Reading the News

*ring* *ring* (A Facetime call) Mom: “Hey hun, what’s up?” Me: “Well, let’s see.. “We have an armed law enforcement that’s scared of the civilians they police. One political party so corrupt it’s no longer interested in serving the people. Half the population ignores the one real power mankind has - science. Hackers shutting down pipelines, schools, hospitals and companies. News networks that are allowed to just make up lies as “news”. Half the population that’s determined to be uninformed. Social media is destroying the minds of our children. A political party that encourages its followers to die. A world that’s quickly poisoning itself to extinction. Religions that endorse obvious liars and guns. An economy that depends on our self doubt. Foreign enemies manipulating our elections. A supply system on the verge of collapse. A party encouraging resurgent racism. A badly neglected infrastructure. Inflation starting to heat up. A near endless pandemic. And a rape culture.” Mom: after a moment of silence “Have you been reading the news again? You KNOW you tend to obsess.”