When the Founders created our Constitution they had no way of knowing just how the experiment was going to work. They had no blueprints and little history to guide them. They were concerned about many pitfalls the new republic would face including the risks associated with the development of political parties but there was only so much they could do to avoid those pitfalls . Both Washington and Hamilton warned about many of the dangers of political parties. But when you are creating a new nation that is indeed experimental you design it as well as you can and then turn it loose and hope for the best.

From almost the outset the two party system took hold and that model has prevailed to this date. While there are pros and cons to the two party system the current dynamics of this system and its trends are troubling to say the least. Over the years the animosity between the parties has ebbed and flowed. In recent years it has escalated substantially. I think this has resulted from the convergence of several factors. One factor is the transformation in the dissemination of news and information.

Until fairly recently the American people got their news and information from three television networks and hundreds of newspapers. There were no bloggers, no readily accessible platforms for every loose canon and while the big three networks had a lot of control that control was greatly diminished by the local newspaper. Now our news and information is a cacophony of chaos and noise. There are still good people trying to keep us in touch with reality but they appear to be loosing the battle.

A second factor that has been undermining our political process for a long time is the structure of our primary process. So few people vote in the primaries that we frequently end up with candidates selected by the most fervently hostile members of each party.

A third flaw is a political process that has become endless. There used to be political seasons but now it goes on year around.

The result of this convergence is a two party system that has become dysfunctional and news cycles that have become intolerably negative.About a month ago this had reached such a high level of negativity that I decided to go in to exile. My first step in this process is to embark on a partial news blackout.

I thought this would be fairly easy. I don’t watch news on tv and I don’t receive a newspaper.All I would have to do is restrict what sites I would access on my computer and phone. The only news sites I would go to would be sports, weather and financial information.

This has proven to be a lot harder than I thought. I was more addicted to watching the train wreck in current events than I thought. There really is something to this whole interplay between the internet and dopamine. I was being much more manipulated than I thought but through conscious effort and finding constructive options to browsing I have stopped following the news.

The news is so much a part of our culture that some of it stills seeps into my world but I have been doing pretty well. I might see a stray tv screen or newspaper but a quick aversion pretty well keeps me in the dark. I also have to avoid conversations and comments from friends and family on current events but I have done pretty well in this regard as well.

As a result what has been happening in the world over the last thirty days is unknown to me. As far as I know there are no wars , no mass shootings , no political activities , no crime, no earthquakes, no weather disasters happening in our world. I have not stopped caring about others but I needed a reboot. This millennium of pervasive and perverted media is taking a hidden toll on the minds of men. Well maybe not so hidden.We need to get back to thinking more clearly about things that matter and we can’t do that with all the noise.

So I have begun my first step in my exile. I don’t know my next steps yet. Perhaps a Waldens pond somewhere, maybe a trip to Tibet or maybe just some quiet time with Buck. He has been oblivious to the trials and tribulations of the world every day of his life so he may be a good guide on this quest.