I enjoyed this piece. It is well-written, and a pleasant distraction today.
At the risk of taking this too seriously, a few observations:
- you’re absolutely right. I really don’t want to have an opinion on everything. Nor do I want to have to read and make time to research (looking at various sources, talking to people) everything. But I do, on too many subjects. Why? My trust in our institutions has broken down (media, justice, public health).
That means I can’t and don’t just take what they say at face value. I have to try to understand whatever they’re addressing for myself.
And believe me, I’m no expert. But I try, because I want to know what’s going on. I want to know, maybe, who’s trying to pull the wool over my eyes, and why.
We can argue about whether “my research” makes me cautious or simply a crackpot. Either way it’s exhausting. I’m exhausted. And angry. Previous generations had their hardships, but it wasn’t like this.
Oh so true. I accepted other regimes as well intentioned and basically competent in execution for government, even if they were not my intentions or the outcomes I would have preferred. However, this current regime is neither well intentioned nor competent and it is difficult to be stoic when so many just seem to accept what is happening to our country. To that end, I get up on my electronic soap box and shout into the ether. Does it make a difference? Most probably not, but I am comforted by fellow soap boxers agreeing with me or putting into words what I am thinking. Stoicism is admirable, but I think it might be a bit lonely.
Thank you Andrew, well said. Too many of us are looking for a fight and the result is just ugly. The only thing we can control in life is our reaction and what comes out of our mouth....or in social media’s case our flying fingers.
Just deleted my twitter after reading the quotes from Aurelius and Senaca. Meditations is a book I treasure, but I forgot the lessons over the last few years. So, thank you for the reminder.
This is the second twitter account I've nuked. I felt like I broke a spell after deleting the first one. Then I made the mistake of returning after Elon locked visibility to registered accounts. I was using it to read the odd tweet from a few programmers and artists that I love, and it only took a couple weeks before my feed was full of crackpots, conspiracies, toxicity and rage bait. It was capturing my attention in moments of weakness (i.e. on the toilet at night), and the sticky residue of nasty discourse and emotional manipulation lingered and affected my mood the next day. Good riddance.
Thank you for the reminder! My life has been immensely improved by instead of expending energy on, for example, what happens (or doesn't happen) on the 'net, at Queens' Park, in Ottawa, Washington DC, London, Calgary, et cetera, and directing energy instead to my partner, my home and garden, my dogs. Being human I do slip, which only reminds me to do better.
I often wonder what it was like to be a Roman, or Mayan, or member of any of the many civilizations that collapsed and whether they watched it happen, as we are.
Excellent piece! Interesting that you quote from the Classics (and Philosophy) when so many universities have abolished their Classics departments because they won’t earn a graduate money the moment they graduate. “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”. - Churchill, 1948.
To Sad Mom - get a master’s degree in information management before claiming that you are competent to do analytical research. Being mad helps absolutely no one - most of all you,
She isn't mad. Please reread her post and then repost. You are at risk of being exhibit "A" for Andrew's article through your second paragraph. I don't think you intend to be.
I should have used “angry” rather than mad. And I’m tired of people who insist that their ability to read social media is equivalent to my graduate degrees. Also, the vast majority of Canadians have no idea of how government works.
And I’m not exhibit A. I’m tired of living among people who have no understanding of the words “tyranny” and “freedom”.
Yes, Sad_Mom used “angry” and “exhausted”. Parenting can be exhausting. At the risk of putting words into her mouth I interpret that the combination of her two qualifiers indicates she is exasperated, as are you, and many others.
From my time on The Line I can assure you that there are many commenters here who have a very personal experience and understanding of the words “tyranny” and “freedom”. I lost everything except my father to communism. The two of us started over in Canada with nothing. I did not see my mother or left behind extended family for almost three decades. There are others contributing to The Line with similar backgrounds. You can appreciate that being exasperated with Canada is on a completely more benign level than being exasperated with worse possibilities. Canada is definitely a glass half full and not half empty.
I am pleased that you worked hard to earn graduate degrees. My respects. Please put them to good use and refrain from ad hominems within The Line.
Tom, you are not putting words in my mouth at all. I am indeed exasperated. My comment could have been phrased better, but you saw what I was trying to say. Thank you.
And Ingrid, I also have a graduate degree, and I do read more than social media to try to make sense of things. I would never try to equate the two. And I was not trying to say anything about tyranny or freedom.
I just wish that our society would still listen to and put stock in experts (maybe experts like yourself?) but we seem to have lost that sense of trust and cohesion. Same with not rushing to judgment. It seems to be a value from a by-gone era.
