People Fight Over the Shape of the Smoke
By the time something becomes news, the important parts already happened. News should be read backwards — between, above, beyond the lines. People argue about the shape of the smoke without asking who created the fire.
Following politics and daily news too closely is usually pointless.
By the time something becomes public news, the important parts already happened long ago.
That is why news should be read backwards.
One of my professors once taught us how to read newspaper headlines properly. There was an entire class about it.
You are supposed to read between, above, beyond, behind the lines: what is being defended, where the narrative is trying to go, what kind of worldview it comes from.
That is why endless arguments about daily headlines exhaust me.
People fight over the "shape of the smoke" — without asking "who created the fire" or "what is actually burning".