. Maybe the younger reporters and columnists are indeed enraged by every single outrageous thing that Trump and his sycophants say or do, but the editorial staff seem more than willing to play along because, by jove, the more angry a news headline sounds like, the more likely people might click on it, hence it chalks up the online advertising dollars. It's a horrible business model to support journalism, but that's the wrong path that the whole world is heading.
Why do I only focus on the liberal-leaning main media, you'd ask? That's because those right-wing media like Fox News have been on the path for a very long time, and I don't give a damn about those bullshit.
As a reader, as a citizen, I need hard news. I don't need quick write-up that holds up Trump for ridicule, yet he's become the reason people are making money off of. In a way, I can understand why Trump gets upset about those people using his name to make money, even if it's about hating him! It's disingenuous.
The best thing that has ever happened, has been the total ban of Trump on social media outlet like Twitter and Facebook. I've come to realize that the best way to deal with dickheads like Trump, is to simply ignore him. Don't engage. Don't even try to shout him down because he'll only shout louder, blasting more obscene fake news to obfuscate everyone. There is no point to get upset (though of course if you do listen to Trump, it's really hard not to get upset!).
As I get older, I realize the golden rule: Life is too short to pay attention to non-entity like Trump. Just ignore him. At some time, he'll flame out. Better yet, he'll die! My god, I'd reeeeally love to hear that news.
Covid-19
The world has much changed by Covid-19. (Ok, let's short it for Covid since everyone has lost track of time - as if it's been with us forever - to realize that it started in December 2019...or thereabout.)
Lockdown has become commonplace. Social restrictions have become legally enforceable coda, or at least common social norms (eg. social distancing, face mask). The world has come to a standstill, all travel modes are shut down. Remote work has become norm. (Gosh, no one is calling it telecommuting anymore.)
Governments (and central banks) were quick to step in, providing stimulus and financial relief to support the economy from systemic collapse. Just in US alone, the multi-trillion dollars stimulus bills have worked well. In fact it's worked so well that people don't feel like they need to work, and that they insist that stimulus should be made permanent so that they can continue the I-can-stay-home-and-do-nothing-while-government-pays-me lifestyle.
Covid has become the trojan horse that progressives use as the codeword for fighting everything, from climate change, to inequality (racial? wealth? income? gender? etc etc), to poverty, to housing, to rebuilding infrastructure. Joe Biden is happy to play along until Joe Manchin crashes the BBB party (aka. Build Back Better). Thank goodness we have Manchin as the adult in the room.
Let's face it, miracles have happened, and there have been multiple highly effective Covid vaccines available. Prior to that, if everyone should say, "I'm Scared To Go To Work Due To Covid," I can understand. When the mRNA vaccines first came out, it became such hot property that it's common to see people preening their feathers on social media for having gotten themselves vaccinated.
And then the fucking idiot Trump pushed all the fake news about the vaccines, undermining federal agencies to the point where they ran in circles, just to counter fake news coming from the White House. This was all while Trump the coward got himself infected, and he hurried to get himself vaccinated too, even though he pushed for fake (and oft dangerous) alternative treatment, like injecting yourself with bleach?!? Worse yet, there were (and still are) idiot who believe him. Go figure.
The anti-vaxx movement feeds into all things anti-authority, crescendo into the Jan-6 Insurrection in 2021. Thank goodness the civil systems and legal systems are still holding fort, but a good half of the country is still taken in by Trump who is still holding sway of GOP. THIS is the saddest part of the story, not necessarily because of one big idiot like Trump, but because there are so many idiotic minions in this country. How far the US of A has devolved into these days.
Much has been said about the action-and-reaction in the Covid drama (played out in a lot of countries, drum-rolled by US), with the blame on mental issues. My one question is: Why are the human minds so weak these days? Early on in Covid (maybe in early 2020), various government leaders compared Covid to putting their countries on war footing. I never stop thinking of that phrase. I keep thinking, if this were a Third World War, these good half of the population who have been acting so foolishly, they probably should die, yes they are better off dead. In that sense, I don't really mind them rejecting the Covid vaccines. In fact the numbers bear it out, that those who are getting very sick in hospitalization in subsequent Covid waves (like the Delta variant, omicron, even BA.2 variant) are mostly unvaccinated population. Yes, that's Mother Nature at work. These people want their freedom, so let them. The world is better off with them dead. (No sympathy from me. Harsh but true.)
For me, I've become a statistics in the Great Resignation when I cut down my workload in 2021. Various headhunters and recruiters reach out to me, but I'm no longer interested in working till I drop dead on my desk. Life is too short for that, it's not worth it.
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By and large, life has gone back to normal. I have telecommuted for years prior to Covid, so there's nothing new there. The main difference is, I've had face masks in each of my bags ("Don't Leave Home Without It!"), but that's hardly any hardship.
Increasingly I've stopped all the whiny "news stories" about the various "hardship" that people experienced, blaming it on Covid. But heck, it's really just life as it has been.
Life is but series of decisions (financial and personal, large and small). We live and learn, and live by commonsense. I don't suffer fools when hearing people say, "No One Tells Me About It" (eg. taking on debt with interest rate so high that can never possibly be paid back, and then people expect the debt be forgiven...because "No One Explains That To Me!"). For chrissake, this kind of non-argument comes from - by jove - college grads. 5yo? I get that. 25yo? Come now, that's a wee bit too much coddling for my taste.
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