I’m tired of opinions and feelings being treated as facts. I’m exhausted by everyone having a point of view that they need to express.
There is too much nonsense everywhere. But I agree completely with you Tom. Canada is still a glass half full.
Half full can go either way. It can be topped up or consumed. I have worked in countries where tyranny runs rampant and freedom is a narrow concept and unfortunately I see too many examples of both starting to appear in our country. Remaining silent allows tyranny to grow. Canadians cannot see it happening here, but I worked with a Venezuelan who was so proud of that country’s long history of democratic freedom, the longest in Latin America. It can be exhausting while being a sheep in the flock is probably easy even if headed to the abattoir.
Good article. Social (not-so-social) media is such an enabler for spew. Stuff no one would expect to hear/see is now bombarding the public. It's about a business model functioning on human need for "look at me" or "oh yeah!! BS!" Loads of $$ to be made on this playground (social media) for the companies with little competition. It really does feed the adolescent bully behaviour which also seems to pervade all ages and positions. The idea of appropriate public behaviour has changed as a consequence. All this is exhausting and not useful for advancing society - but then, that is likely not the desired end game. Whatever happened to 'Peace, Love & Rock and Roll'?
I don't think anything has contributed more to my peace of mind than grasping the concept of "opposing truths". Too bad I didn't figure that out till I was in my 40s!
“Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself.” Thank you for this. Excellent advice and interestingly, the exact opposite of what social media’s algorithms encourage.
We’re losing the narrative and ourselves. Civil society used to be, well you know, civil. Or as Louis B. Armstrong sang, “I see friends shaking hands, saying how do you do? They’re really saying, I love you.”
A stoic approach is indeed the mature way to deal with social media. Unfortunately, what social media seems to thrive on is the social positioning dynamics of a pack of primates. It's essentially the social cliques and gossip of high school perpetuated past the public school system: who said what about who? Who's cool? Am I dressed the right way? Do I like the right band?
Loved this article. Should I have bothered to tell you?
I enjoyed this piece. It is well-written, and a pleasant distraction today.
At the risk of taking this too seriously, a few observations:
- you’re absolutely right. I really don’t want to have an opinion on everything. Nor do I want to have to read and make time to research (looking at various sources, talking to people) everything. But I do, on too many subjects. Why? My trust in our institutions has broken down (media, justice, public health).
That means I can’t and don’t just take what they say at face value. I have to try to understand whatever they’re addressing for myself.
And believe me, I’m no expert. But I try, because I want to know what’s going on. I want to know, maybe, who’s trying to pull the wool over my eyes, and why.
We can argue about whether “my research” makes me cautious or simply a crackpot. Either way it’s exhausting. I’m exhausted. And angry. Previous generations had their hardships, but it wasn’t like this.
Oh so true. I accepted other regimes as well intentioned and basically competent in execution for government, even if they were not my intentions or the outcomes I would have preferred. However, this current regime is neither well intentioned nor competent and it is difficult to be stoic when so many just seem to accept what is happening to our country. To that end, I get up on my electronic soap box and shout into the ether. Does it make a difference? Most probably not, but I am comforted by fellow soap boxers agreeing with me or putting into words what I am thinking. Stoicism is admirable, but I think it might be a bit lonely.
Thank you Sad Mom.. THIS is exactly how I am feeling. And yes, it is exhausting. Truly exhausting.
Thank you Andrew, well said. Too many of us are looking for a fight and the result is just ugly. The only thing we can control in life is our reaction and what comes out of our mouth....or in social media’s case our flying fingers.
Wise advice, indeed :)
Just deleted my twitter after reading the quotes from Aurelius and Senaca. Meditations is a book I treasure, but I forgot the lessons over the last few years. So, thank you for the reminder.
This is the second twitter account I've nuked. I felt like I broke a spell after deleting the first one. Then I made the mistake of returning after Elon locked visibility to registered accounts. I was using it to read the odd tweet from a few programmers and artists that I love, and it only took a couple weeks before my feed was full of crackpots, conspiracies, toxicity and rage bait. It was capturing my attention in moments of weakness (i.e. on the toilet at night), and the sticky residue of nasty discourse and emotional manipulation lingered and affected my mood the next day. Good riddance.
Thank you for the reminder! My life has been immensely improved by instead of expending energy on, for example, what happens (or doesn't happen) on the 'net, at Queens' Park, in Ottawa, Washington DC, London, Calgary, et cetera, and directing energy instead to my partner, my home and garden, my dogs. Being human I do slip, which only reminds me to do better.
