Is anybody else tired?

[renie408]

God, I am tired.

I feel like the more informed I am, the harder it is to just go about my daily life. I want to scream in the middle of the grocery store, "IS ANYBODY ELSE PAYING ATTENTION?? WE ARE BEING FUCKED OVER EVERY DAY AND YOU ARE ALL HERE JUST TRYING TO DECIDE BETWEEN PIZZA OR MEXICAN FOR DINNER!!"

I am steadily losing Facebook friends because all I do any more is repost stuff from here or other political things I come across. And wandering around on the internet, which used to be a relaxing hobby for me, is just a minefield of scary shit. The more I know, the more I wish I didn't know....if that makes any sense.

It wears you down. Waking up every day this constant battle of them against us and they really ARE against us. All of us. Even the people they call their base. I used to feel like an observer that just sort of watched from the sidelines, but the last couple of years have really made me realize how close to home all that stuff that previously seemed so far away really is. We are still struggling to recover from the Major Fuck Up of '08 and now they are quietly putting together the next Major Fuck Up as fast as they can. Gutting Dodd-Frank, which didn't have that much guts to begin with? The TPP? Which I had never heard of until recently, but really seems like a shitty deal for us. And some of the guys doing this are my guys. I mean, it was hard enough when all I had to do was keep an eye on the other team. Now I feel like I have to watch my back with my own players.

I just don't think I have another Major Fuck Up recovery left in me. I am really tired.

[liberal N proud]

1. It's information overload.

We are more informed, but it is causing burn out.

[lsewpershad]

22. No!

It is not info overload.... it the sense of frustration and sense of helplessness we feel over the fact that no one, not even the democrats, seems to be able or capable to do anything about the f...ked-up world these repukes are creating. Don't worry though the masses can be pushed only so far.

[renie408]

24. Pretty much what they said /\

The thing is, I would like for things to get straightened out without the giant upheaval and the wrecking of the economy and the me living in a cardboard box part. I just don't see that happening, though. I have this feeling that the GOP is going to have to really and truly and ROYALLY fuck this country over before people start to say, "Hey, wait a tick! These conservatives are fucking things up!" and proceed to get rid of them.

[Cryptoad]

35. Us Democrats

are just keeping things afloat ,,,,, you want the kinda change you say you want you best hit the streets and get out the vote,,,, until Democrats control Congress and the White House there will not be much change!

[ScreamingMeemie]

2. This is why I beg my friends and family members to keep Facebook politics free.

I hide posts that are ridiculous and quietly unfriend those who have no interest in sharing family photos and stories. FB is not the best platform for that, even though lots of my like-minded left friends use it that way too. I am tired of looking at wall that shows nothing but news/politics/snopesable lies. So, I clean it up. If I end up with 0 friends, I guess Facebook was not meant for me.

[Cleita]

3. Yes, for a couple of decades now, but I can't stop. n/t

[SharonAnn]

34. Me too, yet I'm so very, very weary.

It's not too hard to connect the dots and it's frustrating that others can't see it.

It's moneyed interests and right-wing religion that are causing the problems. Always!

On any objectionable issue that hurts ordinary people or the disadvantaged, when you look behind the curtain you'll find moneyed interests and?or religious fundamentalism.

Actually on any issue, you'll find them there. They're like cockroaches, they're everywhere. Worse in some places than others, but they're always there.

[Shankapotomus]

4. My approach to writing (but it can be applied here) is:p

If you are writing a book for something it would take a sentence to say and a second for someone to hear, nobody is listening. So save yourself the energy. Write the sentence and leave it at that.

[yuiyoshida]

5. Something to cheer you up..

[renie408]

12. :)

[grantcart]

15. knew somebody would post

[HappyMe]

6. I don't let any of it take over my life.

Being informed is good, but I think being consumed isn't healthy.

[hfojvt]

7. there is this prayer

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference."

Maybe if the major concern of many people is whether to have pizza or mexican for dinner, then we are not getting fucked as bad as you think.

A lot of the "scary excrement" that you read about is hype. Because if people can scare you about something, they can generate interest in their article or TV show, and then sell some ads based on all the hits they get.

Have you heard about the terrible trouble indicated by the presence of a pool table in your community? And would you like to buy a trombone for your child?

[RKP5637]

9. Exactly! Very Well Said!

A lot of the "scary excrement" that you read about is hype. Because if people can scare you about something, they can generate interest in their article or TV show, and then sell some ads based on all the hits they get.

[renie408]

10. I am not easily scared in that way.

Which is probably why I am a liberal and not a conservative. I am not exactly prone to the John Stossel-type induced fear.

But the REALLY scary stuff is the stuff that people don't pay attention to. I asked a couple of people about Dodd-Frank the other night and they had no idea what I was talking about. They don't pay much attention to local elections, which is why NC is turning into Taliban Southeast and they go glassy eyed when you try to explain something like Dodd-Frank and why it is important that we leave those meager protections in tact.

