Frightening

[poliphilo]

I'm so tired of being told these are frightening times.

I lived through the Cold War. Now those were frightening times.

Or not.

Every generation thinks it lives in frightening times. What that means is it doesn't feel entirely in control.

What's the worst that can happen? We all die. Well that's going to happen no matter what. Get used to it.

Don't let the media scare you.  Remember they make their money by creeping up behind your chair and going, "Boo!"

There's more to life than politics.

Come off that news site.  Take a walk. Annoy the cat. Have a nice cup of tea.

Comments

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I was in Switzerland- living in a Francophone society with Godard playing at the local flespit- when the Paris evenements kicked off. That was terribly exciting.

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

And I took part in occupying my high school, barring access to teachers and administrators, in protest against the French Moruroa atomic bomb tests. (But with the explicit support of our principal, so we weren't that revolutionary.) Our letters of protest were handed to Chirac two weeks later by a Danish journalist at an interview, all translated into high-school French by yours truly.

Mine began with the words "Monsieur le Président, je Vous fais une lettre que Vous lirez peut-être si Vous avez le temps"...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I took part in occupying a university building during a period of student unrest in the early 70s. There were barricades. I manned them....

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

Ours was a privileged, white, middle-class occupation... We had no barricades, but politely asked people not to teach or attend classes. Not quite the "Les Miserables" scenario.

(My personal youth rebellion was to refuse to let my mother dye my hair blue or pierce my ears, instead opting for a side parting and button-down shirts...)