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Death By Demographics

Posted on by D. Parker

https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/01/29/death-by-demographics/“You don’t stop
laughing when
you grow old,
you grow old
when you stop
laughing.”
– George
Bernard
Shaw

There isn’t as much laughter as there used to be,
no, I’m completely wrong, there’s just as much, if not more laughter, it just seems less jovial, less fun, more jeering, sneering, mocking; less of a tonic, more of a poison. https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/01/29/death-by-demographics/
We’re in the middle of a Civil War, without the cool uniforms, just about as many guns, more antibiotics and opioids, but with the same unfortunate emphasis on uncivil. https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/01/29/death-by-demographics/I don’t think this will change anytime soon. But in the whimsical winsome wisdom of the surprisingly philosophical show, Blossom:
“Don’t know about the future, that’s anybody’s guess
Ain’t no good reason for getting all depressed
Buy up your pad and pencil, I’ll give you a piece of my mind
In my opinionation, the sun is gonna surely shine”
(make sure you have sunglasses).
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/01/29/death-by-demographics/“Opinionation” is right on – nations fueled by opinion and connected by the internet. https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/05/19/the-internet-has-spoken/ Many feel out of control (without even the illusion of control), and have inaccurately begun to believe our opinions are truth, that feelings are facts while desperately trying to process more information in a day than we used to get in 10 years…is it any wonder we’re clinging to numbers, theories, gossip, polls, conjunction, speculation, sensationalism.https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/01/29/death-by-demographics/The song, “Murder by Numbers” by The Police keeps popping into my head; or Suicide By Numbers, we’re letting demographics kill our sense of self and poor common sense on a slab somewhere, waiting for the autopsy. https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/01/29/death-by-demographics/Statistical characteristics of human populations, such as age or income, could be used to find out who needs shelter, food, medical attention, instead it’s used mostly to identify markets to sell sell sell (did I mention to sell?). It adds to the distraction and the ‘us versus them’ mentality that is tearing us apart.https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/01/29/death-by-demographics/Death By Demographics  is also the title of the final episode of Murder She Wrote, not unironically was cancelled in 1996, due in part to demographics and Angela Lansbury’s boredom after 12 years of playing Jessica Fletcher, either the smartest woman ever or a serial killer who pins crimes on others. https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/01/29/death-by-demographics/It was a time of strange, supernatural, and youth: Friends (How you doin’?) https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/09/28/we-were-on-a-break/, The X-Files (The Truth Is Out There? https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/10/26/my-big-fat-supernatural-life/), https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/01/29/death-by-demographics/ 7th Heaven, The Unabomber was captured, so many were doing the Macarena (and badly), there were heroes and zeroes, Independence Day, Spice Girls (oh no, now I’m humming “Wannabe”), 3rd Rock From The Sun,https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/01/29/death-by-demographics/ Tupac died (or did he?), ER, talking about the Superbowl (so much has changed…), Tickle Me Elmo – good thing Fifty Shades (ummm, Happy Valentine’s Day???) wasn’t out then, folks would have lined up to buy Tie Me Up and Tickle Me Elmo https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/02/12/fifteen-shades-of-valentines-day/ , Seinfeld (What is the deal with that?)…

https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/01/29/death-by-demographics/Demographics feed our fear and anger. Our fear of missing out (FOMO https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/11/08/is-everyone-hanging-out-without-me/    https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/01/06/im-not-inclined-to-resign-to-maturity/), and our fear/anger of not getting enough or what we “deserve”. https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/01/29/death-by-demographics/Social media is the master class of demographics, people mindlessly drooling over videos, pictures, stories –  a viral version of gossip and tabloids, oozing out of your laptop, tablet, desktop, and/or phone.https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/01/29/death-by-demographics/Numbers are definitely the ruling class. The nobles send out the knights to hack our brains, find out what scares us, what tempts us and there it is, ready to by.https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/01/29/death-by-demographics/Even blogging has become all about the numbers, instead of connection. https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/02/02/theres-no-crying-in-blogging/https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/01/29/death-by-demographics/Numbers are important, but letting them dictate who we are, what we are, what we do, you have to show some caution. Choices should be made with information, knowledge, facts…anyone remember those?https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/01/29/death-by-demographics/Maybe I’m just looking for answers where there are more questions, I shouldn’t blame numbers, they’re just hanging around, building the universe, what we do with them isn’t their fault; maybe they could even help us remember we’re all in this life together. We’re all in this life together (oops, there goes my Groundhog Day again https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/02/02/groundhog-day/). So stay warm, eat some pancakes https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/02/17/well-always-have-pancakes/, find out how many weeks of winter are left, love, and keep laughing, but not at each other.https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/01/29/death-by-demographics/