[hfojvt]

14. but IS the erosion of Dodd-Frank really scary?

It's not something that I am biting my nails about.

You are worried about it, apparently. Why? Because you read some articles, perhaps by Matt Taibbi, or whoever, telling you about this terrible trouble. Double trouble with an investment bubble, bubble, toil and trouble.

Is it a real trouble? Or a hyped trouble? Is it more real and more trouble than TPP? Than income inequality? Than the debt ceiling? Than immigration reform? Than the grand bargain? Than the salt content of hamburger helper? Than the creeping take-over of this country by chipoltle sauce?

[renie408]

16. I think it is scary in that they are just back to business as usual.

Trying to suck every last drop of money they can TODAY and who gives a shit about tomorrow? Dodd-Frank was an example. And yeah, there are all those other things that are big problems that, it seems to me, a lot of people just don't pay any attention to.

Maybe if we were not always in a struggle to stay ahead of our bills and not constantly worrying about so many other things, I would be less worried about this stuff. But every month is a war for us these days. We get to the last day and say, "We made it through another month!" Then we get up on the first and start all over again. It didn't used to be this way and I didn't use to worry so much about this stuff.

The people around me don't seem to pay very much attention at all to anything. They chat happily about...I dunno, the weather or something. I think I have forgotten how to do that.

[hfojvt]

19. Wait, every month is a war for you?

That does sound like a severe problem - but a personal problem.

Is it possible that you are channelling some of the anxiety from your personal problems into these larger social problems? That thinking about Dodd-Frank serves as both a distraction and a release?

One of the problems with Democracy, is that people do NOT want to be that engaged and that informed. Doing so would suck up a lot of their time and energy which they want to spend on other things. They really want to be able to count on the people they elect to take care of those things.

Too bad for us that it has become so abundantly clear that we cannot count on them to look after our interests.

So now what do we do?

[renie408]

21. Yeah, it is.

And I feel sure that my general anxiety is bleeding over into my perception of the state of the country as a whole.

We have one kid in college, one turning eighteen in a month, my husband is a construction subcontractor and I train horses.

The first things to go where we are were building and horses. We ate through every bit of our savings and have been able to keep our house and keep the kids in school and still have both businesses. But at the age of 50-in-two-months I have had to go back to retraining off the track TB's and my husband went from having two crews that he worked to doing small remodel jobs by himself.

We are healthy and we love our kids and we love each other. Some months are easier than others. Things have been S L O W L Y looking up lately, which actually has me in a kind of 'waiting for the other shoe to drop' mode. Maybe that's why I feel like the entire world is balanced so precariously and is just waiting for somebody to tip it over.

My husband just called. He is working on a commercial job that has a wall that is about 25 feet high. He is finishing the wall standing on a 12" walkboard balanced between two lifts set at about 18' in the air. This is the sort of thing that five years ago we would have had somebody younger and bouncier to do for us. Yeah, my general anxiety is fairly high on any given day.

[brer cat]

26. I don't know how you have managed that stress, renie.

Some days it helps to just step away for awhile. You have enough going on personally not to stress over everything in the news every day as well. I promise that plenty of people on DU will keep the earth spinning.

[hopemountain]

37. this is what i must do when it gets too much for me

i step aside and have faith others can do what i cannot. i get out and enjoy my family and gorgeous nature, get involved in a creative project. when i am refreshed, i get back in.

a few months ago, after one of the crisis i was so mentally and emotionally caught up in - i stepped away from sheer overwhelming frustration and anger and decided it was time to prioritize the issues i was most concerned about - so that i could focus on them - and let released other issues to others to fight for/over.

i had done the same as renie - posting on all the issues i was passionate about and barraging my "friends" and family. come to find out, most of them blocked my postings. now, i just post on a couple of issues that are more central - such as the fight against gmo's and some local issues.

i feel you, renie. also, if i may add from my american indian perspective - when we reach our 50's our worldview widens and we are more passionate about how things will affect our loved ones down the road.

in a good way, hopemoutain

[RKP5637]

8. I know exactly what you mean, but we have to be careful we don't obsess over it and

get worn down ... if we do, then we have lost our goal, because the future gets clouded with despair and frustration.

What really gets me down is when I see R=D, especially in terms of $$$$$'s and cutting on the disadvantaged.

My hope is that with the improved communications of today, more and more, individuals are seeing how F'ed up the US is in many ways and is not a happy la la land.

[PasadenaTrudy]

11. It is a choice

ultimately. Turn off the telly, get off the computer, go do something that makes you feel GOOD.

[yuiyoshida]

13. I did that yesterday..

Went to the bank, took out 200 dollars. Headed down to fisherman's wharf, where i had lunch by the bay, of Clam chowder and chips with Salsa. Went shopping on Pier 39.. took a taxi over to the Stonestown Galleria Mall.. walked around and bought some clothes, stopped for dinner at a Korean BBQ restaurant and made a last stop at PET EXPRESS to pick up a few catnip cigars and cookies for Mr. Kitty. I took a nap and was all ready to go back on line...

