Like Supreme Court judge, Potter Stewart, once said, “I can’t define pornography, but I know when I see it.”
I think our view of what’s abnormal could be a similar quote. Certainly, what is normal varies from nation to nation, group to group, and individual to individual. And I’m not saying being abnormal or different is necessarily bad. We have as a nation excelled by many who may be described as not normal, different, or eccentric.
Where am I going with this? I believe that normality is underrated, underreported, and underappreciated.
We forget the normal when we see the news in the many ways it is presented or not presented to us. Some examples: 1) Safe airliner landings are not noticed. 2) Good manners are the norm in the world I live in. 3) I go to my grandkids’ ball games and dance recitals where moms, dads, siblings and grandparents, sometimes even neighbors go to watch. 4) I don’t see homeless people sleeping in my neighborhood. 5) I haven’t seen a drunk in public in years nor do I hear gunshots at night. This makes me a happy camper, i.e. until I see the news.
But you say, “of course you would never hear about a safe landing. That’s the norm!” See my point? Then there will be those who say, “well, you’re lucky because there are many out there that don’t have what you have or live where you live.” That is true! What is normal for me in those examples is not normal for everyone. Wouldn’t it be nice if it was. The US poverty rate is 11-12 percent, way too high, but not high enough to be called normal. I lived in poverty as a child, and although it was prevalent, it never was normal to me. I didn’t allow it to be!
The news is a bit like gaslighting. When you hear something over and over, you think what you are hearing is normal. As an example, these days you often hear stories of people claiming to be a sex at odds with the biology of their body. I sympathise with their plight. Thoughts and opinions on that topic are frequent because never before has this been considered normal. The frequency of the reporting will leave one with the impression it is more common than it is. When will we stop hearing trans stories? When and if it approaches being normal, or when topic becomes uninteresting.
Another example of news stories gaslighting society involves police shootings of people in the black community, mainly black men. Just one is too many, but when asked many have guessed it happens thousands of times a year. Actually, it is in the range of 10-15 cop shootings of black men a year. On the other hand, black on black crimes are often underreported because it is too common of a story. There were over 10,000 black murder victims in 2022. 90% of those victims are killed by other blacks (ucr.fbi.gov). The problem is not the police nor anything inherent in the black race, it’s a lack of involved parenting in the black community, particularly the fathers since the 1960s. When 40% of all American children and 72% of black children are born to single women, it has become too common and, unfortunately, not commonly reported. When good fathers are common, crime, poverty, drug use, and unwed mothers will be reduced proportionately, and human-interest stories will have to fill time in local news.
Summary:
I rarely watch local news anymore. In any major city, the local news is rampant with reports of murder, rape, drug use, arson, and more, including some useful info. These crimes are commonly reported as they should be. I already know it is happening. And why…in large part, a lack of nurturing fathers. It can be depressing because this issue of unhealthy families are not the story on the news, just the results.
Abnormal activity gets too much attention, and it always will. I suggest not watching if you feel helpless or down about things for which you have no control. Until these news reports change to what caused the story, and what can be done to fix it, I’m not interested in watching. And remember, the normies are out there hiding within itself and away from the news cycle.
Normal (in your society) is common, but reporting on common (in your society) will never happen.
#avagabondlife #powerofdadhood
I think our view of what’s abnormal could be a similar quote. Certainly, what is normal varies from nation to nation, group to group, and individual to individual. And I’m not saying being abnormal or different is necessarily bad. We have as a nation excelled by many who may be described as not normal, different, or eccentric.
Where am I going with this? I believe that normality is underrated, underreported, and underappreciated.
We forget the normal when we see the news in the many ways it is presented or not presented to us. Some examples: 1) Safe airliner landings are not noticed. 2) Good manners are the norm in the world I live in. 3) I go to my grandkids’ ball games and dance recitals where moms, dads, siblings and grandparents, sometimes even neighbors go to watch. 4) I don’t see homeless people sleeping in my neighborhood. 5) I haven’t seen a drunk in public in years nor do I hear gunshots at night. This makes me a happy camper, i.e. until I see the news.
But you say, “of course you would never hear about a safe landing. That’s the norm!” See my point? Then there will be those who say, “well, you’re lucky because there are many out there that don’t have what you have or live where you live.” That is true! What is normal for me in those examples is not normal for everyone. Wouldn’t it be nice if it was. The US poverty rate is 11-12 percent, way too high, but not high enough to be called normal. I lived in poverty as a child, and although it was prevalent, it never was normal to me. I didn’t allow it to be!
The news is a bit like gaslighting. When you hear something over and over, you think what you are hearing is normal. As an example, these days you often hear stories of people claiming to be a sex at odds with the biology of their body. I sympathise with their plight. Thoughts and opinions on that topic are frequent because never before has this been considered normal. The frequency of the reporting will leave one with the impression it is more common than it is. When will we stop hearing trans stories? When and if it approaches being normal, or when topic becomes uninteresting.
Another example of news stories gaslighting society involves police shootings of people in the black community, mainly black men. Just one is too many, but when asked many have guessed it happens thousands of times a year. Actually, it is in the range of 10-15 cop shootings of black men a year. On the other hand, black on black crimes are often underreported because it is too common of a story. There were over 10,000 black murder victims in 2022. 90% of those victims are killed by other blacks (ucr.fbi.gov). The problem is not the police nor anything inherent in the black race, it’s a lack of involved parenting in the black community, particularly the fathers since the 1960s. When 40% of all American children and 72% of black children are born to single women, it has become too common and, unfortunately, not commonly reported. When good fathers are common, crime, poverty, drug use, and unwed mothers will be reduced proportionately, and human-interest stories will have to fill time in local news.
Summary:
I rarely watch local news anymore. In any major city, the local news is rampant with reports of murder, rape, drug use, arson, and more, including some useful info. These crimes are commonly reported as they should be. I already know it is happening. And why…in large part, a lack of nurturing fathers. It can be depressing because this issue of unhealthy families are not the story on the news, just the results.
Abnormal activity gets too much attention, and it always will. I suggest not watching if you feel helpless or down about things for which you have no control. Until these news reports change to what caused the story, and what can be done to fix it, I’m not interested in watching. And remember, the normies are out there hiding within itself and away from the news cycle.
Normal (in your society) is common, but reporting on common (in your society) will never happen.
#avagabondlife #powerofdadhood
