What Taylor Swift thinks about 2017, and what it teaches us about Activism

[Ryika]

Sooo... 6 days ago, Taylor Swift posted a birthday message on instagram:

I love you guys so much. This was a photo @paul_sidoti took at @capitalofficial Jingle Bell Ball in London a few days ago. I couldn’t have asked for a better year, all thanks to you. Thanks for all the birthday wishes. Can’t wait to see what 28 will be like. See you on tour

5 days ago, jezebel.com posted an article about her. Its title?
Shut Up Taylor Swift, Everybody Hated 2017

2017 was not a good year. In the last twelve months, the United States has been plagued by hurricanes, wildfire, gunfire, and a group of meglomaniacs hellbent on dismantling social safety nets so they can get tax breaks on their private jets. Billionaires destroyed media companies. Ice shelves cracked. Tom Petty died. The Great British Bake Off imploded. But it appears Taylor Swift had a super swell time while the rest of us suffered nightly panic attacks, thanks very much, and she couldn’t have asked for a better year!

Swift posted about her wonderful 2017 on Instagram on Wednesday, just a few days after playing a show in London. “I love you guys so much,” she wrote. “I couldn’t have asked for a better year, all thanks to you.” In all fairness, it was her birthday, but on my birthday I blacked out and cried and Taylor should have, too.

Billboard points out that Swift did, in fact, have a pretty good year, considering her new album, Reputation, has basically been at the top of the charts since it was released last month, plus she’s allegedly in an “awesome” relationship with boyfriend Joe Alwyn, how lucky for her. And yet, it’s hard to imagine even the happiest of life circumstances trumping the total trash storm that otherwise constituted this particular orbit around the sun.

Anyway, undoubtably 2018 will be worse, so perhaps Taylor Swift will get married.

Now... that's obviously a worthless article written by a person in a terrible mindset, so why do I post it? Well, I think this is the perfect summary of the collective mental illness that is spreading on the internet, particularly among those who want to see the world become a better place. While the world is surely not a bright place full of rainbows, internalizing everything bad that is going on the "global" level, is a path directly towards clinical depression.

This is, I think, one of the great misunderstandings of many on the Left, but more particularly "young activists" who lack experience, which is that because we are aware of the bad things that are going on in the world, we must now think about them all the time, or else we are terrible people, or "betraying the cause".

But no person can live like that without losing their mind. Being part of the change one wants to see means giving up a part of one's life to do activism, that is true, but enjoying the rest of one's life is not a betrayal of the cause, quite the opposite - it's a responsibility that every activist has, to keep oneself in a good mental place.

Because if you don't, then you write articles like the one above, or maybe you end up on an internet forum where all you do is to complain about Donald Trump all the time, to people who are just as far off the mark as you are, while everybody else rolls their eyes. You might end up betraying your cause for the good feeling of "being woke", while actually you're just giving up all the Energy you could use to affect positive change to sit and cry in an echo chamber. Tragic.

 

[Perfection]

2017 objectively sucked because of President Crap-For-Brains

Noting that isn't mental illness it's a simple statement of fact.

 

[Kyriakos]

Well, "28" may be better, but that is a decade from now.

 

[Commodore]

This is, I think, one of the great misunderstandings of many on the Left, but more particularly "young activists" who lack experience, which is that because we are aware of the bad things that are going on in the world, we must now think about them all the time, or else we are terrible people, or "betraying the cause".

Exactly. I'm getting more than a little sick and tired of this "the world is crap, we must all be depressed and seriousface all the time because...reasons" attitude. And I think this attitude really comes from people who don't have a family to take care of. I only really have personal experience to go on here, but I've noticed that before my friends and I had families, we were all like the "young activists" you describe. But as we matured and actually started getting real life responsibilities, suddenly the problems of strangers in far away lands just didn't seem nearly as important as the problems and needs of our own households.

I guess it's just easier for people to care about things that don't concern them when they only have themselves to take care of and don't have anyone else directly depending on them.

