Long time no see, my good friend Trump
Part of Pursuing simplicity Collection
Reduce choices, lower complexity, focus on what truly matters.
I was video-calling my dad today when I heard the news blaring from his phone. That’s when I realized I hadn’t seen Trump’s face in over a month.
What a refreshing discovery.
Wars happening somewhere. TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out). Stock market movements. I knew nothing about any of it.
My parents hate local news. Pork rice went up by 10 NT dollars. Someone’s cat got lost and found. Another car accident somewhere.
But they love international news. As if international news is the elite circle of journalism. Watching global news instead of local news is like wearing a Rolex. Monday through Friday it’s Global Focus. Weekends it’s Sisy Chen. Gotta stay ahead of the curve. Gotta know what’s happening. Gotta plan for the future.
I said, why should I care? Even if oil prices go up, I still have to get where I’m going. Even if World War III breaks out, I’ve already done what I can to prepare. Everything else is out of my control.
As for my duty as a voter in a democracy? Everyone votes for the same party every four years anyway. People only see what they want to see. No amount of news is going to change that.
I used to constantly urge them to stop watching the news and reclaim their peace of mind. But it was always like talking to a wall. Now we just leave each other alone. Healthy boundaries. Though I still try once in a while, like today.
News is meaningless to me. Just another unnecessary junk dopamine machine.
Rather than letting it mess with my mood and my most precious resource, focus, I’d rather just not see it at all.
If something truly important happens, I’ll hear about it through other channels.
It’s the same logic as keeping my phone on silent with no vibration: there is no news I need to know the second it happens.
Come to think of it, for people like my parents who follow world news every day, Trump must be their best friend.
They check his latest moves daily. What he said. Whose hand he shook. How much the stock market swung because of him.
If you don’t care about someone, or don’t even like them, why do you watch them every single day?
Even real best friends don’t see each other that often.
So in a way, Trump is a lot of people’s best friend.
Everyone’s bestie: Donald Trump.
Indie developer, AI music miner, and aspiring writer.
Documenting my journey of personal growth and the pursuit of simplicity.