I have noticed that I am spending far too much time reading sites like reddit and digg. I am fascinated by politics at the national and global level, and this has done two things. It has opened me up to the reality that big governments are very corrupt, and that the bigger and more powerful a government is, the harder it is to change. This causes me to flip between righteous indignation and impotent apathy.
Once I realized that I was caught in a catch-22 (both energized and disempowered by information), I realized that this is exactly the reason that we should focus our energy on what is happening in our own sphere, and do our best to stay out of partisan politics at the impersonal level. That doesn't mean I am giving up on important issues, but it does mean that I will focus on those issues at the personal level. This seems to make an end-run around the one thing that gets in the way of attempts to better society: I am not forcing my beliefs on others. I am merely behaving in a way that I feel others should behave. Instead of forcing a potential improvement on others, I will embrace the change myself, and allow my example (positive or negative) to speak for itself.
In order to improve in this area, I am going to set a few goals.
1. Stop viewing partisan web sites. This includes most news sites, and news aggregators like digg and reddit. Instead of wasting my time on those sites, I will spend the time I am online on sites that have inspiring stories and good self-help articles.
2. Get involved in learning more about friends and family, and helping them with whatever they need. See The Best Kind of Happiness
3. Expand my community by meetings others that act locally. I need to find a local non-profit, or some other existing community of like-minded people.
I am sure that I will think of more. For now those goals should be enough to get me started.
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