“My engagement with the news, like a lot of people’s, is on the whole a mess. Occasionally a spike of true connection will come through, but those moments tend to lead nowhere. Maybe a charitable donation. Maybe a mini speech to someone I know (subtext: I really care about this, do you?). Maybe, once in a decade, I will go on a march or write a letter. But usually not. When I don’t follow the news, it feels liberating to let all that go. But does that freedom come at a cost? Does it matter that I don’t know what is happening in Syria? I can’t believe it doesn’t. Even if I am powerless to do anything, I feel that the guilt itself is important. That it’s the debt we owe the world, to feel bad about it.”
Jesse Armstrong, The Guardian. May 2015

Part of the reason why I started this blog was to keep up with world affairs, to keep my brain active and to work out what I thought about the issues of the day. A noble set of objectives, even if, as the lady says, we are all totally powerless to change a thing. It’s impossible to do sufficient justice to it all. As a result I feel woefully ignorant, my brain is only just chugging along, and I’m not sure what I think about anything anymore. As a result, I am extremely easily influenced, so if you have any views at all, please write in.