Wise men and the purveyors of contemporary culture recognize the same dramatic truth. We are addicted to news. Probably unlike the purveyors, the wise perceive the root of the addiction and so can offer something the purveyors don’t want—a path to freedom.
Over fourscore years ago in the opening days of the Second World War, Friedrich Juenger penned the following remarkable lines:
Motion has a narcotic attraction for [contemporary man], particularly where the going is fast… He needs this stimulant as an addict needs his drug to feel alive. He must always feel that something is going on, that he is participating in some action. Hence his insatiable thirst for news, a thirst no rotary press can quench.
The term insatiable is key. We can see this insatiability in how even the constant barrage of up-to-date digital news serves only to fan the fire and deepen the addiction. And current ‘news’ outlets can serve up much more through our devices than did the rotary press of newspapers!
It is no accident that news flashes and pop-ups invade and occupy the spaces of our handheld devices, laptops, and desktops—and thus often of our conscious thoughts. Competing ‘latest’ reports vie to grab our attention, subtly turning us away from what more deserves our attention.
And we submit. We consume news inordinately—both in quantity and frequency. A little here, a little there. The defenses of those who would resist are broken down. We are told and we tell ourselves that we need to know and ‘keep up.’ We fear being left out. Left out of what? The common answer is: “of what is happening!”
Yet this predictable answer demands examination. Indeed, what is happening in our life? Juenger is suggesting that our felt need to keep up on ‘what is happening’ in the news is often rooted in some lack in our own life. This is subtle. Perhaps much is happening, and we are quite busy. But our falling prey to news is a sign that we are not satisfied to inhabit the space of our own life. Here and now.
We should not be too hard on ourselves. The news industry is a business that uses all its might—and its vast resources—to surround and entrap us. That is how it makes money. At this point we need intentionality and discipline to step back and not go with the flow. Now let me be clear: this is not to stand in judgment of all participants in the industry, nor do I imply that there is no place for news.
But most of us have experienced how difficult it is to resist a headline in the corner of the screen, that flash message on the phone, etc. These artifices of an industry are both symptoms and causes of our trouble. In other words, per Juenger’s analysis we are prone to be sucked in because we get addicted to distraction, and at the same time this distraction makes it difficult to find peace in the here and now—the peace that would make distraction less appealing.
So what are we to do? Forewarned is forearmed. We can first recognize what we’re up against—from without and from within. From without, we can protect ourselves from the onslaught by turning off notifications, not looking at those emails, not turning on the television or youtube, etc.—at least until predetermined times or when we truly need to.
From within, and here is a wonderful challenge, we can lean into the here and now, where we are bodily present. Sometimes alone, sometimes together, sometimes in silence, sometimes in conversation, we can give priority to ordinary activities of leisure or work that we often neglect or omit. These are the activities that ground our life and form a humble but effective bastion against obsession with what is happening ‘out there.’
Often today the here and now of our life becomes a kind of wasteland, which by a vicious circle grows ever emptier by our repeated turning away from it.
We should note that a hankering for the distraction of news often masquerades as a concern for others. People might perceive the suggestions here as an inappropriate withdrawal from social involvement. But Juenger’s approach does not imply a lack of investment in the common good or a narrowing of my interest to my personal concerns. On the contrary, the first step in being a conscientious member of the broader whole is to live a fully human life in the here and now.
In the end this is not about news. And there are of course some reliable news sources that we will reasonably check, when fitting, with discretion. Yet Juenger highlighted—amazingly, over eighty years ago—a serious phenomenon that has only grown more real that should be a wake-up call to us. It calls not for fear or discouragement, but rather vigilance and intentional reinvestment in making our own life, starting in our homes, the central and rich ‘happening’–where we and others rejoice to be. ~ ~ ~
TODAY’S NEW PODCAST: MAKING AND TRANSCENDING TIME IN THE HOME. Join Sofia and me in discussing how to ‘save’ time by richer daily activities that will transform our temporal existence. Check out and share all our PODCASTS HERE.
