How to stay hopeful

[Snowman9000]

Setting aside any joking replies, how can a thoughtful, aware US citizen of libertarian persuasion be hopeful and upbeat?  We are losing liberties, the economy is being hijacked by knaves and fools, etc etc.  Up until the GWB administration I thought these were cyclical problems.  Now I see they are firmly entrenched and spiraling.  Things seem to be taking on a life of their own.

The more I read websites and blogs, the more worked up I get, with no actionable outlet for it.  It doesn't make me feel better to read some other person's crabbing about the things that are going wrong. 

What can we hope for?  What kind of perspective gets one through this in a positive state of mind?  It makes me realize the truth in the saying, Ignorance is bliss.

[rickb]

1. Stop reading "websites and blogs"

2. Pick a selection of sources that you honestly think are neutral and read one of these (randomly selected) at most once a week.

Reading self-selected websites and blogs creates dangerous feedback loops where anything you fear is reinforced by those who share the same fears you do.  Simply stop it.

Ignorance may be bliss.  But removing yourself from destructive groupthink feedbacks loops is a pretty close second.

[TripleB]

Read HB's How I Found Freedom in An Unfree World.

Spoiler Alert: he says to stop giving a crap about stuff and let the world collapse around you, just try finding whatever joy you can while not worrying too much about things you can't control and just ignore the government shenanigans as much as possible. Look for loopholes because they always exist and exploit them.

[Pointedstick]

Read HB's How I Found Freedom in An Unfree World.

Spoiler Alert: he says to stop giving a crap about stuff and let the world collapse around you, just try finding whatever joy you can while not worrying too much about things you can't control and just ignore the government shenanigans as much as possible. Look for loopholes because they always exist and exploit them.

+1.

Also, take comfort that outside of politics, things really are pretty much continuously improving. The options we have available today are mind-bogglingly amazing, be they technological, social, or whatever. MT is fond of saying that as long as you pay your taxes and drive the speed limit, the government can be largely invisible to you. I'm as hardcore a libertarian as they come, but I think there's a lot of truth to this.

And if things really do fall to shit, well, that's what we have 25% of our assets in gold for. 

[Benko]

1. I wrote an article which might be of help:

http://gyroscopicinvesting.com/forum/ht ... 571#p37571

2. 1. Stop reading "websites and blogs"
+100

While helpful for doing taxes and making contingency planning, in general your mind is your enemy because it generates thoughts which stress you out and thoughts which if you act on them often cause you problems.  So if you want to have a terrible life, do thinks which feed/stimulate your mind/thoughts watch a lot of TV, drink a lot of coffee, read a lot of forums, and dwell a lot indulging your mind on all the disasters that could happen.

3. Ask yourself what is the worst that could happen and make contingency plans to deal with that situation.  Meaning calmly evaluate what could happen, arrange things so that best  you know you  will be ok, and then don't put any attention to this/those plans except to see if the plans need updating e.g. perhaps once a quarter or so.

[Pointedstick]

While helpful for doing taxes and making contingency planning, in general your mind is your enemy because it generates thoughts which stress you out and thoughts which if you act on them often cause you problems.  So if you want to have a terrible life, do thinks which feed/stimulate your mind/thoughts watch a lot of TV, drink a lot of coffee, read a lot of forums, and dwell a lot indulging your mind on all the disasters that could happen.

I think there's sort of a mountain shape to the graph of thinking-vs-stress, where not thinking about this stuff much prevents you from experiencing the stress, and thinking about it a lot once you've learned to break your feedback cycles does you no harm. But in between, where you think a lot about things that stress you out and let the stress get to you--that's the killer. That's what you need to avoid.

[KevinW]

In general, what we get out of things is proportional to what we put in. As a private sector citizen, all I'm allowed to put in is my vote. Once every year or two I get to fill out this multiple choice form and have my views aggregated with about 100 million other forms. That's a miniscule amount of input, so my expectations for the political process to conform to my views are correspondingly miniscule. I expect practically nothing, so I'm rarely disappointed.

