Even before the horrors that unfolded in Israel and Gaza last week, I had decided I had had enough of the news. Every morning I trawl through The Guardian and The Times and Twitter and all the links therein to find out what’s ‘going on’ and perhaps some clues to how I should feel about it.
But in the end there are only two ways I feel about it. Miserable. And helpless. So no more news for me. I’ll stick to books, poetry, art and anything that doesn’t require me to look at videos of burning children.
This, you might well argue, is an abdication of responsibility. Terrible things are happening in the world and it behooves any good citizen to keep informed about it. Up until now, I might have agreed. But now I feel it’s time to get my head well and truly lodged in the sand - ironically it seems to be the only place I can breathe.
Is it so irresponsible? What can I do about the ghastly things that happen in the world every day? Demonstrate? Since the millions who marched against Tony Blair’s war were ignored, I have given up on that hope. Write letters? ‘Dear Hamas..’. Make donations? I have. Fat lot of good that will do other than make me feel a little less of a bad person to be sitting in my front room sipping wine and watching the sun go down, having a thoroughly pleasant life while much of the world goes to hell.
Truth is most of us simply use news as entertainment. It’s chewing gum for the mind. It gives us a serotonin kick, a cheap thrill, even when, perhaps particularly when, the news is dark. I would prefer to get my entertainment elsewhere.
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