Davka Daze

( surrealist dystopian art by Michael Kerbow) Much has been written about how the internet, and social media in particular, turns otherwise regular, and even decent, people into raging assholes, whether due to anonymity, distance, filters, algorithms, or some combination of factors. A lot has also been written about how our information environment and media ecosystems no longer provide knowledge or facts, let alone news, instead generating exploitable outrage that drives clicks, views, etc. A good amount has been written about our literacy crisis and how this has impacted not just younger generations, but even older ones, as different groups struggle with different aspects of reading, marketing, propaganda, alternative media, corporate news, and the intentional destruction of public education alongside the public respect for expertise and the Fourth Estate of traditional media. But, for me, I just wish that sometimes I knew less about the people from my real life when I see them online...

(By Banksy) Every day, I read and watch the news. My eyes bounce from MSNBC to Mother Jones, from Fox to Vox, from WaPo to HuffPo, from NYT to JDF, from Facebook to Twitter to Instagram to even fricking LinkedIn. The world is full of sad shit. People die. Lives are ruined. Monsters and villains run amok. Communities crumble from disparities in wealth, health, diversity, equity, equality, liberty, tolerance, justice, and peace as our planet literally cooks us all alive in a polluted mess. Every day, I read and watch the world, wondering what the hell is happening, feeling like the problems are too big for me to comprehend, let alone solve... So I tear my eyes away. I look at my family, look at my career, look at myself. I look away in fear, feeling powerless. I look away in shame, embarrassed that I am part of oppressive systems. I look away in exhaustion, expending so much energy merely to keep myself even. I look away and laugh, if only because I was never very good at crying. (H...