Learned helplessness and civic participation

When I wrote my letter to the editor at sj-r.com I was sitting at my computer, typing it up like I do when I post on social media. It felt less serious and dour while I was typing it than when I saw it printed in the actual newspaper.

It struck such a blow to my own expectations of our political system, I feel as if I planted seeds of discord that would evaporate any motivation for civic participation. This is what I get for paying too much attention to politics in the news. So do I blame the news media?

I'm beginning to realize the old saying "don't kill the messenger" points toward the tendency for humans to attribute feelings of helplessness and fear onto people who talk about negative situations all the time, without balancing their contributions with any solutions or positive outcomes.

In this case, I'm that guy: Buzz Killington.

When he hear enough bad news from the same sources, we tend to get triggered into a sense of helplessness and hopelessness when we hear or see the mere presence of those sources. It's a form of Operant Conditioning. Sometimes called Misattribution of Arousal.

It becomes second nature to be angry at the news media, because their subjects are too far removed from our reach both physically and intellectually to do anything about it except vote, but voting isn't even a real choice, because as Donna Brazile best tweeted "We are still in the room and very much capable of setting the menu."

The frustration is real, but is it rightly placed on the media? They are supplying us with information so we can be educated voters, but what difference is that going to make?