Cyber Overload: Have We Become Heartless to Suffering?

One thing has become true in the age of computer communications. We know about the suffering that is taking place in any part of the world. We know about floods, volcanos, hurricanes, tornados, wars, mass murders, infectious diseases, and political fallout. For the most part, all that gloom and despair is available to us night and day right there on our phones and laptops. It’s probably fair to say that we are all learning how to navigate life with that constant intense input of data. Much of this is sensationalized, so it gets our attention from within the maelstrom of information available to us at a whim and a click.

We are pulled one way then the other by all the snippets of information, and like cyber hummingbirds, we flit from one brightly colored sound byte to the next, pausing just long enough to draw out a bit of nourishment. It appears we haven’t yet had enough time in this cyber environment to develop an established society's wisdom. Or perhaps we haven’t yet developed the technology to condense the babble of information into knowledge.

Surely if we understood the information we are immersed in, we would be able to convert that information into knowledge that could begin to address the suffering of our fellow planet dwellers. I think a fair argument can be made that mistreating people who are already at a terrible disadvantage doesn’t help the disadvantaged any more than it solves any problems. An argument could even be made that mistreating those who are disadvantaged causes even more problems. I hear a lot of noise about legal immigration. But I don’t hear much about how to help those who are escaping dire conditions. Wouldn’t it be better to address the problem where it lives as opposed to complaining about the problem existing? Do Governors DeSantis and Abbot consider sending legal immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard or Chicago, solving anything? Do they think that stooping to mistreat migrants says anything about the migrants? Are they not aware of what it says about them? How is mistreating human beings considered heroic while even mistreating a pet animal would be considered barbaric?

I consider the behavior of those two supposed leaders of the Republican Party to be antithetical to the ideals of the United States. What makes it pathetic is that they do not see that the reality they are trying to bring about is not favorable to them. That reality has already been brought about. It’s a loser. The originator of the cruelty to fellow humans platform of the Grand Old Party has lost at everything he’s done. The only thing he’s been successful at is pretending to be something he’s not. The Dark Lord lost the presidency, both houses of congress, a whole list of lawsuits, casinos, universities, the deal with Vlad over the Moscow tower, and until this day, the rhetoric of losing complaints about not getting some bright shiny object he desires. There was probably a good reason that a prince born to be a king had to have a whipping boy. Compassion seems to be in short supply to the narcissistic powerful.

I can see how kings born into their position could miss the lesson of compassion that others must learn. Kings must have royal influences. Those born to monied parents are most often bereft of the kind of experiences that teach compassion, just as would a prince born to be king. No one would do anything to harm or deny such children. These children may never have opportunities to experience the inner connectedness with others required for empathic honesty about the other person’s plight or success. In his youth, the Dark Lord certainly was indulged as only first, and second-generation wealth can indulge. He was even encouraged to consider himself above other people, even above the people of the United States. The empathy gene seems to have disappeared in his family tree branch.

What wonders me the most is all these wanna be clones. How do you see yourself as a mini-Dark Lord? Would you be addressed as something like Your Lordlet? Her Lordlet Ms. Lake of Arizona, and his Lordlet the Mastriano are both examples of out of control indulged children, but without as much experience as the original. Most people find the actions of indulged children repulsive. Folks will tolerate that level of awareness in a child but by the time an individual has gotten their drivers license we expect them to be aware of the existence and needs of other people. I’m sure there are people who need to have a hero or an ideology in their mind which allows them to at least imagine a world where they win something every now and then. I’m also sure there are people who like to fulfill their winning fantasies personally. This type of person seems to be the kind of independent person who determines the direction the culture is advancing.

As Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote, “If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm our hostilities.” If what we see of the world is through the eyes of people who try to see two sides to any issue, we may not be able to see anything very clearly. There are not two sides to doing dumb things, and trying to justify the dumbness is like putting lipstick on a pig. Stealing top secret documents is not legal. There are not two sides to this issue. If Hershel is against abortion and he paid for his girlfriend to have one, he’s either lying now or he was lying then. Looks like it’s now. Sending people escaping conditions that are worse than trying to get across the border to places other than where they need to go is not manly because it can not be justified if for no other reason.

Apparently, basic human decency is a trait that only liberal-minded people have learned. Dark Brandon has seen enough suffering in his life that he has the self-honesty to be empathetic with people who experience devastating loss. He has been on the job working for all the American people. He hasn’t whined about how unfair life has been to him in any of his public speeches. He might look for words now and then but he finds them too. I wouldn’t mind Dark Brandon running again but I want his Vice President to have tested experience. This midterm election, I do hope that clear thinking people are put in office. The Lakes and Mastrianos of the world are not the leaders of government they consider themselves to be. The QAnon Shaman is the same kind of political figure as the Lordlets of the Wannabe Super Fans. People who vote for the Lordlets remind me of when your cousin from the city asked where he could go to the bathroom. Of course you told him to go on the electric fence.

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