 

[Narz]

2017 objectively sucked because of President Crap-For-Brains

Noting that isn't mental illness it's a simple statement of fact.

Letting one guy ruin your year is very bad for your mental health. Not very proactive.

"Objectively" (whatever that means) humankind is ****ed in the medium term with or without Trump.

If you're letting Trump ruin your life it's 100% your fault. The guy is utter sleeze, makes you question the intelligence of your countrymen but hasn't yet been able to do much actual damage to the average person (in the long term yes he's causing harm but if there's nothing you can do its dumb to obsess)

I have enough personal problems without letting this added, unnecessary stress into my head. Can't busy worried about Trump while spending time with my kid or pursuing my goals.

 

[Tahuti]

Shut Up Taylor Swift, Everybody Hated 2017

Letting one guy ruin your year is very bad for your mental health. Not very proactive.

I've suffered a psychotic break featuring Trump, and getting a vision telling me to fulfill my destiny as the antichrist and that the mother of abominations will be my future wife and that she is.. nah, too private.

 

[Perfection]

Exactly. I'm getting more than a little sick and tired of this "the world is crap, we must all be depressed and seriousface all the time because...reasons" attitude. And I think this attitude really comes from people who don't have a family to take care of. I only really have personal experience to go on here, but I've noticed that before my friends and I had families, we were all like the "young activists" you describe. But as we matured and actually started getting real life responsibilities, suddenly the problems of strangers in far away lands just didn't seem nearly as important as the problems and needs of our own households.

I have non-white family members, racist prigs spreading hate affects the quality of life my family.

"Objectively" (whatever that means) humankind is ****ed in the medium term with or without Trump.

I'm talking about the context of US culture (which is what you'd expect from Taylor Swift saying 2017 being a good year) which was characterized by ugly political strife.

If you're letting Trump ruin your life it's 100% your fault. The guy is utter sleeze, makes you question the intelligence of your countrymen but hasn't yet been able to do much actual damage to the average person (in the long term yes he's causing harm but if there's nothing you can do its dumb to obsess)

I have enough personal problems without letting this added, unnecessary stress into my head. Can't busy worried about Trump while spending time with my kid or pursuing my goals.

1. Trump's crap personally effects me in a myriad of different ways
2. I'm not letting Trump ruin my life, I'm just pissed that he's working against the things that I value.
3. All of us can and should do something about this. We live in a democracy, and it's up to us to engage in it. The "screw it" attitude is counterproductive.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

2017 was a pretty good year for me personally. I mean, not good, but a lot better than 2015 and 2016.
The Trump stuff ? Well, I've been rooting for the downfall of the American Empire for the past 20 years.
German politics ia a bit of a circus right now, but at least the FDP saved us from a government which includes the FDP.

Also, the word "activist" is becoming one of the most over- and misused words in the English language. No, someone who writes something on the internet or shares memes is not an activist. Activists actually do stuff and annoy their political leaders in person.

 

[Ryika]

Also, the word "activist" is becoming one of the most over- and misused words in the English language. No, someone who writes something on the internet or shares memes is not an activist. Activists actually do stuff and annoy their political leaders in person.

Such a person can be an activist, if they actually manage to be read by people who don't already agree with them and are willing to consider changing their opinion, or listen to viewpoints that show them a different perspective of things. Recruiting people to a cause is one of the most important things activists do, and something that some movements really fail at, which is why they're not gaining the numbers that they could gain, and are thus losing out on manpower. But of course in most cases these people are just preaching to the quire.

 

[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

Why care what other people says?

 

[Manfred Belheim]

Don't forget that the same sorts of people were posting memes of everything burning to the ground in early 2016, just because a few celebrities died. People overreact.

