Looking through my RSS reader I saw an article that had me thinking about how the media plays the “who will resonate with [insert segmentation of the populace here] voters” or “who can win over independents” card every voting cycle as if this is some game show or something. That entire topic aside, reading about politics here brought to mind an article I read about a far right party in Germany that ran on a crazy platform (also another topic) and won. It tied into passages from the book I’m reading now which gave examples of current far right/fascist leaning parties and how they have been able to operate and thrive.

Curating what I consume on the internet and getting back to physical books has, among other positives, zoomed me out of my zip code, area code, state, continent, and hemisphere. It is showing me dots that weren’t even in my line of sight to be able to connect.

Being able to zoom out geographically and chronologically makes it glacier water clear that much of the same fuckery that is happening here now is happening in other places around the world and has happened in the past. It is one thing to know this at some baseline, cliche level like ‘history repeats itself’ type shit, but… How can I not experience this timeline differently recognizing the signs in real time?

Astronauts tell of the profound emotions they feel looking at the earth from space. It’s difficult to zoom out further than that, physically at least, but I think the concept is worth applying generally. Maybe consciously stepping back during conversations before replying. Or changing the lens being pointed at a work problem to widescreen. Even the storms on Jupiter look still and calm from far away.

Side note… shout out to my RSS reader keeping me from doom scrolling and algorithms. Also, shout out to that random stranger at Barnes & Noble who, after minutes of standing in front of the book shelves I was scanning, randomly handed me the book she was reading and told me to get it. That it was good and the forward was updated. That she didn’t realize what was happening in India. She was right.

-say2rue