As a practical matter, political news is only worthwhile when it informs how I'll vote in an election. Something like 99% of political news is practically useless to this end. I vote according to principles and long term strategy and very, very little news is relevant to changing my principles or long term strategy. So I try to spend as little time and energy consuming political media as possible; just barely enough to figure out how to fill out my ballot. I'm happier for it.

Read HB's How I Found Freedom in An Unfree World.
...

+1.

+1

Also watch Milton Friedman's Free to Choose (http://miltonfriedman.blogspot.com/), or read the book it's based upon. One of his points is that, as bad as things might seem, actually we're living in something like the 99th percentile of all regimes seen throughout history. Yeah, TARP, PATRIOT, TSA, etc., are all pretty bad. But, looking back over human history, almost everyone had practically zero personal liberty. There was war, genocide, slavery, colonialism, monarchy, totalitarian communism, abject poverty, rampant disease...

Even among peaceful non-dysfunctional societies, the breadth and depth of goods and services afforded by the market system are unprecedented. The value proposition of an iPad is really amazing. So is a $1 gallon of bleach or box of pasta, for that matter. Take some time to ponder all that's available at your local grocery store, eBay, or the web; and how much that would've cost just 100 years ago. Things could be a lot worse.

[Bob]

I used to listen to Rush on a very consistent basis, along with watching O'Reilly and Hannity on Fox.  I found myself getting spun up over things over which I no control.  As others have written, I shifted my focus to those things which I can control.  I determined to focus on those things which enhance our family's quality of life, keep debt at a minimum, do what we can do to help my wife's father and my mother (both are aging parents), and try not to be so negative about life in general.  I still feel blessed to live in the United States of America.  It is far from perfect (as it never was perfect - even in the good ol' days - ha!) but we still have personal freedom and prosperity that greatly exceeds most of the world today.  As someone once said, "Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to it."  Limit the negative input into your life from the media and other sources.  Whether from the left or the right, it can become toxic.  An "attitude of gratitude" goes much farther than complaining about everything.

[Snowman9000]

Thanks to those who have replied so far.  To one common suggestion, I have read HBs book and have it on my bookshelf.  It made a huge difference in my life the first time I read it.  In other words, the problem I'm having used to be MUCH worse. :/

And I will read the other items in the links above.  Several good points have been made and I want to add to them.

My problem is related to boredom.  I have more idle time in the winter and that is when this crops up.  When you stop watching the news, stop listening to talk radio, stop reading things on the interwebs, stop reading newspapers and news magazines, what's left?  Sports, hobbies, music, yes,  for sure.  But they are bubblegum for the mind.  I like them, but they don't scratch the itch to understand what's happening and think about what to do about.  Yes, ignorance is bliss, but it's also very boring.  There is also the thought that as we get older, we have to keep our minds limber.  Crosswords and sudoku will probably do that, but a little of that goes a long way.

I agree with the point that we are living in almost the best times ever.  Not just for standards of living but for liberty as well.  I guess I get hung up what we have lost, what we are likely to be losing in the future, and the parallels with similar situations in the past.

I do in fact take a lot of comfort from my PP.  And of course that is another (mostly wintertime) intellectual pursuit gone, meaning, I no longer get to spend time reading, researching, and thinking about investing.  It's for the better, but maybe you are beginning to see where I'm coming from.  The more things are on auto-pilot, the less you need the pilot.  I've got a very active mind, it doesn't do well with sitting on a porch and watching the grass grow.  I envy those who do!  OTOH my active mind was the driving force for some accomplishments.  So who knows.    What I'm searching for is a school of thought about, to steal the title from a Dale Carnegie book, "How to stop worrying and start living".  I would add to that, how to be informed yet optimistic. 

[Pointedstick]

I am searching for a way to be informed, yet optimistic. 

