How Low Man Can Descend

About two months ago I stopped going to news sites. Why?

1] The news is too aggravating and since BARUCH HASHEM I have other forms of aggravation in my life - why do I need to enhance it? 

2] I have so many aveiros - I am trying to cut down. Wasting time - Bitul Zman - is an aveirah. Reading the news is not necessarily Bittul Zman but it can definitely be that if one spends too much time reading. These sites have all of this "click bait" intended on keeping you local for as long as possible. I don't want to be part of that. So I will still go on occasion but only to look at something specific that I am linked to but not as a matter of course. 

Cutting down significantly on the news intake has GREATLY enhanced my life. I recommend it to all my friends!!!

I have not seen any videos of what is going on in Washington - I just heard about it vaguely. A friend sent me some horrifying pictures and told me more about what is going on. It is sooo distressing to see how low people have sunk. 

This is what I wrote in an email [reprinted with permission from me. Self-Plagiarizing is soooo gratifying to the ego....]: 

"80 years ago, a people who were until then considered very educated and dignified turned almost overnight into the most savage beasts history has known. 

All it took was the Satan enclothed as a demagogue to rabble rouse and the rest was history. I think it is important to know what seemingly civil human beings can become very quickly.

And it goes w/o saying that this applies to people on both sides of the political spectrum.

Iyov- ועיר פרא אדם יולד. Man is born a wild donkey. Rav Simcha Zissel: עיר פרא - from a wild donkey. אדם יולד - a [civil] human being must be born."

Remember: One of the aseres hidibros is "don't kill". That means that even Hashem's chosen people are suspect of being murderers. If we don't control ourselves we can descend that low.  

Another one is "do not commit adultery". We can dress frum, talk frum and even read Mishpacha every week - but we are potentially in bed רח"ל with an אשת איש [which wouldn't be so bad if was the אשת איש we married but this refers to the אשת of another איש....] if we don't watch ourselves. 

Our Avodah in this world is to tame and elevate the animal inside all of us. We do that by controlling our speech, thoughts, actions, appetites [sexual, gastronomical and other] technology immersion, consumerism etc. etc. 

BIG AVODAH!!!

One tip - LEARN MUSSAR DAILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!