wae said:
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Oh, I think you're absolutely right! And that's probably part of what makes folks seem so ready to fight about stuff these days. What are the stories that inspire us? Who are the heroes we look to? Rocky wasn't an inspirational character because he was always the best and never got knocked down and then went on to win. We want our novels, plays, and movies - and even real life, if we allows ourselves to admit it! - to follow that basic arc of the Hero's Journey. The hero isn't interesting to us unless he has some flaw or challenge that he has to overcome.
When we have much of the adversity taken away from us, we get very comfortable and we think that's making life better, but at some point we start looking for a fight. Like Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs - we don't have the mental capacity to spare to worry what pronoun someone used or what position your body is in while we're singing a song if we have to walk 5 miles to carry 20 gallons of water to our house every day or worry that our village is going to be sacked by a marauding troop of steppe peoples all of a sudden. The more comfortable we get, though, the more we work to seek out that adversity to be able to accomplish something. And it just so happens that as our comfort starts to reach that apex, we get the Internet with all its outrage porn available to us 24x7, complete with a little notification "ding" everytime someone sneezes in the wrong language somewhere in the world.
Well and perfectly stated.
$5.399 for 87 octane at the Simi Valley, CA Costco this morning.
7:00 AM and there was already about eight cars lined up at each pump.
I average 33.25 MPG (Mazda CX-3) and drive 22K per year so that's about 660 gallons per year which now costs around $1,500 more per year than what the long term trend would predict.
I can manage the increase but I really feel for those that don't have the extra money lying around.
And, of course, every dollar that goes into the gas tank is a dollar that won't be spent on other things so here comes a recession, increased unemployment, and lower general standard of living unless we get this resolved quickly.
In reply to RX Reven' :
Do you really think these fuel prices are the new normal? I don't
In reply to yupididit :
Doesn't necessarily have to be the new normal, but it it takes too long to come back down even a short term increase can be catastrophic. That said, I'm not an economist, I just know more than a few folks that barely make it already. Higher gas means higher groceries, and things spiral pretty quickly for those already stretched.
It's time to break out the Zuma Scooter. Five bucks still fills the tank. 
Appleseed said:
I have to hand it to yupididit. I never considered that a majority of the dicks I meet in a given day aren't always dicks, maybe they are having a bad day? Maybe this was the exact moment they finally broke?
I'm still going to get upset by projecting my values on others, but I'm trying real, real hard to see the other side.
But I'm trying, Ringo.....I'm trying real hard to be the shepherd.
yupididit said:
In reply to RX Reven' :
Do you really think these fuel prices are the new normal? I don't
Interesting question.
No, I don't think current fuel prices are the new normal but I do think we'll settle into prices that are roughly half way between the long term trend and current levels.
So, I'll guessimate that we'll settle into a national average of around $3.25 for 87 octane.
Appleseed said:
I'm trying real, real hard to see the other side.
I've trained salespeople not to flip out or get pissed if a guy is a dick.
He might've had a fight with his spouse on the phone and you walk in.
Or his mechanic called with the damages on his car and it's ugly and you walk in.
It's circumstances......
Ugh.... politics brings out the shiny happy people for sure. I would say I'll be glad its over but at this point i's NEVER over. Bombarded at all times.
If I could find a way to unplug from the world and disappear wth the wife and dogs I would.
bobzilla said:
Ugh.... politics brings out the shiny happy people for sure. I would say I'll be glad its over but at this point i's NEVER over. Bombarded at all times.
"Laugh about it, shout about it, when you've got to choose. Every way you look at it, you lose."
"There's battle lines being drawn. Nobody's right, if everybody's wrong."
Beer Baron said:
bobzilla said:
Ugh.... politics brings out the shiny happy people for sure. I would say I'll be glad its over but at this point i's NEVER over. Bombarded at all times.
"Laugh about it, shout about it, when you've got to choose. Every way you look at it, you lose."
"There's battle lines being drawn. Nobody's right, if everybody's wrong."
"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss"
Duke
MegaDork
11/8/22 9:18 a.m.
bobzilla said:
Ugh.... politics brings out the shiny happy people for sure. I would say I'll be glad its over but at this point i's NEVER over. Bombarded at all times.
If I could find a way to unplug from the world and disappear wth the wife and dogs I would.
Politics is nothing but pro wrestling played out on the national stage, except that even if you don't want to watch, you're not allowed to change the channel.
wae
PowerDork
11/8/22 9:24 a.m.
I was flipping through the channels last night for no particular reason when one of the broadcast networks started running an ad for their election night coverage. I don't recall which network it was but it was definitely one of ABC, CBS, or NBC. The ad was comprised of the deep, dramatic voice over with a montage punctuated with thrumming sounds and some of the spoken words flashed on to the screen.
