Once in a while you have to ditch your sub feed.
Sunday I was preparing to do work. I had to finish building up the new chicken coop, do some weed management in the garden, and clean the cage where the new chics are living until we move them in with the flock. Normal weekend stuff. I grabbed my headphones and began scrolling through my subscriptions on YouTube. It was all politics except for one channel. Emergency Awesome is a great resource for comic and fantasy content relating to movies and television, but I needed content that was longer. Nothing messes up momentum then stopping to change your playlist. I went to Odysee and nothing there but politics either. That platform is all politics right now thanks to YouTube’s policies.
I go back to YouTube and I hit the “home” button. This is the feed that recommends content based on the vast and worrying amount of data the company has on you that the algorithm uses to help you find stuff you may be interested in. Honestly at this point why fight it. If you want privacy, you have to talk in the closet away from every electronic devices such as your phone anyway.
The point of this blog is that I found a new channel thanks to the recommendations page. Alt Shift X had a long video discussing both the book and movie Dune. Being a lifelong science fiction fan, I jumped on this. It was an accurate discussion of the movie and the minor variations from the first half of the book. Overall it was long enough to get me through most of the work I was doing, and I discovered a new non-political channel to listen to. I realized that politics rots brains and social media is dominated by politics.
No this does not mean I have had some sort of change of opinion. I still think all the same stuff I have since joining this platform. The government is evil, the people in it are unwilling pawns because they don’t really understand the nature of the organization they work for, (most of them, some absolutely understand) and human suffering at the hands of regimes across the world continues to get worse because of government, not in spite of it. So once you understand this, do you really need to keep listening to people beat these facts into your head? Every once in a while @ladyred is a channel on Minds worth visiting, because along with being one of the “kingmakers” on Minds who can make or break a day by reminding a meme you stole from somewhere else, she posts funny wholesome content. It’s funny and sometimes it’s inspiring. Sort of like Facebook used to be in the beginning before the dark times.
So I pledged that I would cleanse my YouTube and Odysee of half the political content, and try to fill those gaps with literature and scifi content. I will seek out non-political content and videos on stuff that makes me happy, not even angrier at the world. I’m already plenty angry. Step away from the shit show that is the U.S. government and remember those things that bring you joy. Turn off the TV and have a BBQ with the kids. Do something other than sulk at the current state of affairs. Let’s be real. None of you are planning to do anything about it. It’s impossible since there’s a 50/50 chance anyone you talk with is a federal agent anyway.
Get off the anger train. In the end, the aura you put out to those around you will do more good in the world than listening to Ben Shapiro or James Lindsay explain to you what’s wrong with everything. That doesn’t mean ignore reality, just ensure sometimes you find joy in the mundane and artistic alike. This will bring you mental liberty in a way that reading “Anatomy of the State” will not. Allow yourself some time for ignorant bliss and save the anger for when it’s needed.
In Liberty.