The Man Who Knew Too Little

Despite the fact that I do not think I would take detachment to this extreme, even if I had the wherewithal, I get this guy – I really do.  I don’t doubt that others have taken similar, perhaps much less restrictive actions to keep the blare at arm’s length.

 nytimes.com:  The Man Who Knew Too Little

https://tinyurl.com/y8cvwlsj

“Donald Trump’s victory shook him. Badly. And so Mr. Hagerman developed his own eccentric experiment, one that was part silent protest, part coping mechanism, part extreme self-care plan.  He swore that he would avoid learning about anything that happened to America after Nov. 8, 2016.”

... but he has the misgivings about disengaging from political life that you have, by now, surely been shouting at him as you read. “The first several months of this thing, I didn’t feel all that great about it,” he said. “It makes me a crappy citizen. It’s the ostrich head-in-the-sand approach to political outcomes you disagree with.”

It seems obvious to say, but to avoid current affairs is in some ways a luxury that many people, like, for example, immigrants worried about deportation, cannot afford.

“He has the privilege of constructing a world in which very little of what he doesn’t have to deal with gets through,” said his sister, Bonnie Hagerman. “That’s a privilege. We all would like to construct our dream worlds. Erik is just more able to do it than others.”

Hmmm.  A White Privilege Fairy Tale

Rich white guy, living up in the hills somewhere who doesn't listen to anything that rubs him the wrong way. That's going to end well.

Make note of his name.

I think we might hear from ol Erik in a couple years. By then he'll have a huge fence around The Lake, he'll call himself The Anointed One or Grand Poobah or just EriK with a capital "K" and welcome followers from the world over. They'll grow their own food, sew their own clothes, EriK will father hundreds of babies. On Tuesdays they'll gather to make up their own news and current events and worship EriK's Big Toe. Everything will be chill until the revenooers show up.

I completely identify with the guy in the article.  I've had to do much the same thing to stay healthy.  Maybe not as extreme -- I stay in touch, but I don't allow myself to get sucked into the latest outrage of the day.  I also keep in touch with people I know personally who may be affected by drumpf's policies, dreamers in particular.  

Judge away, but I know what I need to do for myself to stay healthy.

angelak said:

I completely identify with the guy in the article.  I've had to do much the same thing to stay healthy.  Maybe not as extreme -- I stay in touch, but I don't allow myself to get sucked into the latest outrage of the day.  I also keep in touch with people I know personally who may be affected by drumpf's policies, dreamers in particular.  

Judge away, but I know what I need to do for myself to stay healthy.

Bravo