 

[yung.carl.jung]

Man, T. Swizzle is weird. Whenever she actively tries to look sexy, seductive, raunchy or whatever adjective you want, she comes out looking clunky, off-putting, bordering on creepy. She looks like a mannequin trying to fit in among humans. Or maybe like an AI convincing herself she is precisely not that. Ironically enough I think she's hot, but only when she's not trying. She looks best on accidental pictures, or when she doesn't know she's being *click*ed.

Now... that's obviously a worthless article written by a person in a terrible mindset, so why do I post it? Well, I think this is the perfect summary of the collective mental illness that is spreading on the internet, particularly among those who want to see the world become a better place. While the world is surely not a bright place full of rainbows, internalizing everything bad that is going on the "global" level, is a path directly towards clinical depression.

Ah, yes, "clinical depression" comes from reading too many-a negative Jezebel articles!

A negative outlook on life is not synonymous with "clinical depression". Being depressed, sad, down, unhappy or simply not satisfied with current worldly affairs is not synonymous with "clinical depression". You're devaluing the real, constant struggle of people that are actually suffering by grouping them in with people who actively choose to have a negative outlook. "Clinical depression" is not a choice. A few people on this board suffer from it. We should be respectful towards those people and their struggle, and acting like people actually develop "clinical depression" because of 'muh drumpf' is ******* stupid. I don't disagree with the rest of your post necessarily, things like this just **** me off

 

[Ryika]

Ah, yes, "clinical depression" comes from reading too many-a negative Jezebel articles!

A negative outlook on life is not synonymous with "clinical depression". Being depressed, sad, down, unhappy or simply not satisfied with current worldly affairs is not synonymous with "clinical depression". You're devaluing the real, constant struggle of people that are actually suffering by grouping them in with people who actively choose to have a negative outlook. "Clinical depression" is not a choice. A few people on this board suffer from it. We should be respectful towards those people and their struggle, and acting like people actually develop "clinical depression" because of 'muh drumpf' is ******* stupid. I don't disagree with the rest of your post necessarily, things like this just **** me off

It is widely known that constant exposure to negative news has direct influence on our mental health. As does excessive use of social media. Will those alone cause you to drop into clinical depression? No, probably not, unless you're really prone to mental problems. But in combination with other factors, yeah, not that unlikely. Especially given that a person who is likely to fall into that trap is also likely to already be in a weakened state, because you're not likely to get so invested into the news cycle of Jezebel, if you have a functioning life to care about.

It is also known that people can for example get PTSD-symptoms purely from watching footage of 9/11 and worrying overly about the consequences and danger of future terror attacks. Acknowledging these things does not diminish the severity of the Mental Illnesses people suffer in any way. If anybody here is disrespectful to people with clinical depression or any other mental illness, then it's you by dismissing people who got them from things that you don't find severe enough to be taken seriously.

 

[Manfred Belheim]

A negative outlook on life is not synonymous with "clinical depression". Being depressed, sad, down, unhappy or simply not satisfied with current worldly affairs is not synonymous with "clinical depression".

Just a reminder - the article author talked about nightly panic attacks and blacking out and crying on her birthday.

 

[yung.carl.jung]

It's certainly true that an overtly negative focus in media can contribute to mental illness and recent studies have indeed shown a correlation (not necessarily a causation) between social media use and depression, but the way you paint it is just wrong. What my comment was focussing on is that you made it seem (to me) like depression is somehow a choice by faulting people for focussing too much on the negative aspects of media. If anything in this case the media (the producers thereof) would be to blame, not the people and their selective bias. I also think you are conflating two groups of people unfairly: People that choose a negative outlook on life, which you describe as: internalizing everything bad that is going on the "global" level / "young activists" who lack experience, which is that because we are aware of the bad things that are going on in the world, we must now think about them all the time, or else we are terrible people, or "betraying the cause" and people who are born with a hormone deficit or have been traumatised or have inherited mental illnesses or what have you. I don't think soaring depression rates in first world countries are not really to blame on the way people selectively consume media and paint their world, but rather on a whole spectrum of factors ranging from socio-cultural factors to more graspable factors like nutrition, a lack of -sunlight and exercise. We can however discuss how much of a factor the media (and social media) have on developing rates of mental illness in a society.

