There's no better way to waste your time than to talk about politics. For as good as educated people are at acting intellectual, we love to bitch and moan about one side versus the other.
Politics are potato chips for the enlightened mind.
I grew up in Connecticut. New Englanders are generally pretty educated people. We keep to ourselves. We vote. We donate money to causes, and for the most part, we shut the fuck up. Personally, I'm registered to one of the two major parties in the US. (If you tried to guess, you'd probably guess wrong.) I don't get into political arguments because I've got better shit to do. I don't blog about politics because I know that nobody cares what I think. You know what? It's a good life.
Lately, I've been hearing a lot about this Glenn Beck fellow. I don't know who he is or what he said to get everyone so sore-assed, but I sure as shit don't care. I don't watch CNN or Fox News. I don't have cable TV. I get all my news from my local news channel over the air. No talking heads, no shouting matches, no six-second-attention-span scrolling tickers on the bottom of the screen. In 30 morning minutes, I get a brief summary of what the president said at such and such a meeting the other day, a look at the traffic and weather for the day, and some feel-good community segment.
The last thing I need on a 40 mile motorcycle ride to work is a head full of piss, thanks to Bill O'Reilly or Keith Olbermann.
But I can tell you that from the inside, generating butthurt is big business. Every time I've knocked an article out of the park for The Register, there's been a decent troll element to it. Not all trolls succeed, but the ones that hit a nerve really bring in the page views and comments. That's just the IT world. If I could get a job trolling politics, I'd be damn sure to demand a page view bonus. I can't knock the hustle.
The news networks aren't stupid. They know that viewership increases when people are pissed off. Walter Cronkite delivered facts, but was a crusty old book report of a man for it. I'm sure that all else equal, if national media never figured out how much fucking money there is to be made in keeping people salty, the news would still be a puff of dry air.
So I don't watch network TV. I don't blog about politics. It's a calm life. I have informed opinions on most issues, but I know that nobody cares what I think, so I keep to myself. Maybe that's why I still have trouble "getting" Twitter.
Politics are potato chips for the enlightened mind.
I grew up in Connecticut. New Englanders are generally pretty educated people. We keep to ourselves. We vote. We donate money to causes, and for the most part, we shut the fuck up. Personally, I'm registered to one of the two major parties in the US. (If you tried to guess, you'd probably guess wrong.) I don't get into political arguments because I've got better shit to do. I don't blog about politics because I know that nobody cares what I think. You know what? It's a good life.
Lately, I've been hearing a lot about this Glenn Beck fellow. I don't know who he is or what he said to get everyone so sore-assed, but I sure as shit don't care. I don't watch CNN or Fox News. I don't have cable TV. I get all my news from my local news channel over the air. No talking heads, no shouting matches, no six-second-attention-span scrolling tickers on the bottom of the screen. In 30 morning minutes, I get a brief summary of what the president said at such and such a meeting the other day, a look at the traffic and weather for the day, and some feel-good community segment.
The last thing I need on a 40 mile motorcycle ride to work is a head full of piss, thanks to Bill O'Reilly or Keith Olbermann.
But I can tell you that from the inside, generating butthurt is big business. Every time I've knocked an article out of the park for The Register, there's been a decent troll element to it. Not all trolls succeed, but the ones that hit a nerve really bring in the page views and comments. That's just the IT world. If I could get a job trolling politics, I'd be damn sure to demand a page view bonus. I can't knock the hustle.
The news networks aren't stupid. They know that viewership increases when people are pissed off. Walter Cronkite delivered facts, but was a crusty old book report of a man for it. I'm sure that all else equal, if national media never figured out how much fucking money there is to be made in keeping people salty, the news would still be a puff of dry air.
So I don't watch network TV. I don't blog about politics. It's a calm life. I have informed opinions on most issues, but I know that nobody cares what I think, so I keep to myself. Maybe that's why I still have trouble "getting" Twitter.