political memes often are news though. they aren’t like, mutually exclusive.

yep. we all definitely need breaks. i take long breaks every few months or in the winter when seasonal depression kicks in.

but this is a critical junction for global history. class warfare has escalated and accelerated, and the vast vast majority of us are being actively oppressed through the dismantling of economic and social welfare programs.

my family stands to lose too much for me to be burying my head in the sand right now.

some aren’t ready or able or willing to do the work of preparing a response. others have no choice but to pay attention because their family’s future literally depend on knowing whether today is the day they “come for you” and all this (bwamp bwamp) news actually reaches your doorstep.

so while people are arguing anime fandoms and who wins The Big Game, I’ll be trying to understand my enemy, encourage my allies, and decide what an appropriate response looks like (in real life) using the latest information i have available.

OP is onto something.

maybe people are getting sad out there. maybe news is coming at us fast… because change (unprecedented bad bad change) is happening faster than ever before?

it’s a sign of the times. people blaming news junkies or whining about blocking comms don’t get it. we’re no longer living in a time when we can afford to ignore what’s happening around us.

ps, I’m not arguing against memes. in fact go check !conservative@lemmy.world it’s been turned into a satire comm under new mods and it’s wonderful!

i don’t wonder that. let the normies have their Destiny 2 and PublicFreakout and fantasy sports communities elsewhere. seeing comment section after section on Reddit filled to the brim with “I’m so funny!” unserious one liners was obnoxious. people talking about GoThrones fandom and RC cars while inequality skyrockets or the rich dismantle every federal govt program that benefit 99% of the population is not a good thing to yearn for. the founders-effect dominance from a handful of narrow ideologically centrists is not something we need more of.

meh. you’re not a psycho.

compassion is a muscle. if you’ve never spent much time, dedication, or effort working on empathizing with other people you won’t be good at it (or even think about it).

we just so happen to live in society where those skills are not as rewarded compared to being self centered, independent, and ruthless. conditions maketh the man. hang out with someone who’s got a lot of compassion and concern for the feelings of others and you’ll quickly realize what you thought was your personality is actually a learned maladaptive response to living in a cruel and apathetic world.

they knew what they were signing up for.

godspeed you glorious kamikaze children!

far as I know, you can’t. they want your sweet sweet monetizable personal data. for Meta, every human interaction needs to be commodified, sold for ad revenue, and charged back to you as a subscription or AI pump and dump scheme.

I use Craigslist personally, the founder has repeatedly refused to sell his business or users data.

‘I Don’t Need Billions. You Should Know When Enough Is Enough’ – Craig From Craigslist Says He Rejected Billions To Redesign The Platform

from the article:

By design, the company doesn’t make a single cent on most transactions. … If you’ve ever used Craigslist, you’ve probably noticed it hasn’t changed much since the 1990s. No sleek designs or flashy updates – just a simple, functional interface. “People want it simple, fast and effective,” Craig said.

Over the years, venture capitalists have approached Craig with massive offers, urging him to monetize more aggressively or sell. They saw a gold mine in Craigslist’s scale and suggested ads, subscriptions or transaction fees. But Craig wasn’t interested.

“I don’t need billions,” he said. “I’ve met a bunch of rich people and none of them are all that happy.”