Daily Despair Digest: Eschaton’s Look at Today’s News

Reading the news every day is like feeling a cold bucket of water land on me. News about inflation, climate issues, politics and tv commentary combine to give us one big dose of doom. For those who read Eschaton Blog, this is not a Mass Effect-style glitch, it’s just how the feed works. Welcome to the Daily Despair Digest, where we cut through each day’s news with the sharp edges of humor, doubt and strong coffee.

The Day’s Lowlights: A News Cycle in Decline

The news today is so strange that it doesn’t need to be made more exciting. But to be effective, the topic must be understood and Eschaton explains it well through clear points.

Political “Leadership” as a Form of Art

The recent hearing about crypto seemed more like a play than a true government event. While fanatics pushed conspiracy theories, their opponents made polite remarks about their behavior yet again. People who read Eschaton realize this isn’t a problem, it is the way society is structured.

Media in the Mainstream Undergoes a Forgetting

What drives people’s outrage this week? Gone. Vanished. With a different thing filling their minds. Advertising money can make cable news network’s avoid giving details about the news. So Eschaton preserves proof of what happened—and refuses to allow the strong to revise their own history.

Greed Undercover as Business Performance

Another CEO claims that employee costs are forcing them to increase prices as they report record profit. Basically: “We didn’t have to be mindless, but we decided to act that way.” Eschaton points out that grift is just being sold with good marketing.

Media Watch: When the Fourth Estate Forgets Its Job

Some reporters risk their lives to report the truth. A lot of media outlets today simply write down what those in power say. Today’s example? Fake News TV presented climate activists as causing disruptions, while not reporting on a major report about oil lobbying.

It’s harmful as well as sloppy. It is not something Eschaton tries to make part of everyday life.

Cultural Notes from the Edge

• What’s the gap between Reality TV and Presidential Races?

One of the campaign ads from recently looks just like a Netflix drama trailer. Previously, we used to see a clear line between what was meant to entertain and what was meant to influence politics. Now we are grieving the loss of it.

• In the Outrage Economy, Social Media Is an Especially Powerful Tool

Certain algorithms help angerful posts become more popular since that benefits the platform financially. Another group tries to stop fact-checkers from working. Eschaton skips the nostalgia for a lost golden age of Twitter because such a time never existed.

Conclusion: Surviving the Headlines, One Post at a Time

The point of The Daily Despair Digest is to bring you clarity, not sadness. With so much noise in the media, the Eschaton Blog makes things clearer, provides context and offers a bit of comic eye-rolling.

So, if we have to face the problem, we may as well know what’s happening and maybe laugh during it too.