Is the world on fire? No more than it was for your parents.
War in Ukraine. War in the Middle East. Inflation, impeachments, corruption….yeah, these can be challenging times. If you listen to social media or the 24 hour news cycle, you might think these are end-times. Nahhhh…listen, a lot of that stuff is click-bait. The social media folks wanna stir the pot and get you to click on their outlandish headlines. There’s only so many ways you can say the same thing—so, the folks at CNN or MSNBC or Fox News—well, they have to get or keep your attention some way. They do it by making you mad and turning you against each other.
2024 might have different calamities—different sagas—but every generation has a batch of these. What’s our biggest daily concern in the US? The cost of groceries and gas seem to go to the top of the list for me….but, they don’t keep me up at night wondering how we’ll keep the lights on at the radio station or at our home. Does Joe Biden’s son Hunter or Donald Trump’s legal woes keep you wishing for yesteryear? A simpler time? Hope not…cause it didn’t exist.
Are you old enough to remember the 1960s? I’m not, but in the 60s, we had civil unrest and riots on our streets. We had President Kennedy assassinated as well as his brother Bobby and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We had a missile crisis with Cuba that had people worrying about a lot more than the cost of eggs. We had a war in Vietnam where Americans were watching the news to see lists of our casualties every night. Now, does that sound a little more dramatic than what’s going on now? That’s subjective—-but, to be clear; every generation has its challenges. What they didn’t have in the 60s was social media, the 24 hour news channels or the instantaneous way we hear about news today.
Look, I’m not saying we don’t have our challenges—the Southern border is a mess. Human trafficking and fentanyl should concern any American in 2024. We have an upcoming Presidential election between two candidates that have no business being on the ballot. One is demented and the other has dementia. Both are too old and America needs its next generation of leaders to get their chance. But make no mistake, you don’t lay in bed wondering if nukes from Cuba are coming. You don’t have Americans fighting Putin in Ukraine or fighting Iran in the Middle East. Not yet at least.
I guess my point to this column is to just remind you that every generation has challenges. Every one of us has a right to be concerned. My suggestion, turn off CNN and shut off your social media whenever you get too stressed. They aren’t helping. Most importantly, don’t be part of the problem. Stop posting things you haven’t verified as true. Stop forwarding things you know will inflame others. What do you get from doing that? Are you part of the problem or are you part of a solution? Oh, and this is just personal advice—prayer is never a bad idea. Enjoy another Famously Hot Summer!
