To live better get rid of the news and politics

By Oliver Burkeman

One of the most disturbing aspects of recent times is the fact that people continue to consult with some cultural products, movies, novels, television programs because they have something to say, over the current <x0->cystity political”. Apparently, after spending the day in a world dominated by Trump, Brex, brutal forms of inequality, mysticism and environmental disaster, some of us have nothing better to do than relax by looking back, with a glass of wine in hand.

Personally, I'm looking desperate at works that have nothing to do with currentity, so I'm reading all of the yellow Victorian books. If you would like to stage a version of Julius Caesar, representing a masked criticism of the president, do it, but don't expect me to come and see him. I can't trade two words at dinner or in coffee, without that fascist doll drinking Coca Cola getting involved in my conversation, so get rid of it so I can spend even one evening in the movies with him.

I live in the current political climate, so forgive me if after 10 p.m. I find shelter at eight hundred and reread E.W. stories. Hornung, with Raffles, the gentleman thief.

Psychologists do not approve of avoiding, for it means a flight from reality. And in its extremes, fleeing from reality at best is the ideal recipe for a meaningless life, and at worst, the cause of serious mental problems. But that does not mean that a moderate dose is wrong. Human beings, wrote Sigmund Freud, “could not live on just the pleasures that manage to break reality”.

Maybe we can go even further, and say that maybe survival of democracy does not depend on the fact that everything we see, read and discuss is about the survival of democracy. “Democracy tarnishes our social life”, says philosopher Robert Tallisse, and the “tiania of democracy harms democracy” A healthy policy depends on sharing a vast cultural space, and on activities that have nothing to do with politics, otherwise we risk reaching to the point that we see our fellow citizens as representatives of our own, or rival, and we cannot cooperate with them, as democracy requires. When you ask us to jump to one side or another, a movie or a novel erodes the common ground on which it is possible to establish a constructive policy.

And when we are immersed in activity that separates us from reality, we know what we are doing. When I read the yellow books of the Victorian era, I'm aware that I'm taking a break from reality. While, when I'm stuck with the soap opera hours after Russia or Brex on social networks, I have the feeling that I'm worried about reality, while in fact I'm practicing another kind of escape: I'm ignoring important things, to deal with trivialities.

Maybe in 2018 we should spend more time running and dealing with politics, just because when, then, we decide to deal with it, we can make the difference.

We can go further, and say that maybe survival of democracy does not depend on the fact that everything we see, read and discuss is about the survival of democracy. “Democracy tarnishes our social life”, says philosopher Robert Tallisse, and the “tiania of democracy harms democracy” A healthy policy depends on sharing a vast cultural space, and on activities that have nothing to do with politics, otherwise we risk reaching to the point that we see our fellow citizens as representatives of our own, or rival.

If you wanna spend the nights sitting on the couch watching Mary Poppins or in the kitchen, do it. Your desire to leave currentity is not only justified, but you may be contributing to saving civilization. / The Guardian ) The world..