April 19, 2020

Today’s reflections will refer at times to the affirmation that I posted here “Affirmations.”

How do we get our news? Do you tune in to CNN, Fox News, The Daily Beast, Breitbart, The Atlantic, Yahoo, NPR, MSNBC, Al Jazeera, Politico, Newsweek, USA Today etc.? There are any number of outlets for the modern mind to become infatuated with and to become addicted to. Many of these services use sensationalism and conflict to promote narratives that lead to monetary gratification of private and public companies. Many of the agencies are used by different political platforms and have certain characteristics of bias that we all have become accustomed to. In this time of COVID-19 the media has played a prominent role in our feelings and reactions to one another. It has also done us a disservice by driving wedges in to the political leadership of our country. Conflict is always the headline of the day Trump vs. Cuomo, Pelosi vs, Trump, Biden vs. Sanders, Clinton vs. who knows. I really do not like what the media has become, what news has become. It has become a focus and a tool that people in power use to further their own agendas and even if the news points out fallacies in the strategies and character of political leadership it offers no solutions or inflames its constituent bases. If you get caught up in the details of the news process and the political process it only serves to confuse and alienate you from the calling to be a informed and responsible citizen.

Thomas Paine’s words about the the “times that try mens’ souls” (please allow that in today’s world a more gender inclusive term should be used), resonates loudly today and we should all band together and set an example of our leaders and for the news media. Power in this country is derived from the people and people are suffering at the moment, we should not forget that this is the time that our government needs to serve the people the most. Some people decry political-correctness, but sometimes people mistake political-correctness for morals, virtues, character, wisdom, and compassion. We do not have to be politically correct all the time, but we do need to remember to be virtuous, compassionate, polite, and kind. When our leaders fail to exhibit these qualities, they fail to represent the best interests of humanity and to find solutions to real world problems based on intelligence, enlightenment, and compassion. Just because a solution is expedient and satisfies the majority does not mean it is the best solution. I will dive in to more of this line of thinking at a later time when I refer to Plato and The Republic and some other ancient wisdom from the Greeks. Well, I hope this has provided you with some things to think about.