That way is found inside you. 

I'm a firm believer that being informed doesn't require subjecting oneself to mental anguish. Us thinker-types find it very easy to fall into traps of this kind, though, but there's a way out.

For example, I used to be a huge believer in Austrian economics. It worried me constantly. Hyperinflation is right around the corner! I considered myself informed about the state of the economy, yet I was fearful all the time.

Then I came here and learned about MR. After a lot of careful study, I concluded that MR was a better descriptor of our current system, and it made me feel a lot better because all the inflation triggers that Austrian economics has me seeing everywhere were things that I started to view as more benign. And indeed, there's no inflation to be seen. So I became more informed and less fearful at the same time.

A lot of being informed requires putting aside your preconceptions. It's very easy to believe you've found the correct answer, when in fact what you've found is something that confirms your existing beliefs with fear and worry about the future.

Keep learning all the time. If you find something that worries you, don't stop there. Keep going. You may find another perspective that makes it seem a lot less worrying, either in an absolute sense, or in comparison to other things.

[notsheigetz]

Things seem to be taking on a life of their own.

Sounds like you are making the same observation as Thomas Jefferson when he said “the natural order of things is for Liberty to yield and government to gain ground.”? But I think maybe it is not so simple. Look at the Soviet Union. It may be the natural order of things for Liberty to yield but it doesn't appear to be the natural order for things to remain that way forever.

As for dealing with whichever way the natural winds are currently blowing I have always thought the serenity prayer had some very good advice...

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

And also, don't set aside joking. It is probably the best coping mechanism known to man.

[Gosso]

Hey Snowman,

I also have a restless mind that is constantly craving information, and if I don't feed the beast then I get depressed or bored.  One thing that has kept my mind occupied for the past couple of years is studying Religion, Mythology, Psychology, Unconscious Mind (they're all sorta related).  These topics are almost limitless in their depth so you can take your mind swimming for a long long time.  It also helps develop a different world view (very slowly in my case) that can help reduce anxiety and negative thinking.

I'm focused mainly on the work of Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell.  Here's a thread started by MT on Joseph Campbell.  Alan Watts is also a good place to start, there have been a few discussions on him as well.  For a more modern and less spiritual take on things, you could look into Alain de Botton -- he has some good YouTube videos up.

This stuff is far better than my previous obsession with conspiracy theories, hyperinflation, financial Armageddon, politics, peak oil, etc.

[Benko]

the itch to understand what's happening and think about what to do about.  Yes, ignorance is bliss, but it's also very boring.  There is also the thought that as we get older, we have to keep our minds limber.  Crosswords and sudoku will probably do that, but a little of that goes a long way.

"the itch to understand what's happening and think about what to do about"
YOur mind is not your friend.  This itch is not your friend.  Boring in not bad.  Read books, listen to music, join meetup groups...

Or you could listen to your mind/that itch and research what to do 24/7 and drive yourself nuts.

[melveyr]

I am not a libertarian by any means, but I suffer from a similar affliction. For example, I am extremely bothered by our moves away from basic lessons of Keynes and the national debt rhetoric makes me feel depressed...

So, I don't think what you are experiencing is specific to your world view. I think it comes from feeling responsible for the state of the world. When I see the unemployment rates, I can get frustrated because I want to do something to help but I can't.

But by focusing on strictly keeping yourself protected, you will feel a lot better. Try to detach yourself from the woes of the world, because you don't need to bear the weight of the world. When you focus on your own life, things are usually not so bad. Especially if you are proactive in improving your situation.

[Kriegsspiel]

http://dobelli.com/wp-content/uploads/2 ... 1_TEXT.pdf

This was an informative article I'd read a while ago, had to use some google-fu to find it again, but maybe it can help you change your perceptions about a high-information diet?

[Tortoise]

Great article, Kriegsspiel. The following passage seemed especially relevant to this thread:

News stories are overwhelmingly about things you cannot influence. This sets readers up to have a fatalistic outlook on the world.

