deep thought for a Monday morning

[anotheranon]

I talked to my friend G. on the phone over the weekend - it's been awhile since we chatted, so we did some catching up.

The conversation turned to politics, the recent March for Women's Lives, and one thing G. said stuck in my mind: she's not been following politics lately because she has too much else on her plate. Like a lot of my friends and acquaintances, she's underemployed, constantly trying to make ends meet, going without insurance, etc. It's not that she's apathetic, it's that she's so filled with anxiety over immediate problems that she simply can't concentrate on the world at large.

I wonder how many other people are going through the same thing - so busy chasing the rent check that they're too tired or preoccupied to be outraged by the Iraq prisoner scandal or any of the other national messes.

Comments

[jlsjlsjls.livejournal.com]

I try to keep up with what's going on in the world, although sometimes it's discouraging sifting through all the "junk" stories (pretty much anything to do with celebrities/entertainment, sports, gardening, home renovation, ads, and all the other etcetera stuff* that newspapers have written up two weeks in advance and print instead of news) to find the things that have actually "happened". To me, doing this falls into the same category as "if you don't vote, you don't get to complain about the government" ... if I don't stay informed, I don't have any right to complain about any offensive legislation/event that takes me by surprise (plus there's the danger of missing out on something GOOD because I didn't know I was entitled to take advantage of it)


*I would have said "fashion", but I was afraid anotheranon would hurt me. :p