Is it me, or do folk on DU (outside this forum) seem gleeful about misery?

[Matariki]

Particularly economic misery? There always seems to be a prevailing sense of schadenfreude in threads about potentially negative economic news, or really any news that something is going wrong in the nation. Not to mention the most dire predictions people make about the economy - with what often seems to contain an underlying sense of glee.

[I Have A Dream]

1. I think that it is because it makes Bush look bad.

If a Democrat were president, I don't think that it would be that way.

The sad part is that real people are hurt, and sometimes people seem to forget that. :(

[Matariki]

2. that could be it. makes sense.

i can't help but think that all that negative thinking attracts crap into people's lives. But i'd never say that to people who don't understand that to start with.

[Why Syzygy]

3. It's not just DU.

There's a prevailing need to be *right*. In order to make that happen, one has to find someone(s), thing(s) that are doing them *wrong*. If there is no misery, there is no *victory* over all the forces that are making a *right* martyr of the sufferer.

I see it all the time in RL. Some people are not content unless they are talking about oh ain't it awful.

[Fire Walk With Me]

5. Yes, a need to judge, to feel "more than". Very insightful.

I've certainly placed myself into the drama you outline, and am working to be free of it. Cultivating gratitude, forgiveness, and surrender isn't easy for "newcomers", but I'm happy to report that it truly works.

[Fire Walk With Me]

4. Addiction to the energy of struggle and drama?

I know that this has been the case for myself, so I -might- be seeing this in others.

The same reasons that someone people want to go to war, versus building peace. The desire for peace will either have to come around through experiencing more ugliness, or through enough of us bringing the light.

I'm not an expert, but there are certainly folks out there looking to cause more war, because they profit from destruction both financially and in terms of social power. We can avert their agenda with the positive, but it requires continuous work. I think that if we get out of the woods, so to speak, that we'll all be easily able to tell.

Keep on working!

http://www.spiritofmaat.com/messages/nov11/aamichl.htm