Seven Years
Nov 5 2024
The fire-hose of news
breaking news
and trumpeted exclusives,
of interviews
shocking truths
and titillating rumours.
Of fiercely clashing views
argued loudly
in all-caps,
softened, at best
by some satirical cartoons
and a few amusing anecdotes
has me pinned to the wall.
Not to mention celebrity pics
click bait
checklists;
addictive videos,
where nimble dancers lip-sync
to catchy songs.
Streaming in, non-stop
and leaving me exhausted,
with trembling hands, racing mind
and bulging bloodshot eyes.
A breathless litany
of what happened,
. . . what’s going on,
. . . what’s next.
As if the future is knowable.
As if we ever call them out
on how often they were wrong.
Which is rarely,
because our memories are short,
the firehose keeps blasting,
and distractions never end.
But not what really matters
in all the noise.
How I long, instead
for a life of contemplation.
For cloistered silence
on a mountaintop
somewhere faraway.
Seven years
sounds about right.
A Biblical sum.
A sabbatical
from all the sturm und drang.
A number that feels balanced, centred
in and of itself.
So on my return to earth
will I want to hear
what happened in my absence?
Or will I be above it all;
still taking refuge
in the rarefied air
of my aerie of one?
Or is escape impossible;
are implicated
in the business of man
like it or not?
As John Donne famously said
no man is an island
entire of itself.
Because we depend
on the kindness of others.
Because belonging
is in our nature.
And because talking to oneself
seems crazy
when we've all so much to say.
A friend just sent me a Washington Post article about Kamala Harris' “possible path to victory”. It's late on Nov 5: US election day. So what possible utility does reading such a piece provide? What's the purpose of baselessly speculating about something that will be actual news in just a few hours?
This is a perfect example of how so much so-called reporting is really just idle chatter about what may or may not happen. Which is usually wrong, as well as pointless: why not simply wait until the outcome can actually be known?!! The media: a lot of noise that signifies nothing. Instead of news, we get unaccountable opinions about some unknowable future.
Even for me — a consumer in print of long form legacy media, rather than the internet, social media, or cable news — the volume seems overwhelming. Especially in the age of Trump, who so perversely fascinates as he repels. Even if you desperately want to, you can’t take your eyes off his utter improbability and ludicrousness as he continues to plumb new depths of depravity.
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