Ignoring this is good for your mental health

I’m a left-leaning individual.

I’m an Asian American of Taiwanese descent living in the Deep South, Republican, Christian region of the US.

I’m used to standing out in a crowd no matter where I go. Theaters, the mall, restaurants…it’s become second nature to scan the sea of white folks. I usually shrug inwardly and go about my business.

These days, it feels more and more like there’s a target growing on my back.

If you live in a “democratic” nation, this is a luxury

Do you vote?

It’s your right to choose not to, of course. I’ve heard a million different reasons why people don’t. The excuses range from being overwhelmed with life as a parent and being on the graveyard shift to thinking it’s a waste of time and that their vote wouldn’t matter anyway.

Read where I live again.

If you thought your vote didn’t count, imagine how I’ve felt every single time I went up to the ballot box and stared at the buffet. It’s all red meat up and down the aisle, and last November, only the top of the ticket had an option other than Republican.

Slim pickins…you can guess how I voted.

But no, voting isn’t the luxury I’m referring to here. It’s the fact that you can vote without any clue whatsoever about the platform that the candidate is running on; that you can simply vote straight down the party line and assume that whoever wins has an agenda that is relatively centered around trying to make things better locally.

In other words, ignoring current events and the news rarely ever has consequences.

This is the luxury that many of us take for granted. You don’t need to know what’s happening anywhere in the world to know that you’re safe, that your rights are protected, that you won’t go to bed one day and be dragged out in the middle of the night to be deported without due process, that you are still considered a citizen with unalienable rights and freedoms. You are entitled to go about your business without fear in such a society.

You have no idea what it could mean not to have these privileges.

The current state of the US

A lot of people making money on the internet like to wear willful ignorance like a badge of honor.

If you’ve read Naval Ravikant or listened to Dan Lok or follow Tim Denning, then you know they take pride in not knowing how to cook or do laundry or drive a car or being aware of current events in the world. These people have so much money that it doesn’t matter to them. They can keep their heads in the sand about what’s happening because each of them lives in a country that protects their freedoms…

At least until recently.

Since the beginning of this year, things have become increasingly bizarre and alarming to anyone who is paying attention to the news.

• Stocks have plunged along with people’s retirement accounts.

• People and companies who speak out or have spoken out against the President are now being blacklisted and blocked.

• Institutions such as museums and universities are being scrutinized and scrubbed of “woke” ideology whether accurate or not.

Absolutely none of this will affect the working white middle class that doesn’t invest or have a portfolio.

At least on the surface. At least not for a few more months on the outside.

The detrimental effects of paying attention

Listening to the news does a number on your mental health, and I know because I listen every single day.

My chest tightens, my teeth clench, and my hands grip the steering wheel a little bit harder as I listen to the Orange Julius and his administration talk in circles. I listen to news anchors tie themselves in knots spinning plate after plate to keep each one going and painting a rosy picture about how wonderful things are going.

I can only take so much each day before I switch to listening to other things, but I do it because it matters to me.

I don’t blame you for ignoring the noise, but it does make me feel funny to read how others could care less about what’s happening. Please understand that I’m writing this to point something out to you and certainly not attacking anyone for choosing their peace of mind.

We, as Americans, are making a huge assumption about our entitlements as citizens.

Immigrants and their children can’t afford this luxury

If you haven’t lived in a democratic nation for generations going back to its founding, then you have a perspective and a legacy that hasn’t faded into the mists of time.

If your grandparents came to the US for a better life, then you remember some of their stories about where they came from and why they left.

If your parents were the ones who emigrated here, then it’s even closer to your heart.

You have a certain sense of vigilance about being an American because your ancestors built their lives from nothing so that you could enjoy your freedom. You were taught in school that the Bill of Rights guaranteed free speech, freedom of religion, a right to bear arms, to due process, and more.

You were taught that American exceptionalism was your birthright regardless of the color of your skin or the shape of your eyes.

Authoritarianism doesn’t work that way.

• My grandparents survived World War II and Japanese occupation.

• My parents lived through and survived the rise of Communism across the world.

• Now it looks like I’ll be living through and hopefully surviving the rise of Fascist America.

I can’t afford to look the other way.

The assumption being made for the sake of sanity

In America, we make a tremendous assumption about our right to be here.

Our rights are inviolate, we have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It’s enshrined in the Constitution, the living document that continues to evolve and update itself as new challenges appear that couldn’t have been anticipated.

All of it is being threatened, though.

• Birthright citizenship is being challenged.

• Citizens are now considered eligible for deportation.

• Everything that was once sacred suddenly has a price tag on it.

Most of us are hoping that the system itself will hold, that those in power will come to their senses or that Democrats will fight back and secure control in the 2026 midterms, that the worst possible scenarios won’t come to pass with all the isolationist rhetoric and the lack of security, ethics, and norms.

We’re assuming that the government will continue to respect us as citizens.

Just pay attention…

Protect your mental health.

Don’t watch the news all the time. People like me have every reason to be frightened for the US and for the world. We have families in countries that live in the shadow of Russian and China, and whatever strategy that the US takes for Ukraine and Taiwan and Palestine will affect those of us who came from those countries. We have a lot of skin in the game.

I’m terrified of speaking out against what is happening, especially where I live. I’m a blue dot in a sea of red, and I know that most people here will think that my views are overblown at best or “infected by the woke mind virus” at worst.

As with all things in history, “this, too, shall pass.”

When future generations look back on this period of time, what will they say about us?