Compare this with our ancestral past, where you could act upon practically every bit of news. Our evolutionary past prepared us to act on information, but the daily repetition of news about things we can’t act upon makes us passive. It saps our energy. It grinds us down until we adopt a worldview that is pessimistic, desensitized, sarcastic and fatalistic.

If the human brain encounters a barrage of ambiguous information without being able to act upon that information, it can react with passivity and a sense of victimhood. The scientific term is learned helplessness.

[Greg]

Great article, Kriegsspiel. The following passage seemed especially relevant to this thread:

News stories are overwhelmingly about things you cannot influence. This sets readers up to have a fatalistic outlook on the world.

Compare this with our ancestral past, where you could act upon practically every bit of news. Our evolutionary past prepared us to act on information, but the daily repetition of news about things we can’t act upon makes us passive. It saps our energy. It grinds us down until we adopt a worldview that is pessimistic, desensitized, sarcastic and fatalistic.

If the human brain encounters a barrage of ambiguous information without being able to act upon that information, it can react with passivity and a sense of victimhood. The scientific term is learned helplessness.

I agree with this. It was a very interesting piece of writing to read. I'm thinking about going on a shallow news diet myself because of this, at least for a little whiles. I already try to filter out of my mind anything that Lindsay Lohan is doing normally, now I'll work on a more broad filter.

You could even expand this further to entertainment media as well. Rather than watching all the most recent movies and TV shows, you can wait until things settle out and the market slowly determines what actually is really worth watching because of a significant impact to society (i.e. what people really care/talk about).

[MachineGhost]

I second the suggestions made on here.

You have to push the envelope on what you learn to stay non-bored.  Regurgitating the S.O.S. doesn't do your mind any favors.  Metaphysics, life extension, space travel, genomic sequencing, nanotechnology, anarcho-crypto currencies, heck, even trading or forecasting, are all vanguard topics worthy of study.

It can also help if you have an outlet that actually helps change the world.  Politics operates on the philosophy that "shit floats to the top" and is reactive not proactive, so it is really not very relevant in the grand scheme of things.  Ignore it unless it specifically violates your individual freedom.  Technology will make "government" as we know it redundant within 25 years.

[Coffee]

Thanks to those who have replied so far.  To one common suggestion, I have read HBs book and have it on my bookshelf.  It made a huge difference in my life the first time I read it.  In other words, the problem I'm having used to be MUCH worse. :/

And I will read the other items in the links above.  Several good points have been made and I want to add to them.

My problem is related to boredom.  I have more idle time in the winter and that is when this crops up.  When you stop watching the news, stop listening to talk radio, stop reading things on the interwebs, stop reading newspapers and news magazines, what's left?  Sports, hobbies, music, yes,  for sure.  But they are bubblegum for the mind.  I like them, but they don't scratch the itch to understand what's happening and think about what to do about.  Yes, ignorance is bliss, but it's also very boring.  There is also the thought that as we get older, we have to keep our minds limber.  Crosswords and sudoku will probably do that, but a little of that goes a long way.

I agree with the point that we are living in almost the best times ever.  Not just for standards of living but for liberty as well.  I guess I get hung up what we have lost, what we are likely to be losing in the future, and the parallels with similar situations in the past.

I do in fact take a lot of comfort from my PP.  And of course that is another (mostly wintertime) intellectual pursuit gone, meaning, I no longer get to spend time reading, researching, and thinking about investing.  It's for the better, but maybe you are beginning to see where I'm coming from.  The more things are on auto-pilot, the less you need the pilot.  I've got a very active mind, it doesn't do well with sitting on a porch and watching the grass grow.  I envy those who do!  OTOH my active mind was the driving force for some accomplishments.  So who knows.    What I'm searching for is a school of thought about, to steal the title from a Dale Carnegie book, "How to stop worrying and start living".  I would add to that, how to be informed yet optimistic.

