The part that stuck with me is that the dogs weren't learning to be helpless. That was already their default - they just never got the chance to learn hope. It's odd to me that the dogs didn't but the rats did.
Fear is cheap, so the only way to profit from it is volume. Hence why the feed never runs out and we now have the concept of 'infinite scroll'. Hope is hard to mass produce but we can do our part as individuals.
I subscribe to the Big Issue in the UK because it highlights 'good news' stories about ordinary people/ small organisations doing great work, locally. None of these feature in other newspapers (owned by billionaires) that seem to revel in misery.
It's also why it's important to 'like/share/comment' on positive people's posts. Got to share the love.
I love that. I feel like in the US that was once the domain of the local newspaper. "Hero saves cat in tree" type stuff. But all those got bought out and replaced by things designed to make you think you live in the worst place imaginable.
Another of your best pieces. What first caught my eye was the trans/LGTBQ mailer, because I am the spouse of a transitioning partner and we are in a constant dialogue about her perceiving “threats” based on the fact that mailers like that exist, and me insisting she not give into that and not feed the machine that induces fear. In general, she has yet to encounter a single person in real life who has an issue with her transition, and yet she sees media that implies otherwise. For fear to take hold, there must be a cohort that can function as the scape goat - depending on who you are, that could be your child’s teachers, immigrants, strangers in your neighborhood, LGTBQ people, even people in certain professions (the wellness people are convinced all medical people are scapegoats). And sadly the algorithms only continue to exacerbate the fear response. Digitally disengaging helps, because if you are not told every day that you should fear something…you won’t fear it.
Cynicism feels dated while hope is on the upswing. It gives us a purpose and meaning.
They say politics is downstream from culture so hope won’t show up there for a while but it is emerging in our culture if you look. I see it in a growing appreciation of the seriousness and depth in religious worship, the optimism in characters in movies and television, and willingness to showcase wholesomeness in music. You still have to look for it, but it’s there.
In the big picture, it looks like culturally we are slowly moving into a more hopeful, optimistic attitude, which will be necessary, probably essential, to meet an opposing worldview that gets its strength from oppression and fear.
The part that stuck with me is that the dogs weren't learning to be helpless. That was already their default - they just never got the chance to learn hope. It's odd to me that the dogs didn't but the rats did.
Fear is cheap, so the only way to profit from it is volume. Hence why the feed never runs out and we now have the concept of 'infinite scroll'. Hope is hard to mass produce but we can do our part as individuals.
Yep fear thrives on the infinite scroll. That's a good way of putting it.
Great post, thanks Steve! Totally agree, and see the same relentless negativity from the media (mainstream and especially social) here in the UK.
Here’s hoping that posts like this can gradually start to turn the tide. 🙏
Thanks so much! Yes, it's eveywhere, mainstream/social/everywhere in between.
Thank you for this, and everything you are doing!
Appreciate the support!
I subscribe to the Big Issue in the UK because it highlights 'good news' stories about ordinary people/ small organisations doing great work, locally. None of these feature in other newspapers (owned by billionaires) that seem to revel in misery.
It's also why it's important to 'like/share/comment' on positive people's posts. Got to share the love.
I love that. I feel like in the US that was once the domain of the local newspaper. "Hero saves cat in tree" type stuff. But all those got bought out and replaced by things designed to make you think you live in the worst place imaginable.
Thank you for taking the time to write this
Appreciate you reading it.
Another of your best pieces. What first caught my eye was the trans/LGTBQ mailer, because I am the spouse of a transitioning partner and we are in a constant dialogue about her perceiving “threats” based on the fact that mailers like that exist, and me insisting she not give into that and not feed the machine that induces fear. In general, she has yet to encounter a single person in real life who has an issue with her transition, and yet she sees media that implies otherwise. For fear to take hold, there must be a cohort that can function as the scape goat - depending on who you are, that could be your child’s teachers, immigrants, strangers in your neighborhood, LGTBQ people, even people in certain professions (the wellness people are convinced all medical people are scapegoats). And sadly the algorithms only continue to exacerbate the fear response. Digitally disengaging helps, because if you are not told every day that you should fear something…you won’t fear it.
I couldn’t agree more.
Cynicism feels dated while hope is on the upswing. It gives us a purpose and meaning.
They say politics is downstream from culture so hope won’t show up there for a while but it is emerging in our culture if you look. I see it in a growing appreciation of the seriousness and depth in religious worship, the optimism in characters in movies and television, and willingness to showcase wholesomeness in music. You still have to look for it, but it’s there.
In the big picture, it looks like culturally we are slowly moving into a more hopeful, optimistic attitude, which will be necessary, probably essential, to meet an opposing worldview that gets its strength from oppression and fear.
I hope you're right.