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120 thoughts on “Death By Demographics”

      5. That place might be California. We have a few days of rain in early January and then it felt like spring dropped in on us. This morning I was out working on the covered patio I’m building and I was wearing a short sleeve t-shirt and sweating. The weather report for my area reports temps in the 70s during the day.

      6. Oh that sounds lovely, we’ve got a few feet of snow and frigid cold, I’ll take Spring as an early visitor (and she can stay as long as she wants). Hope this week is treating you well. 🙂

  7. “trying to process more information in a day than we used to get in 10 years”—Yes, spot-on. So much hits us from all sides now, it’s a wonder we haven’t all shut down and started blabbering senselessly. Or maybe we have?…

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  11. It is so true! It is wonderful when we can gather a lot of people around us but because we love to be with them and not because we are creating an ego crown of their number!

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  12. Excellent post as always, Donna. This is why I stick with WP as my go-to. Everyone is pleasant, rational, kind… 100%, stats that I can live with and the type of demographics that keeps me sane. 😀

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    1. I agree, because there is some wild stuff people ‘say’ out there they wouldn’t have the guts to ‘say’ anywhere else and that makes no sense.

      Reply

  13. I always suspected that about Jessica Fletcher. The obsession people have with numbers is based on some kind of competition model that I just don’t care for. I’ve been seeing a lot lately about people obsessing over their followers and worrying when they get unfollowed. I don’t care about that too much–the small core of people who like what I write follow me pretty loyally–that’s who I do all this for:-)

    Reply

    1. After 12 seasons, it seems hard not to wonder. lol 😉
      Yes, how many Likes, followers, stats, I doubt it’s making anyone happy, always comparing – just be yourself. 🙂

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  14. When I was young I liked numbers, maths was easy peasy but the older I got the less appealing numbers became. The more I added on, the less I wanted it to come to. Now I notice my laugh has become more cynical and real humour laughs happen inside so I don’t get noticed.
    Do young people laugh any more(or any less if it comes to that) or has Social Media divided them into an us and them theme park of mockery and hate mail?
    Blossom sounded promising but I’ve never heard of it, the BBC stopped making anything funny years ago and all I have to turn to now are Big Bang Theory and old episodes of The Goldbergs and of course your blog. Thank you for not letting the humour die off.
    xxx Hugs Galore xxx

    Reply

    1. Math and I have always had a complicated relationship, despite my attempts to grow closer. 😉
      The young people I know seem to feel the divide less than the older folks, they seem a lot easier going and don’t seem to feel as tribal; I hope that continues. 🙂
      “Blossom” is older, early 90s, with a young Mayim Bialik, before she was Amy Farrah Fowler on “The Big Bang Theory”, so before she became a neuroscientist on and off screen as well; it was a fun show but with some intriguing messages. 🙂
      Thank you for letting me amuse you, the thought of making you laugh makes me smile. 🙂
      Massive may humour hug you hugs xoxoxoxoxo

