Today's Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis.....
Perhaps better to be a realistic dreamer? Or an optimistic realist? Are they 'realistic' possibilities in our black-and-white, have to choose one side world? Probably not, but they should be, since most people are dreamers sometimes and realists at other times, or somewhere in between.
Stephan Pastis never ceases to amaze. For those of you who dread the upcoming election, this one's for you.....
Yes indeed, someone had to say it.....and Rat did.
Regardless of whether you are for or against gender-neutral bathrooms, the fact remains that the major problems in the USA, the ones we should be talking about, have arisen due to the emphasis on Wall Street's making money at the expense of the rest of the country. If you don't believe me, here's a list of films to watch that will change your mind forever about the power and control that Wall Street investment firms and banks have wielded and wield over the country and also the world.
Wall Street (1987)
Inside Job (documentary from 2010)
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)
Too Big To Fail (2011)
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
The Big Short (2015)
Dumb Money (2023)
I found this recent Pearls Before Swine strip rather apt, considering that we're bombarded with news at every turn. It is depressing to drown in the news, and the end result is that one stops caring about what is going on in the world in order to deal with it. It is impossible to care about every problem in the world.
The sheer amount of news is overwhelming, and sometimes one just wants to yell--'make it stop'. Or, 'stop the world, I want to get off'. Wars here and there, the threat of nuclear war, major crime in large cities here in Europe and the US, gun and knife violence, car burnings, terrorism, migrant crises here in Europe and the US, climate change (increased number and intensity of storms everywhere), rising sea levels, foods that are bad for you, household products that are bad for you, air pollution, dying oceans, inflation, prices that have skyrocketed, families that can't pay their bills, the threat of AI, the addiction to and obsession with technology (cell phones especially), weird politics everywhere, the upcoming US presidential election, the warping of truth and facts--the list is endless. The obsession with wealth. Greed and more greed. Power-hungry politicians and leaders. The move toward autocracy in Europe and the US.
We live in decaying societies. Every time one turns around, more pieces of the foundations that support the societies we know and grew up in are crumbling. What we experienced and enjoyed as children in our generation is slowly being replaced by a new brand of society--driven by technological influences and AI (via internet). It's not hard to understand that some people want to live 'off the grid' rather than be 'guided and controlled' by AI platforms that specific companies tell us exist only to help us. Who believes this crap? The AI platforms being rolled out by the major internet and social media companies exist only to rake in more money for the advertisers on these platforms. The deals between the internet and social media companies with the advertisers are likely quite lucrative. Money talks. Money is the goal, and anything that gets them to the goal is justifiable (in their eyes).
A half hour of news per day--that sounds good to me. Ten minutes a day would be better. We're being brainwashed into thinking that we need to be updated 24/7. We don't. Our personal and family lives would be much better and healthier if we just shut out the 24/7 news coverage. It's an obsession and an addiction, folks, like any other obsession and addiction. You will never get enough, because it's not designed that way. You get hooked and have to have it. You will need your news fix every day for the rest of your life unless you go cold turkey. Go cold turkey. Live your lives and don't let others tell you how you should think, feel or live. Stay updated without getting immersed in the sewage that passes for news. It's possible.
Rather apt in these strange times, from Pearls Before Swine. The dilemma--how to remain a decent person in the midst of the idiocy that accosts us each day. Always a struggle.
This is often exactly how I feel, but not just about social media. The daily news stories in general, delivered to us on tv, radio and in newspapers, are disheartening, to put it mildly. Thus the dilemma has become (for me and for others I know): how to stay abreast of what is happening in the world without losing heart (and our minds)? Listening to tv or radio news is not part of my morning routine, and I am very selective about the few online newspaper sites I visit. I skim news stories and don't let myself drown in all the bad news. I know that there are a lot of bad things happening in the world, and I care about the people experiencing them, but I would rather stay hopeful and pray for a better world than go down the road of nihilism and despair. It serves no purpose and helps no one.
Another apt commentary on the state of the world and our addiction to cell phones from my favorite cartoonist--Stephan Pastis--and his menagerie of talking animals (and birds) in Pearls Before Swine.
I agree with Stephan Pastis so often, it amazes me. The sense of entitlement that exists in society approaches nonsensical at times. He sums it up perfectly.
Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis |
Yes, this is the world we live in now. Either you get cancelled for something you might have said thirty or more years ago when you were young (and stupid), or you are at the mercy of certain members of the social media crowd, whose likes, dislikes, and otherwise hate-filled comments can destroy a business or a person. They don't care. But they should, because they are slowly destroying the world with their half-brained idiocy. So again, I say, thank you to Stephan Pastis for nailing this topic once again in your inimitable way. Your humor-filled criticism of some of what goes on on the internet is worth gold.
Don't be like Bob. Bob is an idiot.
Nothing else to do but laugh when I read this. I can imagine it's like this in some literary arenas where the air is rarefied, if they're anything like the good ole boys' clubs found in academic circles. Mutual admiration societies, and if you're not part of one, oh well. Too bad for you.
Did I ever mention how much I love Pearls Before Swine (probably a hundred times if I was counting). Stephan Pastis' sense of humor appeals to me. Today's strip was funny in that bizarre nutso way he has of reflecting on what goes on in society. Enjoy.
Yesterday's Pearls Before Swine. Haha, I can definitely relate, as I'm sure many people can. I delay updating my phone and my laptop for as long as possible, especially my phone, for the reason Pig mentions. I had an iPhone 6 up until April 2020 and would have kept it except for all the updates that I reluctantly installed that slowed it down until it was almost unusable. I bought an iPhone SE 2020 because it resembles my old iPhone 6, which I loved. I dislike intensely the incessant push to get us to buy new smartphones every year or every other year. Why do we need to? What is so revolutionary about the new ones that we need to trade up every year? I won't do it; I'm not interested in being a sheep that just does what she's told to do by corporations, advertising and social media. Find another patsy.
Pearls Before Swine strikes again. How do I love this comic strip, let me count the ways.....For those of us who use WhatsApp, it's simply gold.
I saw the movie The Holiday again recently, and one of the main characters had this song as his cell phone ringtone. I grew up with this mu...
