Letter to the Editor: The new normal?

To the Editor:

Several years ago I wrote a paper titled “Angst and Apathy in Adolescence” based on a two-year study. Now I wonder about the angst and apathy in adults, only I don’t want to study it. I have had enough.

How many times can anyone stand to hear the phrases “at the end of the day,” “fake news” and “alternative facts?” Of course, there is also the other question of where the line is between adolescence and being an adult?

Not to sound like Anne Murray’s song “A Little Good News,” but wouldn’t it be wonderful not to wake up in the morning, or even in the middle of the night, feeling compelled to check the TV or internet to find out what’s been going on (or tweeted) while we have been trying to sleep?

As adolescents, most of our sleeplessness was usually due to our parents, friends or teachers. For adults, the volatile nature of political climate in the United States of America has changed all that. We now have an ever-shrinking global environment and magnifying cultural concerns.

So, that’s the angst for adults. What’s even worse?  Apathy. Even worse than the angst is becoming insulated to the daily national and world wide chaos created by our elected officials. At least the gut wrenching anxiety of angst indicates we still care.
Is living with this level of uncertainty becoming the new normal?

Yes, I know the angst is overwhelming and just plain tiring… all that thinking about the futures of our planet, children, veterans, refugees, the disabled and older adults. However, when we give up and no longer care enough to participate in the political process the American way of life is over.

As those adolescents would put it, “I’m just sayin’.”

Ann Gallagher
a.k.a. Catfish Annie
Lansing