I want to have my finger on the pulse, but sometimes you need a break.

I've been watching a lot of US politics on TikTok over the last week and the state of things and where we are inevitably headed has gotten under my skin.

Back in the day, it used to really trouble me, to the point where I was becoming reactionary, lucky I never did anything too stupid.

These days I can have a certain amount of psychological separation from external events without playing the fuck it card which many people do, where they in a way give up.

I still care a lot, but I am able for the most part, to keep in tune with what is going on without it crippling me, or reacting, which helps no one, but the Western world slip into fascism is not going unnoticed and with trump getting sworn in and the Australian election only months away, with our own far-right problems, it is affecting me when I slip down the rabbit hole.

All this to say, I wish there was a button to switch on and off political content so I can have a break from it and re-align myself.

ATM, I watch Facebook reels instead, facebook is good at ensuring left-wing messaging doesn't get far, funny cats instead. Having TikTok I get a better view of the world outside the lens of pro-western, pro-corporate messaging.

It is clear that corporations would rather give up our democracy and replace it with authoritarianism than give up any slice of their pie.

They cannot allow the people to be on the same page, they'd rather us blame each other, than have our heads turn and face the real problem.

I plan on taking a more active role in my local Labor branch and start participating and seeing where other like-minded heads are at.

I see my role fundamentally as someone trying to figure out more reality-based alternatives, where we have a slightly more rational populous, but not one of bleak scientism. Fish don't swim in distilled water.

My odds are less than zero that my work will ever make a dent.

But if enough Ricky's forget and likelihoods and do their best to think through the human situation, one of us might make all the difference.

Even if we do have to cycle through a shit show before people start opting for something more sensible.

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