      Reply

  16. At this time, there is a split, one that can’t be breached by words because there is no common ground. The is nothing to really believe in, because there is no truth, there never has been, just personal truth…everything else is information that has been sifted through another person’s pov. The thing is we used to be able to be okay with the “truths” we were given, even if fake, because they didn’t hurt people like the lies we get today. There’s isn’t anything to hold on to. That’s okay, we just have to figure out how to live that way. Things won’t change, as you said, not for a long time because trust has been broken and hatred has come out of the closet and is in the streets, smiling and looking like the moron in washington. People are numbers, the police have been militarized and are willing to kill the people they are supposed to protect. Women and minorities are being attacked, killed and deported. So, um, climate change doesn’t exist, even though it does, tax breaks make the rich richer and the poor poorer…blah, blah, blah. But see, people still follow the bad guys, the rapists priest who are in every single catholic church in the entire world, are still in existence. How is that possible. People are insane. My cousin’s grandson is an alterably. I have talked to her for hours. She didn’t say a word. She will never change. And neither will I. People don’t want to make things different, or better. As long as their kid isn’t raped, repeatedly, I guess they’re okay with what the priests do and cover up. See, if people don’t try and protect kids, what will they stand up for? Everyone tries to keep their kids healthy by feeding them the right food but they do nothing to stop air, water, and food pollution that poisons them. So, yeah….not a lot of good news out there. Not truth, just lies. No trust, everyone is on their own. Minorities live in fear and violence against women and children is never going to end. Nothing will change as long as rich white men are in charge. Nothing. It’s worse than it has ever been because the guys in power aren’t even pretending to play the game.

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    1. I guess the world has always had issues, but we need to be able to listen (we always seem able to talk and talk and talk) to fix any of these issues.

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    1. lol that makes me think of the movie, “Being John Malkovich” and oh no, I’m Malkovich! 😉
      Thank you kindly and hope this week is treating you well. 🙂

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  19. I must agree with all you have said. Let me say being in the Senior demographic really sucks! I am not a stereotype, people! I am NOT! Numbers, numbers–the universe seems to be run by numbers in equations. Some scientists believe we are all in some giant Nintendo game jumping about, being played by who knows what? I wish It would put the controller down! Even better, I wish he would hit “New Game”.

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  21. Lots to think about here Donna. Glad to say I’m not in the numbers game. I never look at blog stats, views, etc, lol. I blog, people read and comment and I love engaging and answering back. That’s what blogging is about, reading, commenting, sharing and engaging. 🙂

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  23. Nailed it!! So funny and sadly so true. Speaking of numbers how many people are exhausted from the constant need to be on and be perfect? And the noise, noise, noise is enough to drive a person insane.

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    1. It’s distraction, keeping us from facing the real problems…I agree, especially about the noise, physical and literal.
      Hope this weekend is a quite one, in all ways. 🙂

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      1. I try to disconnect most weekends. It’s a little challenging but when I don’t I get so burned out I have to disconnect for several days. Have a good weekend!

      4. I know just how you feel, Steph, and I’m really sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner, you would not believe what WordPress did this time, lots of comments thrown into Spam and about 25 just poof, disappeared then reappeared weeks later. Sigh, I guess I should be used to it by now, but somehow I always managed to be shocked. lol 😉
        Hope this weekend treat you kindly. 🙂

  24. The more I’ve pondered Murder She Wrote over the years (which is actually not the joke it reads like as I write Cozy Mysteries) the more I’ve become convinced she had a hand in it.

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  26. So true… and scary. Just this week I was discussing with my 32 year old daughter that I’m plain sick of numbers defining us. Especially numbers of visitors, likes, comments, shares… and weight numbers, too.

    This, this, this: “Even blogging has become all about the numbers, instead of connection.”

    Landed here from the midlife FB group! Good to meet you.

    Reply

    1. Glad to meet you too, Lisa. Yes, we’re not about the numbers, we’re so much more than that. 🙂
      Hope the weekend treats you and yours kindly and dare I hope, numberless? 😉

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  29. Pingback: The Weekly Headlines – My Daily Musing

    1. Thank you kindly for sharing the #bloglove
      I’m #26 (I wish), #49, #61, #73, #100, #106 – wow, thank you!!!
      Hope this week is treating you kindly. 🙂

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  31. Nice post. These weird days we have access to all of the knowledge in the world and Americans end up being led by a trashy lie from a sleazy tabloid. We use demographics to neutralize and isolate people. I saw a review of Justin Timberlake’s performance at the Superbowl. At 37 he’s now a little ‘too long in the tooth’ for some of his dance moves. I didn’t see the performance but the review was scathing and ageist. If you’re alive by this time next year you’ll be another year older. It’s not a sin, it’s how life goes.

