Fear not

Checked the news before heading to bed this morning after work. Horrible.

Realized this story would become The Only Thing Everyone Is Supposed To Be Talking About and briefly worried that the whimsical collection of links I’d scheduled to post this morning would seem out of step with the tone of the morning’s news.

Realized I never worry about that when the morning’s news involves the exact same story happening in Nigeria, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Pakistan, India, Thailand, the West Bank, Indonesia, South America, or pretty much anywhere else in the world other than the U.S., Europe, or Israel.

Realized that’s effed up on my part.

Realized that lots of people might be eager to criticize me or anyone else who refuses to drop everything and talk about The Only Thing Everyone Is Supposed To Be Talking About. Realized that those people are effed up too.

Realized that this ritualized response is performative, disingenuous nonsense that corrodes the soul by leading us to act as though our performance of sympathy for victims is what counts most, and that this performance and the monitoring of others’ performance displaces any more substantial, thoughtful, or consequential response.

Realized that this corrosive nonsense multiplies the efforts and effects of the perpetrators while also feeding the demagogic brutes who surf every wave of fear and panic to enhance their own claims to power. Realized that contributing to and participating in this cycle of fear-inducing and fear-indulging mandatory lamentation would ultimately enhance violence against innocents, inhospitality to those fleeing such violence, the erosion of civil liberties, etc.

Decided not to talk about The Only Thing Everyone Is Supposed To Be Talking About this time.