Lost in the Twilight Zone

 

It’s funny: everyday I collect news stories on topics I want to write about. In the last week or so, I just keep setting them aside.

I feel like I’m wandering around in the Twilight Zone.

Or, a more up-to-date type experience: I’m in the Upside Down and can’t find my way out.

I’ve written about this before but it seems every day news items are more mind blowing.

The midterms are in less than two weeks.  Almost everywhere it seems that qualified candidates are in a virtual dead-heat with mind-dead, tRump parroting, ultra-right-wing conservatives. And why? I still don’t get it.

In Georgia, voters have a current senator now that is a thoughtful, rational, and even better yet, Christian minister in Raphael Warnock. Yet many are going for brain damaged or just flat-out stupid Hershel Walker.  Not only has he been lying and making ridiculously stupid remarks, Mr. Pro Life has at least 2 women publicly testifying he wanted them to abort his babies with them. In normal times, this would be a total deal breaker for Mr. Walker.  Apparently, the Upside Down is now known as the “New Normal” where it’s OK to be a fool, a liar and a hypocrite as long as you are a Rethuglican.

In Pennsylvania, there’ve been positive and negative takes on Lt. Gov. John Fetterman’s debate with snake oil salesman Dr. Oz.  Fetterman had a major stroke less than 6 months ago and is doing amazingly well in his recovery.  He still has some processing issues and needed some accommodation for the debate, to have the questions in text for him to read.  Dr. Oz has been in hot water for his many erroneous medical claims.  Not only that, he doesn’t even live in PA.  In spite of all that, major media is all gloom and doom about Fetterman.  It’s depressing.  The man is intelligent and has some great ideas; Dr. Oz panders to the tRumpers.  His most recent statement during the debate was that a woman’s reproductive care should be up to the woman, her doctor and, oh yeah, local legislators. 

In all the other battleground states, decent Democratic candidates or office holders are struggling to keep even with inept Rethuglicans endorsed by tRump—and some of these clowns are just evil.  Why? Because Rethuglican millionaire/billionaires are pouring in ad money to support the idiots on the Rethug ticket.

A sense of simple decency and kindness barely exists online at all.

I can’t look at major media anymore.  The headlines are infuriating and depressing as Democrats & President Biden are bashed without quarter and tRumpers are fawned over like they’re gods.  No wonder they walk around arrogantly broadcasting their anti-Semitic, racist, ugly views. There’s no blowback. Their own party members won’t say anything and, surprisingly, neither will the Democrats.

The Democratic leadership has been asleep at the wheel almost the entire time President Biden has been in office.  There have been so many blown opportunities for talking points to connect with voters.  It’s like that whole party has OD’d on Valium or something.

I set aside topics I want to write about because going down those roads would only serve to make me more discouraged.  There are only 2 weeks to the election and I want to keep a flame of hope kindled.  From now until the election is over, I’m going to set news aside and just focus on job hunting and writing for NaNoWriMo in November.  If we do have a blue wave or tsunami, I can write about things that need to be changed.  If we don’t, it won’t matter because we won’t have a democracy anymore.

Why Are So Many People Dumb?

 

Lately I’ve only scanned headlines from Daily Sound & Fury because they give me agita.  Many of the articles are filled with capitalized paragraphs and that makes me feel like someone’s yelling at me.  The other reason I don’t read through articles anymore is because there’s a sense of hysteria to them.  It’s pretty clear they want their readers to get riled up.

Having said that, I was intrigued by one of their articles and followed the link to the website.  The article didn’t shout at me and didn’t do anything more but give more information about why so many people are dumb.  Check it out.  It’s pretty enlightening. Made Stupid.

Back from a worthwhile read?  I wonder what everyone thinks about the points made in the article?  I think about my exposure to TV/radio ads when I was a child (say from 1957 until adulthood) and compare it with that of my children who are millennials.  Luckily, during their toddler and preschool years, Rich and I worked opposite shifts so that one of us was always home caring for them.  They had play-outside time and play-inside time that involved toys and for short periods, TV or gaming.

When I was a kid, I was outdoors right after breakfast.  When the streetlights came on, I knew it was time to go home.  I did watch some TV like the Mickey Mouse club and I remember that it did influence me.  I needed to be a Mouseketeer and I sure needed those Mickey Mouse ears.  I must have been somewhere between 3 and 6.  My parents did get me a pair of ears and I wore them every time I watched the show.

I was lucky.  I wasn’t exposed to as many ads because I didn’t watch a lot of shows.  One big reason is that the TV was rarely on.  My parents were Deaf, and there was no such thing as closed captioning then.  They didn’t watch TV because it was too difficult to read speakers’ lips and was a frustrating experience.  However, we did watch Walt Disney, Ed Sullivan, and Combat whenever they were on TV.  My dad had a little residual hearing and enjoyed the performers on Ed Sullivan.  Combat was action packed and easy to follow.  Disney? Classic.  I don’t remember any of the commercials.

As I got older, the jingles and other nonsense went in one ear and out the other.  I’m like that now.  I prefer streaming TV with no commercials.  If I watch regular TV, I read through the commercials.  I didn’t get into the cosmetics, shampoo, cleaning supplies, clothes, cars and any of that other stuff that gets pushed.  The ads are dumb.  They promise the viewer or listener some wonderful things will happen if you don’t buy blah-blah.  It’s all hype.

I am proud that my kids aren’t dumb because of ads they’ve seen.  I am sure it’s because they had a parent with them to help them discern what was true and what was just a come-on.

The article points out that millennials and Gen Z kids probably didn’t have a parent at home with them.  Nowadays in a traditional family, both parents have to work to stay afloat with rapidly rising food and gas prices.  Single parents might have to work two jobs.  Who knows what kind of guidance they get from child care workers or babysitters?

