a challenge

[rm]

As I think most people reading this know, my pay-the-bills job involves reading newspapers and entering dozens, and sometimes hundreds of codes into a database for each article. These codes reflect the topics covered in the articles and center mostly on companies, politics and the economy of the U.S.

I read approximately 50 or so newspapers a week this way, with extreme attention to detail. Every single article in the Wall Street Journal, and most to all of the business sections of papers such as The New York Times, The Toronto Globe and Mail, The Financial Times, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, Atlanta Journal Constitution, and so forth. I also work on magazines sometimes, everything from Institutional Investor to Forbes to Newsweek.

My point is, no matter how much news you read, unless you work with me, I probably read more.

And my point is, it's worse than you think. The job situation, oil and gas supplies... whatever you're paying attention to, it's worse than you think.

I am not really a pessimist by nature, although I often make dire predictions about my own life in order to have the strength for the less dire, but ultimately very stressful shit that does happen.

You say that you know it's bad. You say that you're voting for the right guy; you say you are trying to educate people and get out the vote, so why do you have to read all that depressing stuff? It stresses you out, it doesn't solve anything, etc.

Knowledge is a weapon. And a good understanding of economics, American and world markets, the weird jobless recovery, the threat of stagflation, are some of the only ways to convince those that seemingly can't be convinced that we're in serious danger here. Danger that is as much of our own fiscal making as anything else (just one example: read the article about Wal Mart and it's suppliers in the December 2003 issue of Fast Company).

So here's my challenge: Read a newspaper. Yes, a domestic one. And yes, a printed one (sorry the web makes it too easy to skim and skip sections). Cover to cover. Every day. For two weeks. Then tell me about it.

Comments

[raaven.livejournal.com]

My emotional equilibrium remains extremely fragile, especially in terms of widespread trends and government idiocy that I can do nothing about. If I were to read a full newspaper daily for 2 weeks, I would dissolve in a puddle of depressive paralysis. I don't write about it a lot in my journal, but I *know* how bad it is, even without the details.

If there some particular bits of info that you feel everyone should know about, I'd be happy to give them a read in small doses (I have a fair grounding in economics)...but at this point, for me, glutting myself on the bad news would be a Very Unhealthy Thing (TM).

[rm.livejournal.com]

Well if you can't deal with the blowing things up stuff, go for just the business section for a bit -- it's among other things, not just worse than we think but weirder, and I confess, often oddly entertaining (hostile take overs make great reading).

[raaven.livejournal.com]

I will! Thank you for the inspiration.