I often wonder what it was like to be a Roman, or Mayan, or member of any of the many civilizations that collapsed and whether they watched it happen, as we are.
Outstanding. Will re-read Meditations. Thanks.
'Don't feel harmed and you won't be.'
Not something I would be telling someone dealing with trauma. Can you imagine telling Kristin Raworth that? Yikes.
The Serenity Prayer is good though, I ought to be reciting it everyday.
Yep, that line jarred me too.
Excellent piece! Interesting that you quote from the Classics (and Philosophy) when so many universities have abolished their Classics departments because they won’t earn a graduate money the moment they graduate. “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”. - Churchill, 1948.
To Sad Mom - get a master’s degree in information management before claiming that you are competent to do analytical research. Being mad helps absolutely no one - most of all you,
She isn't mad. Please reread her post and then repost. You are at risk of being exhibit "A" for Andrew's article through your second paragraph. I don't think you intend to be.
I should have used “angry” rather than mad. And I’m tired of people who insist that their ability to read social media is equivalent to my graduate degrees. Also, the vast majority of Canadians have no idea of how government works.
And I’m not exhibit A. I’m tired of living among people who have no understanding of the words “tyranny” and “freedom”.
Thank you Ingrid.
Yes, Sad_Mom used “angry” and “exhausted”. Parenting can be exhausting. At the risk of putting words into her mouth I interpret that the combination of her two qualifiers indicates she is exasperated, as are you, and many others.
From my time on The Line I can assure you that there are many commenters here who have a very personal experience and understanding of the words “tyranny” and “freedom”. I lost everything except my father to communism. The two of us started over in Canada with nothing. I did not see my mother or left behind extended family for almost three decades. There are others contributing to The Line with similar backgrounds. You can appreciate that being exasperated with Canada is on a completely more benign level than being exasperated with worse possibilities. Canada is definitely a glass half full and not half empty.
I am pleased that you worked hard to earn graduate degrees. My respects. Please put them to good use and refrain from ad hominems within The Line.
Tom, you are not putting words in my mouth at all. I am indeed exasperated. My comment could have been phrased better, but you saw what I was trying to say. Thank you.
And Ingrid, I also have a graduate degree, and I do read more than social media to try to make sense of things. I would never try to equate the two. And I was not trying to say anything about tyranny or freedom.
I just wish that our society would still listen to and put stock in experts (maybe experts like yourself?) but we seem to have lost that sense of trust and cohesion. Same with not rushing to judgment. It seems to be a value from a by-gone era.
I’m tired of opinions and feelings being treated as facts. I’m exhausted by everyone having a point of view that they need to express.
There is too much nonsense everywhere. But I agree completely with you Tom. Canada is still a glass half full.
Half full can go either way. It can be topped up or consumed. I have worked in countries where tyranny runs rampant and freedom is a narrow concept and unfortunately I see too many examples of both starting to appear in our country. Remaining silent allows tyranny to grow. Canadians cannot see it happening here, but I worked with a Venezuelan who was so proud of that country’s long history of democratic freedom, the longest in Latin America. It can be exhausting while being a sheep in the flock is probably easy even if headed to the abattoir.
Good advice that I don’t follow enough. Thank you for the wisdom of the past and the gentle reminder to not have opinions on everything.
Good article. Social (not-so-social) media is such an enabler for spew. Stuff no one would expect to hear/see is now bombarding the public. It's about a business model functioning on human need for "look at me" or "oh yeah!! BS!" Loads of $$ to be made on this playground (social media) for the companies with little competition. It really does feed the adolescent bully behaviour which also seems to pervade all ages and positions. The idea of appropriate public behaviour has changed as a consequence. All this is exhausting and not useful for advancing society - but then, that is likely not the desired end game. Whatever happened to 'Peace, Love & Rock and Roll'?
Good advice...wish I could follow it all the time or at least most of the time.
I don't think anything has contributed more to my peace of mind than grasping the concept of "opposing truths". Too bad I didn't figure that out till I was in my 40s!
“Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself.” Thank you for this. Excellent advice and interestingly, the exact opposite of what social media’s algorithms encourage.
We’re losing the narrative and ourselves. Civil society used to be, well you know, civil. Or as Louis B. Armstrong sang, “I see friends shaking hands, saying how do you do? They’re really saying, I love you.”
Let’s get back to that.
A stoic approach is indeed the mature way to deal with social media. Unfortunately, what social media seems to thrive on is the social positioning dynamics of a pack of primates. It's essentially the social cliques and gossip of high school perpetuated past the public school system: who said what about who? Who's cool? Am I dressed the right way? Do I like the right band?