Christie C. “I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone.” — Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
When we went to New York City, I left behind my laptop (which I can’t use right now anyway without an external monitor due to a broken screen). I also have an I-Pad, which had gotten so old that it can no longer be updated. Consequently, none of the apps work.
Instead, I traveled with my physical journal and stayed off my phone to save battery life. It was refreshing not having my eyes plastered to blue lights, engaged endlessly with godforsaken news about the next terrible thing our country has done. We had visited New York around the same time we bombed Iran. I remember it clearly; we were at a rooftop bar reconnecting with old friends when the news fell, darkening all of us, but not surprising us as every minute just adds to the mountain of terrible human rights violations our regime inflicts.
Not being connected, however, didn’t make me less engaged per se. It just allowed us a chance to connect to the disasters, process them, and prepare for the implications. I finally had the opportunity to refocus on human priorities.
Our regime in the United States is bombarding us with so many destructive policies that we cannot possible give our attention to every single one. Their goal is to paralyze us with indecision. However, the important thing for us to do is to engage with action in small ways—whether that is protesting, campaigning, or refusing to participate in the broader economy.
In the US, we truly need a cultural refocus on our prioties. Despite this blog remaining on the internet, it is outside of the algorithmic machine. I still find it satisfying to be bored of most social media. Unplugging and slowing consumption is more important right now. And, now that we’re at war, should we truly carry on with business as usual?
The internet used to be a way for us to escape reality. Now we need reality to escape from the internet. We need to escape the endless blue light.