 

[luiz]

2017 was a great year for me. Probably the best year for my personal life, and by very very far the best year for my financial life. Couldnt care less about El Trumpo, and in Brasil we had the first full year since 2002 completely free from the rule of the Workers Party thugs. Many of their leaders are actually rotting in prison where they belong. This alone makes 2017 beyond amazing.

This Jezebel article is so full of jealousy and pettiness it's funny. I pity the people who read this crap.

 

[Ryika]

It's certainly true that an overtly negative focus in media can contribute to mental illness and recent studies have indeed shown a correlation (not necessarily a causation) between social media use and depression, but the way you paint it is just wrong. What my comment was focussing on is that you made it seem (to me) like depression is somehow a choice by faulting people for focussing too much on the negative aspects of media.

Yeah... no. Nowhere did I say anything that would imply a conscious choice. Quite the opposite, the fact that I specifically mentioned young activists who are too unexperienced to know "how to do it right" should have led you away from that idea.

In a way it is a choice though, as a person can choose to get involved with behavior that ends up being harmful to them or not, but it's obviously not an informed choice that people can make consciously. A person who is not mentally ill, does usually not know what they're susceptible for (if anything), and realizing that you're on a downward spiral and stopping yourself isn't something that usually works, most of the time people only realize once it's already too late. It's fair to say: "If I had made different decisions, I could have avoided this.", but not without also adding that "But there was no way I could have known that at that time.", or at least "But I was lacking information/experience to make a better decision."

I also think you are conflating two groups of people unfairly: People that choose a negative outlook on life, which you describe as: internalizing everything bad that is going on the "global" level / "young activists" who lack experience, which is that because we are aware of the bad things that are going on in the world, we must now think about them all the time, or else we are terrible people, or "betraying the cause" and people who are born with a hormone deficit or have been traumatised or have inherited mental illnesses or what have you. I don't think soaring depression rates in first world countries are not really to blame on the way people selectively consume media and paint their world, but rather on a whole spectrum of factors ranging from socio-cultural factors to more graspable factors like nutrition, a lack of -sunlight and exercise. We can however discuss how much of a factor the media (and social media) have on developing rates of mental illness in a society.

I did not claim, or suggest, that this particular behavior is the main cause, or one of the main causes, of the increasing rates of mental illnesses in our society, no idea where you got this from.

 

[Groff]

Man, T. Swizzle is weird. Whenever she actively tries to look sexy, seductive, raunchy or whatever adjective you want, she comes out looking clunky, off-putting, bordering on creepy. She looks like a mannequin trying to fit in among humans. Or maybe like an AI convincing herself she is precisely not that. Ironically enough I think she's hot, but only when she's not trying. She looks best on accidental pictures, or when she doesn't know she's being *click*ed.

Remember Tay AI?

 

[yung.carl.jung]

Yeah... no. Nowhere did I say anything that would imply a conscious choice. Quite the opposite, the fact that I specifically mentioned young activists who are too unexperienced to know "how to do it right" should have led you away from that idea.

In a way it is a choice though, as a person can choose to get involved with behavior that ends up being harmful to them or not, but it's obviously not an informed choice that people can make consciously. A person who is not mentally ill, does usually not know what they're susceptible for (if anything), and realizing that you're on a downward spiral and stopping yourself isn't something that usually works, most of the time people only realize once it's already too late. It's fair to say: "If I had made different decisions, I could have avoided this.", but not without also adding that "But there was no way I could have known that at that time.", or at least "But I was lacking information/experience to make a better decision."

I more or less agree with this paragraph

Remember Tay AI?

 

[Narz]

3. All of us can and should do something about this. We live in a democracy, and it's up to us to engage in it. The "screw it" attitude is counterproductive.

So do something. Take action. You still have the same freedom you did last year, all the more reason not to waste it.