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As a non-Twitter user, I often forget that the world is a steaming pile of garbage, as my life glides along at a comfortable pace. Thankfully, plenty of my acquaintances follow the internet and remind me about the abominable state of our civilization.
I’m told stories of abuse, violence, and injustice.
About the horrors of this and the terrors of that. And I have to be honest, it doesn’t sound good. From what I’ve heard, the consensus is that the everything has gone to absolute shit.
Well, I am here to tell you that you can all relax. It’s a beautiful day, the beaches are open, and people are having a wonderful time!
Don’t get me wrong, the world sucks. But what people don’t seem to understand is that it isn’t just now going to shit; it has been shit forever. United Airlines didn’t just start treating passengers like crap; they have had piss-poor customer service since 1931 (or at least as long as I have been a reluctant customer).
The only thing shittier about life now compared to 20 years ago is that we know how bad it is.
Thanks to the social media platforms that all you people are in love with, our societal flaws play in high definition on every device we own.
Ray Rice was not the first football player to hit a woman, just the first you saw from multiple angles on TMZ. Harambe wasn’t the first zoo animal put down in the spirit of human safety, just the first with a hashtag.
I’m sorry if the pictures of dead Syrian children that you saw on Facebook made you sad, as they certainly had the same effect on the fearful leader of our nation. Does it make you feel better to know that evil tyrants have murdered innocent civilians since the beginning of time?
I know that the videos of law enforcement shooting unarmed black men are tough to watch, but unfortunately the only thing new about this trend is that you’re aware of it. I can’t speak for black people, but if I had to guess, not many African-Americans would opt for the police treatment of the 1950s* over present-day. (*you know, back when America was Great).
Terrorism sucks too (bold take), but it didn’t start to suck because of ISIS, on 9/11, or in 1993. Terrorism has always been pretty shitty, but now terrorists have social media accounts and smartphones. They can recruit “normal people” and post videos of themselves brutally beheading journalists. I get it, that shit is scary, but the only thing new is the medium in which you’re able to learn about it.
My point is this: Maybe, as a society, we shouldn’t need video evidence to be outraged about injustice. You becoming aware of a problem does not make that problem worse. In fact, it makes it better. Abuse, violence, and injustice have been around forever. The more you know about these admittedly horrible things, the more you can affect change.
So take a deep breath and remember that the world is actually gradually getting a little less shitty. Sure, we take a few steps forward and then a couple steps back every once in awhile, but we’ll keep on keeping on.
Seriously though… relax. We’re fine.
And somebody tell me how many ‘likes’ this gets.
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