I've been sitting here, staring at the blank, white page of this Word document — watching the cursor flash expectantly. It's like that white page and that blinking cursor are mocking me, challenging me to write something; anything so that I can get this Editor's Note written. I hate that cursor.
Not much has been happening in my life, so it's hard to come up with anything to write about. There are lots of things in the news, but a lot of them involve violence or politics or war or other bad things that I just can't bring myself to write about.
Part of this is that I know just how I feel about those incidents. That should make them easier to write about, but it doesn't. It's just all so depressing, and in the end the only thing that I can think of to say is: "Can't we all just get along?"
That seems simplistic, I know. It seems simplistic because it is. But I've found that the simplest solutions are often the right ones. The truth behind most of the bad news — especially news about violence and war — is the fact that the people on all sides of these conflicts around the world all hate each other and would rather kill than try to get along.
It's depressing. It's also pretty much repeated over and over again throughout human history. That's even more depressing.
I'd like to believe that there's a better day on the horizon. I've tried to believe that for years. But the things we keep hearing about in the news just confirm that it's more of the same. Everybody seems to hate everybody else that's not like them.
The global ecology is going into the toilet while politicians argue about it and try to deny that it's happening. Big business is polluting and exploiting workers all over the world. There are revolutions and insurgencies and tribal conflicts throughout the Middle East and Africa. Unarmed black teenagers are being gunned down by white policemen in the streets of the US.
It's all a bit too much to take in sometimes, and that's why I sit for so long, staring at the white page of this Word document.
Watching that cursor blink at me expectantly.
Sean Vale
Editor
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