Admittedly, I don't have thousands of people reading this. Even hundreds. I do it to express myself, and of course I appreciate all those who have wished to read it. I do not charge, nor will I ever.
I certainly hope I haven't disappointed too many of you, though I'm sure that's happened. After all, you don't have to agree with everything I've ever said. But that's the beauty of free expression, or at least living in a country in which you get the chance to do it. So far. Ron DeSantis notwithstanding.
But I know the numbers of those who read this--Google provides that favor--and they are variating in a now-predictable pattern. To wit: my excursions upon politics are now getting noticeably fewer adherents. When I write about the quirks of just getting along daily, more people are hopping onboard.
I've written enough about the political and the non-political to know that the quality of one type of essay does not preclude the quality of the other. It used to be that roughly the same numbers of people read my political commentary. Now, fewer do. It's as if they're warned away by my Facebook introduction, in which I summarize and foreshadow what I'm going to say in longer form.
No better indication exists that readers are exhausted, over absorbed, and even annoyed by references to politics now. We've seen this before, they seem to be saying. No longer anything new under the sun. Or, which is no doubt also true: I've read this elsewhere. Blah, blah, blah.
I always try to write from new and fresh angles. Maybe I'm failing, which is entirely possible, too. Politics has been a major interest for the majority of my life, though, so at least part of the time, that's what you'll see here. Sorry. To a certain degree, I can't help myself.
People (and I write collectively here) seem to be saying, though, that they need a break. The weight of the endless discord has taken its toll. Persuasion has spent itself. People seem to be gathered in their silos, waiting for the next directive from, well, someone.
Regardless of the rationality of explanation concerning this, too much of that over the long run is dangerous. But then, you've probably read that somewhere else, too.
Nonetheless, it bears repeating: When we fail to consider alternative points of view and dismiss them by their very nature, we compromise our righteousness.
On the other hand, we have each acquired our own particular set of values and judgments, and an increasing percentage of us don't see why we have to keep addressing them and checking on them to make adjustments. If they ain't broke, don't ask us to fix them.
But things keep happening to warrant gut checks. Abortion rights are no longer guaranteed. What does resistance to that awful Supreme Court ruling mean? What about the resistance to that resistance?
We are no longer freed from the pestilence of weapons, damn near everywhere. Milwaukee is one of the best examples. Drugs bring guns, and illegal sales of drugs are guaranteeing almost nightly murders. All you have to do is switch on the news here in Milwaukee at 10 p.m. Want to be beaten up? Try that.
Russia is trying to conquer Ukraine. Ukraine has resisted successfully, so far. That's because Joe Biden has rallied NATO (mostly weaponized by us) to give them sufficient hardware.
But hardware isn't people. Russia is sending a continuous stream of men to be slaughtered, suffused with propaganda to get them to give up their lives willingly. That is absolute madness. But it's working, which is to say it's not not working.
What happens when Ukraine runs out of guys? What do we do then? How important is democracy to humankind, anyhow?
See? To those of you who are trying to numb yourselves from all this--well, good luck with that. Maybe it's up to me to find new ways to say some of this. It's not like I'm trying to beat you up or anything. the facts are doing a pretty good job of that themselves.
It's one of the things riding on the next national election. If a Republican is elected president or both houses of Congress fall into their hands, Ukraine will in all likelihood have to find help from other sources. No help compares to American: name your category.
If you don't want to discuss that, fine. But the topic won't quit and won't disappear. Tired of it? It's going to last at least another year. Both sides are in for the long haul. It will be discussed in presidential debates. Will Ukraine's democracy matter by then? Or will Russia wear us out as well as them? Stay tuned.
That's just one relevant topic, and you know it. Inflation. Immigration. Cancel culture. The (now proven) lies of Fox News. Walk away from that, and the other side will win them all. Can you afford to look away?
Is my insistence on bringing all of this up the problem? Or its nagging relevance?
When I notice something quirky or odd about everyday life, sure I'll write about it. But don't count on it turning into the majority of my topics. Too much going on. Too much to write about.
We all need a break. We'll get it after we prevail. Or if.
Be well. Be careful. With some luck, I'll see you down the road.
Mister Mark
