I have to say that even I’m getting tired of all this shit…

There is absolutely no doubt about it, we are now living in increasingly dangerous and uncertain times. And I’m sure that I can’t be the only one who wakes up each day to another rabid news cycle that leaves you screaming at the radio, your television, your computer screen, or that screen that sits persistently and repetitively and in our hands… “WTAF?”

OK, I get it but sadly some still don’t; our media outlets – and social-media in particular – have long been motivated by the desire to stoke infuriation and exasperation in their listeners, viewers and readers.

Their emotive headlines are intentionally contrived so as to attract that indignation. That phenomenon that we have come to know as rage-bait. But that ‘bait’ is no longer the output of some shabby journo shouting at the printers “hold the press I’ve got a breaking scoop”.

No, the crafty salacious hack, often covered in fag ash and chewing his HB pencil to help kickstart his creative juices, is a quaint ghost of our past. It’s not even about an editorial process that was once applied to gain some personal award, or more likely improve the wealth of the shareholders anymore.

No, today much of this slop is automatic; these words are increasingly promulgated with intense and rabid verbosity by AI ‘bots’, before being delivered with the precision of an ICBM by insidious algorithms. This is the modern engine room that is driving today’s machine. But we don’t have to listen, watch or read that output, least of all allow ourselves to be constantly succoured into that malaise and angered by it.

A long time ago now, I developed a much-needed personal safety valve; the Stoic mantra that has helped me to navigate my way through our increasingly crazy world. It continually tells me… “it is what it is” and this is “not my circus and not my monkey” and hopefully “this too will pass”, despite the fact that we are all unfortunate residents within that same circus… created by other people. And, as I regularly point out to people, in words made famous by an often-circulating and pseudo-Buddhist meme… “The path of inner peace begins with four words: Not My Fucking Problem!” Which some would suggest is somewhat puerile, but on that observation I really don’t care. It is helpful, at least for me, and perhaps you might like to try it too sometime.

We often sit in our comfortable seats, munching on our popcorn and even enjoy watching the spectacle of other people performing frivolous, stupid or dangerous acts. But that doesn’t necessarily mean we all have some sudden passing fantasy – or indeed any pressing desires, I know I don’t – to immediately become clowns, trapeze artists, knife throwers or fire eaters. Far from it; we all still have some agency to make most our own choices, about what we want to do…at least for now.

Many people often ask me, “how can you not care about X, Y or Z?” But they are also usually the people who don’t really know me. Whilst also missing the point of my beliefs and my personal attitude to the impacts of my life. Those same people will follow up my answers with questions such as, “then why do you appear to be so fixated on political issues? And mostly American ones in particular at the moment?” Then inquisitively continue, “surely that is ‘beyond your control’, isn’t it?”

Bill Bryson, the much-admired American author – and British citizen – offering an observation on American and British politics said; “I hope people in Britain realise that, with respect to this [2024] election, no matter how bad things are here, they can’t begin to compare with how desperate, and dismaying is the political situation in my own native land – and not just at the presidential level. Some of your MPs may be a bit dim or small-minded or otherwise alarming, but you would have to search pretty hard to find any that are truly senile, serially felonious, flat-out mad or so stupid that they would boast about shooting their pet dog.” That, to my mind, is undoubtedly an erudite example of some useful stoic perspective.

My own stoic philosophy has provided my with some profound insights on life. It has helped me to build resilience, apply self-control, and served to embed the importance of focusing on what I can and can’t control. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t care about others, have empathy for the impacts of external factors on their life or on them. Which is why I can concern myself with the “shitstorms” around us all, without any detriment to me. I just accept what I can’t control and don’t allow it to eat away at my headspace or let it bother me, personally.

Ever since I first learned about the philosophers of Greece, as a child at school, I found that Stoicism resonated with me. And even more so with every year and event that has passed whilst I have aged. Almost every challenge which has impacted my life in some way has become way easier to navigate and deal with as those years have advanced.

Today, I constantly focus my reactions and thoughts to my own present moment, rather than the past, the future or any external circumstances of any particular day, which are often and mostly beyond my control in any case. As you age, you gain better acceptance of your own mortality and the realisation that increasingly sooner rather than later, your not going to be around to worry any more, so why do it? This all helps me to continually cultivate a much stronger mindset; one that allows me to embrace – and be grateful for – all that is good and positive in my life, and probably surprisingly for many, given the geopolitical landscape of the world around us. However, we can all learn to navigate life’s challenges with grace and resilience, if we choose to make that personal choice.

Billy Connolly, the famous Scottish comedian and entertainer once said “I’m a citizen of the world. I like it that way” and so do I. We are constantly being told – by nefarious self-interested politicians and media hacks that we need to pick sides; “you’re either agree with us or you’re against us” or maybe “you’re a patriot or you’re a radicalised domestic terrorist, you need to choose!” Billy went on to point out how “some people are pretty badly represented” in our world, and he’s correct. Which isn’t helped by the now constant “othering”. But, like Billy, I’ve also found that “when you speak to [the] people themselves they’re delightful. Most actually “want so little” they just want to live their life, safely and contently. Unless they are ‘powerful’ that is, and then all they want and constantly strive for is more power and more money… often to the detriment of the “others” who they see as their personal enemies. That needs to be challenged and hopefully stopped!

This is why I will constantly and consistently call it out for what it is – hatred of ‘others’ born from incessant greed and self-interest – and you can (and probably should) do the same – without it consuming or destroying your own slice of acceptance, tranquillity and contentment. In what is sadly becoming an ever-darkening world, we should all try to be more human – a “citizen of the world” – who strives to shine “Love & Light” into the gloomiest corners of the bleakest of cold spaces around us.

The murdered British Labour politician Jo Cox rightly pointed the UK towards the fact; “we are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us.” That was an ethos that many have espoused both before and since the sad taking of Jo’s life.

Now, perhaps more than ever before, we all need to try and hold onto that important philosophical thought. Especially whilst our society appears to be filling with an ever-increasing number of bad actors, who remain hellbent on shouting and spreading continuous streams of divisive bile and hateful rhetoric at the rest of us. Which is all designed to feather their own nests of self-interests, gaining ever more power over the rest of us, and increasing their personal pots of financial wealth.

You don’t need to have been around at the time, be an American or even necessarily be born of Afro-American heritage, or any other for that matter. However, acquainting yourself with or revisiting the iconic Martin Luther King Jr speech of 1963 might be useful for some. Because we all need to work towards creating a world where all individuals are judged by their character, rather than the colour of their skin, or ethnicity factor. MLK held the hope that one day, people of all races would coexist peacefully and equally. But, despite all the advances towards that vision over the decades, America (and the world) is now in regression. However, the MLK vision is still something that we can (and should) all hold close to our hearts… “I Have a Dream!”