Odds, Ends, Sods And Such(Part Six)

These are hard times, and, for the foreseeable future, they will get even harder before substantial improvements are made, if

at all.

In the meantime, I think that one thing that even someone as poor and obscure as myself can do, is to keep tracks of what's

going on in the world, using as wide a variety of sources as possible, whether domestic, foreign, etc, and across as much of

the ideological spectrum as possible, too.

It also means reading articles, listening to or watching on-line or off-line radio broadcasts, videos and streaming media, as

carefully, attentively and sceptically as one would read a newspaper article, magazine story or book.

It means talking with others, both off-line and on-line and getting their takes on such issues.

It means using one's own background and experiences to evaluate, analyse, and decide for oneself whose takes on a given issue

or set of issues comes closest to the truth of the matter under discussion.

Finally, it means not succumbing to the understandable urge to either panic, run riot or give up and settle into a fatalistic

apathy out of despair over the fate of the planet, one's country, or oneself. It's no sin to be uncertain and afraid,

especially when confronted by a stream of seemingly unending bad news.

It can be fatal, and often needlessly so, to do those, however.

Be aware, both of what's going on in the world, but also of what's going on in oneself. Think, question, analyse, and be

prepared to wrong, when need be.

Also, try to keep as much of a sense of logic, proportion and humour as best one can. They may not help all the time, but

they are certainly better to succumbing to fear and panic and engaging in the kinds of foolish behaviours that, sometimes,

end up in mass murder, if not genocide.

I say this as much to myself as to you out there, because there are days when I can succumb to those emotions too. All of us

can. The trick is not to let them sweep everything else in oneself away, including one's humanity.

Here Endeth The Lesson, and Be Seeing You.