Losing Hope for the Future of Humankind Dept.:

http://www.slate.com/id/2244062/

http://www.slate.com/id/2243797/

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/02/01/100201fa_fact_mcgrath

Having read the above articles - among others - is enough to make one abandon any further engagement with the mindless turmoil of politics, news media, or any sort of current affairs. Instead, one is tempted to stay inside, with the television turned off, drink tea by the gallon, and read escapism such as Patrick O'Brian's The Far Side of the World, and David Grann's The Lost City of Z.