I'm gonna call "bullshit" on this one.

Give me a break!  We're living in a period of time where you have unrivaled access to education and information of all types as a result of the internet and Amazon.com.  You're also relatively free to do whatever you choose.  Do you seriously expect us to believe that you can't find something to "stimulate your mind"?

Stop being lazy.  You have an addiction to the manufactured outrage that poses as news and you enjoy getting yourself all worked up about it, but then not having to take action.  That's called: Lazy.  If you look deep inside and you're honest with yourself, you'll know that I'm right. 

You could spend an entire lifetime trying to master one hobby and never get bored.  Let alone two hobbies.

[Gosso]

I just came across this commencement speech by David Foster Wallace (23 minutes), and thought it would be appropriate for this thread:

https://soundcloud.com/wholesum/this-is ... vid-foster

Really fantastic and well worth the time to listen to it. 

It is so easy to slip into the "default thinking".  It seems we need constant reminders to realign our thinking, and we won't get that from the media, in fact, the media thrives off of our "default thinking".

[MediumTex]

I think that turning off the news and seeking experiences that help pull you outside of yourself are good places to start.

Think about the mindset you have when you are experiencing a good vacation.  Cultivate that mindset all of the time.

One of the great allegorical representations of life is surfing, and like life the skilled surfer must be in the moment at all times and be focused only on the changing nature of the wave he is riding.

Imagine how ridiculous it would be if you saw a guy ride a great wave and when you asked him how it felt afterward he said "Well, I really wasn't paying that much attention to the wave because the situation in Syria and the possible range of U.S. responses is really bugging me."

[6 Iron]

I can absolutely identify with the original poster, and thought I would post a solution that has changed my life for the better:

http://www.amazon.com/Fitbit-Wireless-A ... rds=fitbit

The fitbit is a device you can keep in your pocket or attach it to clothing, that measures steps taken, stairs climbed, overall activity level, calories burned, and can even be used to assess quality and duration of sleep. This ( and a scale, that I also suggest which also measures body fat percentage) links to your computer via bluetooth, storing your data and giving you positive feedback when results may be too small to see in a mirror, but ,more importantly motivates you to be more active during the day, rather than reading depressing blogs. The nerd in me loves the data, too!  I would also suggest learning and mastering a foreign language, or some other task that requires prolonged dedication. Bonne chance!

[Kriegsspiel]

I just came across this commencement speech by David Foster Wallace (23 minutes), and thought it would be appropriate for this thread:

https://soundcloud.com/wholesum/this-is ... vid-foster

Really fantastic and well worth the time to listen to it. 

It is so easy to slip into the "default thinking".  It seems we need constant reminders to realign our thinking, and we won't get that from the media, in fact, the media thrives off of our "default thinking".

Yea that's a good one.  I like all of DFW's interviews and such.  Did you get that link off BNL's blog?

[Gosso]

Did you get that link off BNL's blog?

Barenaked Ladies Blog? 

No, I saw a quote on Twitter from DFW.  It was from the "This is Water" speech, I think it was this part:

The fact is that in the day to day trenches of adult existence, banal platitudes can have a life or death importance.

I think this speech has been posted on the PP forum before, but that Tweet reminded me of it.

I have listened to a few of his other YouTube clips, but I have never tackled any of his books.

[Greg]

I just came across this commencement speech by David Foster Wallace (23 minutes), and thought it would be appropriate for this thread:

https://soundcloud.com/wholesum/this-is ... vid-foster

Really fantastic and well worth the time to listen to it. 

It is so easy to slip into the "default thinking".  It seems we need constant reminders to realign our thinking, and we won't get that from the media, in fact, the media thrives off of our "default thinking".

I really liked this and I feel personally what he said of the standard white-collar job of driving to work, etc. and going to get groceries. I try to do it already but could always work better and understanding the plight of others and what goes on in the lives of everyone around me and that I am not the center of the universe.