I read something interesting the other day. It was a little piece going on about how we bury ourselves in a mountain of cars, television, video games, and other materialization in order to hide from the real issues of the world. I paid attention to this because I felt it was speaking to me. And it garnered this attention not simply because I read it and said to myself, "Hey, wait a minute, I play video games so what are you trying to say, buddy?!", but because it made me stop and think about it and wonder, "Okay, *am* I hiding from something?"

The truth of the matter is, what "issues" should I be confronting out there in that real world? Let's scan the headlines and see what's on our plate right now: The first headline I see is about Iran. Should I be worried that Iran is going to send a nuclear missing into my backyard? If so, how is worrying about it going to make the situation better? Will it stop that missile from wiping out millions of people? Will it make Iran stop hating Israel? Will it make Iran stop denying the Holocaust ever happened? Will it make Iran stop hating Americans because of our policies? Should I be enlisting in the military so I can be ready to go over there and kill them before they try to kill me?

The next headline is about Sarah Palin writing her memoirs. Wow. Couldn't give less of a crap about that. Regardless, should I be worrying about her possibly running for president? Should I be donating to her competitors to try and prevent this from happening? Will that stop her from running? Will it make her smarter?

Next article: Military crackdown in Guinea. Lots of people dead. Should I be worried? Should I be jumping on the next Red Cross boat to Guinea to do humanitarian services?

We've also got flooding in the Philippines, typhoons in Vietnam, anti-president polls on Facebook, Roman Polanski getting busted in Switzerland, shortages of flu vaccines, a death from a cancer vaccine, incest, sports injuries, and Wolverine stopping his play because of an annoying cell phone.

Lots and lots of things to worry about. Dear me, how can I sit here writing in a blog, playing video games, watching TV, or socializing on Facebook when so much stuff is going on?!

Ok, enough with the melodramatics. Here's my point: There's a big difference between finding an escape, and becoming ignorant to the world because of them. If you know the world has problems (and let's face it, what idiot doesn't realize that?), then it's no one's business how you deal with that. If your thing is to actually get out there and do something about it, then you have at it. If your thing is to sit in bed and eat a half gallon of chocolate ice cream, then damn it, that's okay too. It's the people who engulf themselves so deeply into their distractions until they lose touch with everything else who are the problems. That kind of ignorance leads to stupid decisions fueled by being uninformed, misunderstood, and ignorant.

So yes. I am hiding from the real issues of the world. Damn straight I am.

Case in point: This utterly random post on a relatively random topic is me channeling my frustration about another particular issue of which I have no way of fixing myself. But that doesn't change the fact that I know it's there and how it's affecting me.