Entertainment should be exciting & Politics should be boring

but we've gotten them all mixed up.

As a woke progressive liberal, I have a lot to say about what's going on in the U.S. and the world politically, and I think it's very important for people to be politically knowledgeable and active.

But so many people are already saying the things that need to be said here on social media.  And now we need to be taking action on those things by calling government representatives, boycotting stuff, and not abandoning our posts without legal warrants, etc.

So instead of rehashing what's already been well said, I will use my skillset to talk about some other things that are still important to our lives.  Because I think it is also important that we all have safe places to take some breaks from our politics for our mental and social health.

I believe we have made a huge mistake in conflating politics with entertainment.  Fox News Media is the clearest example of this, but it's really all over the place on both the right and the left, and it's why we fill up our social media feeds with "hot takes" on everything,
because it stimulates us the way pure entertainment used to.

This causes three problems:

• we end up not giving politics the sober seriousness it actually needs

• we lose the escapism of pure entertainment as it becomes poisoned by the stress of real-life problems

• politics itself becomes exaggerated, extreme, and deceitful to compete in the space of emotional excitement engagement

So please call your representatives in Congress to take action, and try to keep up with the news through reputable news channels like AP, Reuters, etc., instead of social media, Tucker, or Trevor.  Go ahead and do a little venting on your social media and talk it out with your trusted friends.  And then take a break to watch a movie, read a book, watch a sports game, walk your dog, pet your cat, and get out of your head for a moment.

I do this for myself mostly through reading fantasy novels, watching Disney Plus, and playing with my three crazy-cute kittens.  I also facilitate this for others by hosting immersive D&D role-playing adventures and trying not to mirror current events in the storylines (which is becoming more challenging these days, but I do my best).

But please, for your health and society, find ways to disentangle and de-link politics from entertainment by actually taking some action and then immersing yourself in real escapism a little each day.