It was nice to do that, have not done that in a long while.

[KentuckyWoman]

17. Time to take a break.

Everything you said is true..... but......

Look, you have to be a human being first. When you don't notice the sun shining anymore or really enjoy the juice of a good peach running down your chin then it's time to get back in balance.

[bvar22]

18. The Republicans are going to be Republicans.

I expect them to do everything they can to advance the interests of the RICHEST 1%.
They are easy to keep tabs on because they do exactly what I expect.
That makes guarding against Republicans rather easy.

It is much harder to spot the Wolf in Sheep's Clothing,
and there are many in today's "New Democrat" Centrist Party.



[font color=firebrick][center]"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans.
I want a party that will STAND UP for Working Americans."
---Paul Wellstone [/font][/center] [center] [/font]
[font size=1]photo by bvar22
Shortly before Sen Wellstone was killed[/center][/font]

[arthritisR_US]

20. It can get really daunting and sometimes I just

have to take a break and switch to comedies or easy breezy chick flicks

[jtuck004]

23. That's because we have to fight too many so-called friends. n/t

[damnedifIknow]

25. I feel you

I've thought about cutting my internet but that's the way I pay bills. It's like a car wreck in the way you don't want to look but you just can't help it.

[moonbeam23]

27. Ignorance is BLISS

And there are a lot of very happy people out there lol...actually, they are not...they can feel subliminally that something is very very wrong, but they are such low information voters that they can easily be manipulated and misdirected and convinced that the very people who are trying to help them are their enemies...

All they know is that they have to drive more and more aggressively

For example, i have a friend who is a very nice and kind person, but can't be bothered to disturb her pretty little head with facts about current events....but every time i explain all the details, she gets it and agrees with me....

However, she put me on her email list and was forwarding me the most disgusting anti democrat, anti liberal bullshit...pissing me off of course...finally i sat down with her and got her to admit that she likes me and thinks i'm a good person so i asked her why i had to endure this barrage of hate directed towards me and people like me....she apologized and i no longer receive her crap...she probably still sends it, but at least i don't have to have my blood pressure raised so often

The irony is that her 401k was decimated by the banksters, she hurt herself on the job and was fucked over and fired by her heartless corporate employer, she had to move back by her family, she is now on social security disablity and medicare, and STILL a republican!!

[DeSwiss]

28. It gets better. - K&R ;-) n/t

[Motown_Johnny]

29. OK, now I'm in the mood for Mexican food.

[ruffburr]

30. Thanks for the post-

I just thought that i was 5150 or senility was setting in, Sometimes I see people Forest Gumping through their day to day In total oblivion about whats Really happening around and too them it makes me want to shake em and scream wake the F up , But I just shake my head and go on.

[Orrex]

31. I do occasionally worry that I'm not panicking enough

But then I remember that there is absolutely nothing at all whatsoever that I can do in any meaningful capacity to change anything at all about the powers that be.

Then I say "Fuck it. Let's have Sushi instead."

[slor]

32. Yeah...it takes me down periodically...

i cry myself to sleep sometimes. Stay strong, and do what you can uplift others. That seems to help me, when I can help.

[Bucky]

33. Mexican

Pizza's got too many carbs

[scuciti]

36. It comes down to--

Many issues can be boiled down to one - money out of politics and things start getting solved. Until then, many of the arguments can wait.

[grahamhgreen]

38. Hell no! Take a break, we've got your back!!!

[Pretzel_Warrior]

39. life is short. sometimes it's ok for it to just be about "Pizza or Mexican tonight"

[Generic Other]

40. I am imagining you yelling this

and everyone freezing in place. One tiny voice. Then another. Louder. "We are fucked. We are fucked."

[mnhtnbb]

41. Yes. It is why we are spending more money than we should here in Vienna.

Our son is on a Fulbright scholarship in Berlin until next July. He's the youngest.
Hoping to go to graduate school next year--2014--when he returns. We've
told him to be sure to apply for financial aid.

We live in NC and have watched the Repubs destroying what had been known
as a fairly progressive southern state until they took over last January.
Damn, it is sure much faster and easier to destroy things than it is
to build them up. You know that, with your hubby in construction.

Hubby is 70. I'm 62. We're both collecting social security, but he is still
working part-time (a psychiatrist) about 15-20 hours/week. Our income
has been dramatically reduced during this last year.

As I said, though, here we are spending more money than we should on this trip.
We'll go from here to Salzburg, Prague, and end up in Berlin (to see our son) before
returning home: a 3 week trip.

Life is short. You can't take it with you. We hope to leave something for
both our kids--because God knows what life is going to be like for them.

This morning I took a walk down by the Danube. Lots of graffiti art. Take a look
at a few of my favorites I posted in the photography group this morning.
Some of the folks over here get it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/103623186

[progressoid]

42. Damned tired.