The way things work – I’m not sure anymore

Monday 19th December

I used to think I was reasonably intelligent, reading newspapers, watching the news and generally interested in what went on around me.  And I thought that I had some sort of a grasp of what was going on, it all seemed to make some sort of sense.  But more and more I find it harder to see the wood for the trees, or rather I see both but have no idea who planted this particular forest or where those little saplings over there have sprung up from.  Is it that the world was actually simpler a couple of decades ago, or have I just lost the thread and slipped out of touch with what is really happening.  I think that computers have a lot to do with it, there is just so much more information out there.  We are actually being bombarded with data all day long, from the moving strap-lines on the news channels to adverts on everything, to mobile texts and tweets and face-book notifications, it never stops.  You see people glancing at their mobiles while talking to you, speaking on the phone while boarding a bus, reading their kindle or i-pad while listening to music on their i-pods.  So how do you keep up with it all, or do you just blank out loads of stuff and try to concentrate on what you think might actually matter.

Well, loads of people seem to manage perfectly well on complete drivel, and if the entries on face-book are anything to go by there are far more of them than of me.  More people I am sure are prepared to ‘vote’ on X-factor or Strictly than to actually go out and vote.  The latest by-election had a miserable turnout of less than 28%, so how can anyone think that the result has any validity; and this in the middle of economic turmoil and the euro melt-down too – it isn’t as if there is nothing to think about.  But maybe that is the key, to think of nothing – well nothing that really matters, and by some sort of Magic the world will get fixed.

We seem to be living in a rapidly emptying bath-tub, where the once settled waters are now beginning to swirl dangerously as we are all threatened with being sucked down the plug-hole.  Meanwhile more and more rubber ducks and other toys are presented for our distraction.  Maybe I should stop worrying and just soak in the last few suds of luxury while I still can.

But who is controlling things these days, what mechanisms are making the wheels go round and round, or are we, as I suspect, drifting into chaos – a chaos where nobody is in control, and what is more nobody has any idea who even thinks they might be in control.  It may be the bankers or the city traders but it certainly isn’t the politicians and even the commentators have no real clue.  And I too, who used to feel that I sort of understood what was happening am lost.  Lost in too much information really.

Maybe I should just switch off and stop worrying, everyone else seems to have.