Stop scrolling. Seriously, stop scrolling.
What’s worse than being stuck in a bubble of your own version of reality is being stuck in a whirlpool of despair. In eight months, our idea of hopecore has gone from a Charli XCX song and political convention roll call to wishing an inevitable news headline would come sooner than later.
Doomscrolling is just another form of propaganda. It’s intended to make you give up and stop resisting. By giving us a sense of powerlessness, it gives us a warped sense of purpose. We can build community with others who feel hopeless. And like all addictions, it makes us crave higher and higher doses of resignation until we wind up surrendering to the regime or checking out of life completely.
I had an experience with a pre-social media version of doomscrolling nearly 40 years ago. I worked at a software company that was on a downward spiral. Since we didn’t have TikTok, I’d gather with my friends from work for golf and beers, and we talked about how terrible things were at our job. We’d spend hours complaining about how badly management was running the company, speculating when and how it would meet its demise, and wondering if we’d get our final paycheck. I finally had enough of all the negative talk. I realized the only way I could avoid going down with the company was to find another job. That’s how I got the job in Orange County where I met my wife and started our family.
The lesson: the antidote to doomscrolling is to put down your phone and do something.
Why do we regard Representative Al Green as a hero and not those who wore pink blazers and held up ping pong paddles? It’s because he did something and accepted the consequences for it. We have a long and treasured history of civil disobedience in our country from Henry David Thoreau to Rosa Parks to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Because we know change doesn’t happen unless somebody gets up and does something.
Maybe you can’t speak out in Congress. You can write letters to your elected officials. I’ve been writing to my congressional representative, even though she’s a Republican. You can go to protests and marches. Not far from me in Mission Viejo, there have been growing protests near city hall. A convicted January 6 rioter was greeted by protesters in Laguna Woods. There are plenty of opportunities to make your voice heard.
And if you are an author, you have a greater obligation. Not only do you need to tell the truth about the situation we’re in, you need to offer a vision of a better world. And when evangelicals are declaring empathy a “sin” (even though empathy was the main thing Jesus preached), you need to uphold the values of compassion and understanding.
Don’t get stuck in the addiction of doomscrolling. It will only convince you to surrender your power. Get out and do something, and you’ll discover how much power you actually have.