My kids escaped this but some Gen Z kids are growing up in states that regulate what a teacher can and can’t teach.  The curriculums are dumbed down and, as a result, these kids being protected from “offense” don’t learn all the topics they need to know.  Books are banned from libraries and schools.  Many of those books are excellent reads and are banned because ultra-right-wing politicians and parents don’t like certain words or concepts in these books.  If kids are lucky and interested enough, they may find some of these titles at their local library.

Schools fail many students because of restrictions and a lack of funding.  The Rethuglicans never seem to want to adequately fund education.  I learned civics in 8^th grade.  Students today don’t get much civics; it doesn’t seem important.  The article said that half of our citizens can’t name the three branches of government.  How can you make a good decision as a voter if you don’t know how the branches of government work?

Other dumbness that people pick up:

Vaccines prevent disease.  Some vaccines eradicated a disease.  They’re required to attend school.  Yet many adults refuse the vaccine against covid.  Why?  Vaccines are effective.  But it seems these dumb ones believe the misinformation they hear and see.

I’ve been surveying voters in three different states.  More than half support TFG.  I want to ask WHY?  I can’t.  I have to be impartial and just read the questions verbatim.    They are supportive of all the good things the Democratic candidate has done but they would still go with the Repub candidate. Why?  I think it’s because they swallow TFG’s Kool-Aid and become numb to facts.  They’d vote for this clown even though the things he & the Rethuglicans want to do would hurt them.  Duh?

I’ve come to the conclusion that too much media exposure is bad.  I think it kills thinking brain cells of little ones who begin watching TV at such young ages.  They are manipulated to need “this & that” and believe what they see is real.  Growing up, the strong influence of commercials can surely change the thinking process of people exposed to them for long periods of time—like sitting in front of the TV for hours.

The article lists way to reduce the stupidity level of kids in school now.  It’s a nice list but it means that people need to care and get involved.  Do they?  How many adults aren’t swayed by all the BS on the air and on the Net?  I wonder.

Next time I want to focus on anxiety: life happenings, politics, aging, and etc.

Religious Switching Patterns

 

I have a lot of topics on my mind but this article by the Pew Research Center caught my eye and I read it.  From everything I know about the Pew Research Center, they are pretty reliable.  I could be wrong.  The article focused on how religious affiliation might look by 2070, noting that Christians won’t be the majority anymore.  I’m not surprised but I’m sure the white supremacists and white right wing “Christian” nationalist and evangelists are freaking out.

I was really interested in their findings about who switched religious beliefs and when they did.

As for me, I started out going with my family to the Islip Presbyterian Church.  My extended family lived all around my parents, brother and me.  Half the family went to that church, and there was a cozy, “family” feel to it. 

We moved to Baltimore when I was 10.  No more church filled with family members and friends.  My parents attempted to get my brother and me into Sunday school at a local Presbyterian church while they went visiting friends but that didn’t last long.  My brother and I felt awkward, out of place, and we just didn’t feel welcome.  We told my parents we didn’t want to go there anymore, and that was the end of Sunday School.

I’m not sure where to place myself.  I sort of grew up with a Christian faith but it ended before I was 11.  We just didn’t go to any church, didn’t watch any evangels on TV nor read the Bible.  I had vague memories of what I’d learned in Sunday School but that was it.  I believed in God but He was remote and distant.  I didn’t think much about religion.

When I was 16, I joined Weight Watchers and discovered a group met at the Christ Church for the Deaf.  My parents, who were profoundly Deaf from birth, were aware of it all along but chose not to go because they didn’t want to give up drinking and gambling at the Deaf club.  Even though I hadn’t learned to sign fluently yet, I felt a connection to this church and congregants.  The minister was inspiring, he himself the adult child of Deaf parents.

My parents were bemused but didn’t try to stop me from going to that church.  They offered classes on American Sign Language to hearing people who wanted to communicate.  It was there I became fluent and worked my way up through the interpreter classes.  I sometimes interpreted church services both in Maryland and then in New York.

Church felt good through my first marriage and the births of my three children.  Rich and I moved from New York back to Maryland and attended the local Presbyterian Church.  Our kids went to Sunday School as I did when I was little.  I enjoyed volunteering on outreach committees.  Two controversial issues began to sour me on congregations, boiling down to Not In My Backyard (NIMBY-ism) and prejudice.  We are to love each other and lend a helping hand or provide support, yet people objected to a shelter in the church for homeless families and to welcome openly gay members.  Several of our deacons felt compelled to hide in “the closet”.

In my early 40s, I stopped going to church.

I tried to go again with my second husband but I couldn’t reconcile myself to that church’s dogma and could see there was a lot of the usual back-stabbing and hypocrisy here too.  I haven’t been to a church service since and it’s been almost 10 years.

What about my kids?  They are in their 30s now, and I am not sure what they believe.  All three seem to be non-affiliated.  Will they seek out a connection to a particular religion, a church?  I don’t know.  I have shared what I believe with them and they change the subject.  I don’t pursue it or push it.

This is what I believe: yes, I think there is God.  There must be a higher intelligence to have created this universe and beyond.  I have faith in Jesus and feel the Holy Spirit.  But do I need to go to church?  The Bible says I should but I don’t.  I don’t like the drama, the back-stabbing, and the complaining.  I can commune with God out in nature or here in my room or anywhere, really.  I can pray and I am heard.  When my spirit leaves my body, it leaves a lifeless shell but my spirit is energy and it goes on.

There are no Presbyterian churches close by in my town.  Over the years, I have been to Methodist, Lutheran, Episcopalian and Baptist churches.  None were a comfortable fit and so if I’m asked which religion I’m affiliated with, I say Presbyterian by rote.

I wonder where I’d fit in the Pew Research results.

Next up: why are there so many stupid people?