Cynicism Creates Curmudgeons, Not Credibility

I admit it. It's easy to find things to complain about. At times, I can be one of the biggest complainers I know. However, the more I reflect introspectively, the more I seem to notice the cynicism of others.

I think that if we're not careful, we can turn into a country full of old grumps. Seriously. And I think we have politics and today's news media to blame.

For as long as I can remember, politicians have been campaigning on the faults and weaknesses of their opponents far more than on their own strengths and plans. If you vote for the "other guy", you'll really be sorry.

I'm not sure how long it has gone on, but I know that for quite some time, the "news" is more about propaganda than about reporting the facts. 

The result of this is that we have been fooled into thinking that we have to perpetually choose one "side" or another. Our minds become hostage to the rhetoric of our two-party dominated system. The other "side" is never right. My "side" is never wrong.

Our proclivity to predispositions spills into other areas of our lives and poisons our very souls against the recognition of goodness in anything or anyone else.

To others, our cynicism discredits our position on anything and everything. And why not? For we see others in exactly the same way; cynical, jaded curmudgeons.

Perhaps if we 're not careful, we may wake up one day and realize that the lonely emptiness that surrounds us is the creation of our own cynicism. 

Paying For Distractions and the Race Card

I'm really not sure when it started, but I know that it's been a very long time. I also know that it at least feels like it is getting worse and worse. I'm talking about the "free press" in America that is not interested in reporting news. It is interested in the advertising revenue from the sensationalizing of the topics it chooses to cover.

We, the people are to blame. We have short attention spans, grasp at headlines, and are very easily distracted. We don't demand real substance in news reporting, and we are easily swayed by what has become select-an-opinion-broadcasting. We let the "news" executives decide what is important and what goes on the back-burner.

Additionally, we let the media bait us into the race traps as well. They're everywhere, and we let it happen, invite it into our homes, and it spreads like a virus.

These too are distractions. We know it, but we keep going there.