A Real Downer

I'm about to begin a one-man battle against negativity. Our culture has become increasingly negative and sour – people know more about what they're against than what they're for, and authority figures jockey for position by telling us what's wrong with us, or with other people. So I've decided to stop watching the news (on ANY network) and listening to talk radio, and I'm going to keep my internet newsgathering at a minimum. Does it matter what's going on in the world when it's all so bad? I'm one of those people who's affected by negativity; it makes me negative in turn, and sad, and a little depressed. I don't need that. My life is great right now. But every time I am influenced by the negativity that we're bombarded with every day, I forget that. I get wrapped up in all the "US vs THEM" and unfair competition and one uninformed opinion after another. The rule is, if we say it enough times, whether it's true or not, it becomes the inarguable truth. Nobody discusses things anymore; we talk at each other and we're convinced that we are absolutely right, even if we have no idea what we're talking about.

Let me get political for a minute. I hear no end of people jabbering on about how to "fix" education. These are people who have never been at the front of a classroom, who have never been in a faculty meeting, who have no idea what goes on behind the scenes. Quite often, they're barely educated themselves, as evidenced by the way they speak and/or type. They don't know what it takes to educate a child (or an adult, for that matter). They don't know how hard it is. They don't know that a classroom can become a metaphorical combat zone, and that a good teacher has to fight. And they don't care; they just know their way is the right way even though their way is totally unrealistic, unworkable or impossible. They don't know simple things like the vast majority of the money "thrown at" education goes to pay salaries. If you want smaller classrooms (which everybody who knows agrees is a very good solution), you have to hire more teachers. It's very simple math – even I could do it. But they don't know, and no matter how many times they're told, they don't care. But that's not my point; my point is that these people create a negative atmosphere that leads others to believe the same stupid things they believe. And that atmosphere drags education down further, because the realistic solutions aren't heard. They don't want to hear the truth. Most of us don't want to hear the truth, about most things anymore. We treat actual experts like the enemy in the name of free speech. However, free speech isn't free; you have to work for it. You have to listen as well as speak to make it work.

I want out of all that. They won't listen to an educator because of my degrees or my politics (whatever they may be) or my experience. Why should I participate in a "debate" in which my voice is not heard? I don't need the stress. I don't need the negativity.

I listen to the radio (and I'm not just talking about radio, but this example fits) three times during the day: One the way to work, back and from lunch, and on the way home. In those first two instances today, I heard FOUR car insurance commercials that did nothing but insult their competition's methods and ads and effectiveness. "And oh, yes, we'll do this…bye!" Are they not good enough companies that they can just tell us what they offer and let the consumer decide? Yes, it's good to examine the competition's prices, but does that have to escalate into name calling and nastiness? Have we lost all sense of civility and fair play? Am I being naïve? It doesn't really matter if I'm naïve or not, because I don't want to hear it. I don't like where we're going, and I'm afraid it's only going to get worse. I want to be happy and content and professional and make my own contributions to the world without insulting anybody else. And I'd like to be treated the same way. Remember "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you?" A lot of people don't, and some of them quote a lot of other verses as they're slandering people with different opinions and ideas. And this isn't really new – it's been getting steadily worse for at least 20 years. I'm not one of those people who moan about "the good old days," but there really was a time (I think) when people minded their own business and kept their mouth shut and didn't feel a need to feel superior to everybody else.

It's not a left or right thing; there are people from both extremes who are doing this. And as somebody who doesn't fall into either of those camps, I feel no need to make them happy by letting them get me down.

I think we all need more happiness in our lives, and to do what we can do to make our own and other people's lives better, not worse.