Ignorance Actually is Bliss

I stopped reading the news. No AP, no NPR (listening on the radio, in that case). Dumped CNN ages ago (the Trump townhall followed by Anderson Cooper's condescending lecture about only listening to people I agree with, or whatever it was). Pretty much dumped Washington Post because so much is behind a paywall. Dumped NYTimes long ago (the Jayson Blair fiasco, followed by way too little admission of responsibility).

Now, because I cruise Mastodon (which I love), some news reaches me anyway. The fact that Trump just kicked Nikki Haley and Mike Pompeo to the curb came up. That he's not following a transition system did too. But so what? Whether I know what Trump is doing (or Putin, or Netanyahu), I know what I am doing. I am voting for Democrats, donating money to institutions that help people who need it, and trying my best to be a good teacher for the last hope our world has. I'm just not going to do those things any better, more often, or differently if I read about Trump's latest mispronunciation of a country's name, the body count in Gaza, or the fact that Mike Meadows registered to vote from the address of a house he's never seen.

Remarkably, I find I'm happier. Whatever good I can do the world, I am doing at least as much as before. Maybe I'm doing even more, since I'm moping a bit less. So it turns out that, actually, ignorance can be blissful. One hears of a duty to "be an informed voter." Well, no information I've received in over 20 years has made any difference to how I was going to vote before I received it. At the risk of making my world-class arrogance all the more visible, I'll say I am informed enough already. I don't need to know anything new about politics, my national government, NATO, or Elon Musk. Locally, I may get more engaged. Like, I am definitely going to ask my city council how they plan to stop cars from using the new green bike lanes on US 1 as passenger drop-off shoulders. As a former local elected official, I know a bit about how to make change happen in that context.

Also, we have a BLM sign in our yard. It's a custom job that starts, "In this house, we believe..." and ends with, "you will like our cooking." Some pro-equality, pro-science stuff is in between. So, if you are trans, gay, black, brown, using a wheelchair, or are just another human being out to live in peace with the rest of us, and the Nazis, or the MAGAts, or the cops with Oath Keeper pins on their uniforms are chasing you down the street, or even just following you in a way that you don't like, knock on our door. We'll let you in and keep them out. The cops can come back if they can get a warrant. The rest can fuck off. And, yes, we have the means to keep you and us safe, at least up to a point. Better than on the street, for sure. That much I will always do, no matter what it says on the front page, some web site, or at the top of the hour on WETA. You've got an ally here if you need me. And I'll be in a fairly cheerful mood when you arrive. Because I won't have read the news that day.