Announcing Man of the Household and Woman of the Household special sessions for Lent. INFO AND SIGNUP HERE. Do it alone; do it as a couple; do it with friends. We hope you can join us.
Plan to sit down together and listen to this great short story by Belloc, either as audio podcast, or as video:
Husband, father, and professor of Philosophy. LifeCraft springs from one conviction: there is an ancient wisdom about how to live the good life in our homes, with our families; and it is worth our time to hearken to it. Let’s rediscover it together. Learn more.
Two thoughts. First, I ditched my Twitter (X) account about six months ago. I mostly followed historians, political philosophers, and Catholic thinkers. The problem was that I’d read an interesting post and then travel down the rabbit hole of researching to gather more information. Not a bad thing except that I’d kill an hour doing so and those hours accumulated. Second, the “instant news” cycle is like crack (I was a narcotics prosecutor so forgive the analogy). It’s a shallow replacement for real thought and only temporarily makes one feel good. And it’s often used as a distraction from dealing with one’s real-life issues.
Thank you, Bob, for these insightful words–clearly the fruit of well-considered experience.
Thank you for this timely and as always, thought-provoking reflection! I found it far easier to distance myself from the news cycle when it was dominated by negatvity and a doom and gloom outlook. Now that the tides have changed and there are positive stories emerging daily, I’m being drawn in and in danger of addiction. Perhaps I’m already there! I’m thankful for this “wake up call” which arrives just in time to make some pre-Lenten plans and resolutions in this area. May God help us find balance and remember to use the information in the daily news as a conduit for prayer.
Amen, Karen! Thank you for this, and I join you in that prayer and discernment.
Thankyou
Very welcome, David.
Thank you for all these needed reminders to be cautious of the distractions in lieu of being present in our own lives. I’m trying to take this to heart. I find in the wintertime it’s easier to spend more time on-line and even though I may be reading things (not always the news) that are good in and of themselves, if they cause me to neglect my real life, that’s not so good.
Amen, Melisa. Yet of course we should not be too hard on ourselves. Our effort to find the right balance will necessarily be ongoing!
What a lovely story! I felt like I was right there among them.
Bless you.
So glad you loved it too!
1st and foremost I want to commend you for the wonderful picture of the pond hockey game in the header. With an old fashioned winter on tap this year in southern New England we have had more than a few chances to skate on the ponds. On to the reflection. My first two thoughts are in regards to self control and moderation, they are not popular terms anymore. If we would preach these two virtues maybe people would be more willing to apply them to the areas of their lives where they struggle with them. The wonderful priest that runs our Holy Name society is very fond of reminding us men that we can never grow in virtue until we give up vice, which needs to be obtained by practicing self control and moderation.
What has perhaps been forgotten is the importance of asking yourself what are the things you can actually do versus the things you have no control of and then making sure you spend the right (predominant) amount of energy on the former. There is absolutely nothing wrong with keeping abreast of what is going on in the world – and on that note, Twitter or X is about the only place to get raw stories and information on a wide variety of things going on. But while you may feel vindicated or squashed by what is happening, never forget that you have no real role to play in those events except perhaps to be a good citizen making informed choices in how one leads a civic life and votes. On the other hand, don’t ever, ever forget that one’s real role is in cultivating one’s family and vegetable garden out back. That is where God’s work truly takes place. Your family, your spouse, your children, your extended family, your home, your life: that is what supersedes everything else. And as far as I am concerned, the news, especially X, is most enjoyable with a bowl of popcorn.
With a 6 month old grandson to take care of while our daughter and son-in-law go back to work, my ministry of visiting hospital patients to bring them Holy Communion, my wife’s and my “cottage industry” of making rosaries for a prison chaplain and various local adoration chapels, I think we have found the antidote to the narcotic effect of the news cycle: becoming involved in the world around us, meeting needs of those we encounter, and knowing that it is only the hope present in the goodness of God’s creation that encourages us day by day.