I swear that it was the same style that you'd expect for a promo hit for a reality tv show. They weren't advertising that they would have thoughtful commentary or accurate results to share or even good punditry to explain the results as they came in. It was all about how dramatic things would be and how you were going to miss out on all the excitement if you didn't tune in.
I'm left wondering if the increasing polarization in our society is caused by this or creates it.
The host of a podcast I listen to has said many times that the point of our system is that we're supposed to be electing people to go care about politics 24x7 so that we don't have to.
bobzilla said:
Ugh.... politics brings out the shiny happy people for sure. I would say I'll be glad its over but at this point i's NEVER over. Bombarded at all times.
If I could find a way to unplug from the world and disappear wth the wife and dogs I would.
I'll be honest. I have deleted the only news app I had on my phone and I make a point to only check one site once a week. I avoid Facebook (mostly, there are few groups I do visit), avoid talking politics with people and just refuse to look at comments on many things. My life is generally much happier for doing that.
24 hour news and spread of news on Social media is may be one of the worst things to happen in the 21st century.
wae said:
I'm left wondering if the increasing polarization in our society is caused by this or creates it.
IMO I think it started when news became more about drawing viewers then reporting the news, the rise of talk shows about the news and the 24 hour news cycle which many have become addicted to. It constantly pushes that everyone is under threat at all times because doom draws viewers and clicks. But when people feel that they are under threat then of course everything the other group does is wrong.
Add in social media's rise and the amount of time that is spent on that and the amount of "news" that is spread there. Plus all the E36 M3 that has happened over the past few years and you have perfect storm. So politicians create more polarization, news stations create more polarization, people keep watch/clicking and suppporting these people.
I have no idea how to fix it though. Other then someone getting people to stop consuming all that E36 M3.
At work, upstairs pulling parts. Considering whether I even finish the task. Go home, take the youngest pup (shes a daddy's girl) and just go. Somewhere. Anywhere. Just away.
I seriously thought about walking off the job and leaving everything. Way harder than I should or ever have. I can tell I'm tired. Mentally as well as physically.
bobzilla said:
If I could find a way to unplug from the world and disappear with the wife and dogs I would.
It's easier than you'd think. No one is forcing anyone to turn on the tv, or computer, etc. Don't watch and/or click and carry on with your day.
Citizens united decison and fairness doctrine.
Those are the reasons why we're so polarized. Done. What's next ?
In reply to Steve_Jones :
I think you missed the actual point. It's not the media presence. It's the presence of people, expectations and needs of work, life and everything else. When I say disappear fro the world, I mean that. Gone. No one knows where I am, just surrounded by the things I hold most dear to me. Sadly I have to work in a world with people. Interact with people. Deal WITH PEOPLE. Its the people I no longer want to deal with.
Fueled by Caffeine said:
Citizens united decison and fairness doctrine.
Those are the reasons why we're so polarized. Done. What's next ?
great. Now fix my anxiety, depression and anti-social disorders.
Duke
MegaDork
11/8/22 10:24 a.m.
Fueled by Caffeine said:
Citizens united decison and fairness doctrine.
Those are the reasons why we're so polarized. Done. What's next ?
There is more to it than that by far.
Vast swathes of modern culture are addicted to fear, since most genuine survival problems have largely been solved at this point.
It's a self-referential feedback loop. There is power to be had and money to be made supplying the junkies with that sweet sweet fear hookup, so that's what happens.
Which, just like any other addiction, leads to an ever-growing need in the junkies.
Unfortunately, in this case, the junkies can vote. And they keep voting for their pushers.
93EXCivic said:
wae said:
I'm left wondering if the increasing polarization in our society is caused by this or creates it.
IMO I think it started when news became more about drawing viewers then reporting the news, the rise of talk shows about the news and the 24 hour news cycle which many have become addicted to. It constantly pushes that everyone is under threat at all times because doom draws viewers and clicks. But when people feel that they are under threat then of course everything the other group does is wrong.
And social interaction being very much in social media where you can curate just people who agree with you instead of having arguments in the pub/bar where you have to be actually civil with people who don't agree with you.
I think the ideological divide is actually not that wide, certainly not compared to anything up through at least the 1970's (probably even somewhere in the 90's). But our willingness to deal with people who we disagree with has shrunk.
bobzilla said:
In reply to Steve_Jones :
I think you missed the actual point. It's not the media presence. It's the presence of people, expectations and needs of work, life and everything else. When I say disappear fro the world, I mean that. Gone. No one knows where I am, just surrounded by the things I hold most dear to me. Sadly I have to work in a world with people. Interact with people. Deal WITH PEOPLE. Its the people I no longer want to deal with.
You were ranting about being bombarded with "politics" so I assumed you meant on tv/computer/whatever vs in person. I've never had anyone suddenly bring up "politics" out of the blue,much less enough people to feel like I am being bombarded with it, so I can't relate.
