Living in a World Ruled by Trump Tweets
Lately, it feels like my life is run by posts on Facebook. And no, I am not referring to how us “millennials” can spend hours and hours scrolling through cute cat videos or how my self worth can be correlated with how many friends I have or messages I get. No, unfortunately I miss the days when my stream was filled with stupid vines (rest in peace) and selfies and memes. Today, whenever I go online, all I see is one thing: politics.
In this roller coaster of a new administration, it feels like the amount of scandal and controversy is more akin to a reality television show than a government. Now looking back at it, maybe this is what we wanted by voting in a star of such shows to sit in one of the most powerful seats in the world.
Now it doesn’t help that I live in an extraordinarily liberal bubble filled with Angelinos and Berkeley students. It’s like a war over who can be the most “woke” with everyone posting articles and videos and attempting to constantly fact check and dissect the real from the “alternative.” Scattered in between are posts from my more active friends as they provide live video from whatever protest they decided to join today. I don’t know how they can find the time to do this when I’m exhausted just by scrolling through Facebook and staring at the pile of class readings I haven’t done.
To quote one of my current go to comedians Trevor Noah:
“The presidency is supposed to age the president, not the public.”
I feel mentally and emotionally drained just from reading articles and watching the news. Perhaps that’s why my preferred form of information is through comedic talk shows like The Daily Show or The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. It’s like a bit of sugar to go along with an over steeped bitter coffee I make in my Ikea French press, except I can’t tell if the coffee will poison me or make me a better person. Now, I know this isn’t the best source of information and I make sure to supplement it with numerous articles from more “reputable” news sources like the LA Times and Washington Post. Although lately, it feels like there are so many outcries of “fake news” and “alternative facts” that I find myself not being able to trust or believe anything anyways.
After hours of worrying about the future of the world, I sit down to worry about the future of my GPA and begin reading the poems of Allen Ginsberg. Two lines in his poem “America” stood out to me:
“Are you going to let your emotional life be run by Time Magazine? I’m obsessed by Time Magazine.”
If we simply replace Time Magazine with our personal choice of media then I feel it rings true for all of America. Who knew 2017 America had so much in common with Cold War era America? Although if we consider the recent dealings with Russia, rise of questionable leaders and the debate over isolationism and ideology, it’s not that big of a surprise.
It feels like everyone is obsessed with the state of the country and the world but no one is doing anything about it. I find that lately my most interesting political conversations come from Lyft drivers who have recently gained a lot of business after the controversy of Uber and Trump. Now my roommate (who is forced to hear my daily rants on the state of the union) can understand the reason for this best. It’s exhausting and doesn’t seem to accomplish anything especially since everyone’s preferred mode of ranting is preaching to the choir.
Now we know something must be horribly wrong when fashion magazines like Teen Vogue and members of Hollywood feel the need to get involved in politics. So, what should we do about it?
Honestly, I’m not sure. Going to school with the legacy of the Free Speech Movement looming over makes me believe I should be out protesting every day. But with the recent calamity of protests turned riots at UC Berkeley, I think it just isn’t working. So maybe we can take inspiration from the artists instead.
“There is a struggle going on for the minds of the American people. Every form of expression is subject to the attack of reaction. This attack comes in the shape of silence, persecution and censorship: three names of this fear. In the face of this fear, the writer can speak. We believe in the possibility of a culture which fights for its freedom, which protects the economic interests of its workers in all fields including the arts, and which can create for itself new forms and new voices ”
I particularly ruminate on the words “new forms and new voices” in this excerpt from The Portable Beat Reader. Perhaps that is what we need most. We need to not just react on the other side of a screen but act of our own accord and create something in a form unique to each individual. While we may not all be able to create the powerful and eloquent words of these renaissance poets, we each have a skill and a voice that can express and move others. We can create something far more tangible than a rant to close friends. Perhaps try voicing your rants as slam poetry or drawing political cartoons for a children’s book on world issues or crocheting a knockoff designer bag to protest capitalism.
Now I know putting ourselves outside our bubbles can be terrifying but do not fear it. No matter the reaction, please see that at least controversy leads to conversation. What we should fear is ignorance and indifference. We can’t just let ourselves be exhausted as the media runs our emotional lives. We need to not just react but act. And maybe, just maybe, our creations can make change.