While interning with Shanghaiist I was having a drink with my editor, and we speculated why so many journalists become alcoholics, and we decided the reason they do is because a journalist has to know everything about everything that is happening all the time, and alcohol calms one down. It’s nonsense, but that’s how conversations go sometimes.
One of the things I love and dislike (hate’s too strong a word) about America is you can, if you really want to, shut out what’s going on in the rest of the world. All the wars, crisis’, disasters, chaos and whatever else is happening over there is happening over there, not here.
Before I’d be inspired and active, insisting that people “need to pay attention” to what’s happening “over there” because it’s important! I still think that, but so much awful is happening in the world right now that it’s probably for the bets that people take a break from the world every once in a while.