Here’s where I probably make the most enemies to date…
I don’t own a television and I haven’t for years. A lot of things in the news pass me by- typically sports, celebrities, and the weather I’ll bet. So, I really don’t feel like I’m missing much, particularly in the age of the internet. I could look up way more news from way more objective reporters online than I’ll find on TV.
But despite my lack of news knowledge, I did hear about the Trayvon Martin shooting shortly after it happened. There was already a significant buzz about it- many people were demanding justice and upset over the incident- and it was on TV quite a bit (from what I hear). Like most other current events, I didn’t give this NEARLY as much attention, thought, and/or worry that others did. And by ‘nearly’ I mean I completely forgot about it after I was told.
Then the trial happened, and I didn’t realize it was even going on. My roommate was watching the news when the verdict came out and I happened to be in ear/eye-shot. I remembered the case, but didn’t think the verdict would cause an uproar. This shooting, the case, and the verdict weren’t something I was concerned with at all. I know that probably upsets people, to think someone could not care about this story, but I want you to try and understand why…
I do this thing mentally by default that is just part of me- I consider all the reality I know and can perceive- even when everyone else is focused on one thing. ‘I totally agree, that from what I know, this kid (Trayvon) was killed unjustly and that is a sad and horrible thing’ However- and this is where my ability to not be concerned with it comes in- we live in a world where much more horrible tragedies happen every single day. We live in a world where our American tax dollars pay for bullets, drones, and missiles that take the lives of innocent human beings. We live in a world where pre-teen girls are forced in to prostitution. We live in a world where people get raped, murdered, oppressed, tortured, abused, and killed all the time.
There are over 7 billion humans on the planet, and just because the news focuses on one story on one kid, doesn’t mean the shit you don’t see isn’t happening. I’m not stating that it’s just this case- I’m stating that this is true of everything we see- there is always more than what we see (much less what we see on TV). We focus soo much time, energy, and fight in to things that are insignificant to what matters overall. Can you imagine- really imagine this- if people filled the Golden Gate bridge every time a kid was murdered in the world. What about when a girl is raped or kidnapped? Guess what, that bridge would no longer be for cars. How about we have a country-wide candle-lit sigel each time someone dies from a car accident. I’m gonna get in the candle business. There are other kids being murdered right now, that you’ll just never know about, so you’ll never even worry about.
I just want everyone to be honest about their focus. Be honest that you ignore 99.99999% of the kids that get murdered but spent a ton of life force in to worrying about one just because society/media focused on it. This isn’t about race. It isn’t about money. It isn’t about guns. It isn’t about TV. It isn’t about politics. It isn’t about anything other than us- nothing is. If we just live our lives waiting to pick out whatever seems convenient and popular and emotional, we will continue missing the point… and the point is…
THAT WE VERY EASILY CAN ONLY SEE WHAT COMFORTS US…
… INSTEAD OF ALL THAT’S THERE.
Relatively Writing 
Wow… I wrote this, and nearly all these posts many years ago, when I was significantly more logical than sensitive. I understand my point, and I think it’s still valid even considering the police atrocities that existed before and continued after, but it doesn’t offer much of an alternative.
I think the answer to not letting your external influences focus and control your emotions, is to take a breath, observe what needs to actually change and unite with like-minded folks to change it. Obviously, I’m writing about a serious subject- murder- seemingly racist murder, so strong emotions will rightfully be involved. My point is and was that emotions won’t fix problems and media outlets just want ratings, so their coverage of even murder won’t be geared towards solving it either.