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    1. It seems easier for too many people to look for and dwell on the negative, like it would kill them to give someone a compliment. I believed the internet would lead to a golden age of knowledge, but it seems to have gone into the age of garbage, whining, lying, and trolling instead.

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      3. I could not help but notice the excellent example of Russian propaganda in your comments section. Isn’t it amazing that Putin’s army of poison pens are everywhere?

        If a writer says all systems are corrupt and everything is terrible and all things are equal and there is no truth he’s pushing Putin’s soiled worldview. 🙂

        Yes, our democracies have a history of doing terrible things but our governments let us talk about those things and advocate for those government has wronged. That makes my imperfect democracy better than the post-modern shithole Putin wants us to buy.

      5. The difference between our democracies and Russia’s tyranny is that when a democratic people unite our governments work for us; not against us. If I live in a functioning democracy, I decide the course of my life; not some corrupt and cynical Oligarch.

  33. Yes, yes yes!!! Glad you shared this over at #TrafficJamWeekend. It’s my pick for this week. I love it!! I started another linky party specifically for people who write. I’d love for you to share on it. It opens every Wednesday at noon eastern time. Words on Wednesday #WriterWednesday

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    1. Thank you, thank you and I’ll be over at #TrafficJamWeekend tomorrow for more, more, more – I find the most amazing bloggers and vintage posts I’ve often missed. Love it!!! 🙂 And I’m going to get to #WriterWednesday – I’m just catching up, thank you kindly for the invite and your continuing patience. 🙂

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    1. I’ve been here, on and off, but WordPress is not sending notifications to a lot of us and unfollowing many as well, they’re up to their old tricks aka “If it ain’t broke, break it”. Besides WordPress I hope life has been treating you kindly. 🙂

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  35. Pingback: Traffic Jam Weekend Linky Party #131

    1. Just when I think #TrafficJamWeekend can’t get any better, you outdo your and shine on for another weekend!!!
      Thank you so much for the feature and the kind words. 🙂 xoxox
      I don’t know how you all do it every single week, just one fantastic linky party after after, but thank goodness you do.
      Thank you again and again and again and hope this weekend is treating everyone magnificently!!! 🙂

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  36. “Trying to process more information in a day than we used to get in 10 years” just about sums it up, Donna. We don’t have the bandwidth for all the “information” that comes our way every single day without letup. I consciously make an effort to limit it. I don’t know how other people who spend a lot more time on their various devices handle it.

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    1. I don’t either, you’re so right, Jean, I’ve been cutting back on my time on computers, although surprisingly that’s not why I’m late answering comments (this time, to be honest), you would not believe what WordPress did this time, lots of comments thrown into Spam and about 25 just poof, disappeared then reappeared weeks later. Sigh, I guess I should be used to it by now, but somehow I always managed to be shocked. lol 😉
      Hope this weekend treat you kindly. 🙂

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  39. Bravo!!! Intelligence with healthy humour and common sense. Intellect with heart. The glamour of technologies that leads down a path of computers and robots in control of humanity needs to be looked at and questioned now. Brilliant posts. Many thanks.

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  40. So much wisdom in your humor, as always. Sometimes I wish we could all just be nice and get along. It is over simplifying, but I have learned to shut out most of the noise. But I sometimes miss the news! It really has gotten to a point where I don’t want to turn on the news or read the newspaper. I don’t need everyone’s details, don’t care what the kardashians do and am tired of all the demographic infighting. .

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    1. I don’t think it’s oversimplifying, I think you’re right on, why would it be so difficult to get along? I think it would be lovely.
      Yes, it’s exhausting and I wonder if that’s the point – it distracts us, makes people buy more, eat more, need vacations more, etc.
      Hope this weekend is a peace-filled one. 🙂

      Reply

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