Often I hear people say things like; 'I don't watch, or read, the news there is just too much negativity,' or' I haven't been paying attention to current events out of fear of seeing how bad things really are.' This reasoning is one large reason that we, as a country, are in such a deteriorating state. For nearly two years we had a candidate who very plainly said that he intended to fundamentally 'change' America. What did most voters think that that meant? Were we truly that unhappy with the country we had before November? One is led to ask if the people were caught up in the glimmer of the word 'change' or if they were following an entertainer not unlike that of the average mindless 'Reality T.V.' show that is getting increasingly more popular. Our country is in real trouble when the people aren't paying attention to current events because they would rather be struck blind by a handsome, smiling face.
Perhaps it is time for more people to pay attention to what is actually going on in the country and spend less time following who was voted off some mind numbing fluff show. It is however quite difficult to find actual news on television today. On many occasions I find myself bouncing between three of four news programs in an attempt to find news coverage and avoid fluff pieces. Fluff pieces in the news seem at best to distract all of us from the real challenges that we face as a nation. On the off chance that politics is discussed in the media the stories center around whose wife looks best in red, or who had an affair, who broke their arm or who's is just plain mean. We are presented politics in the same entertaining way that we are presented some midday drama. I'm not suggesting that news media should somehow be forced to cover real news. What I am suggesting is that more of our country needs a civics lesson so that they take interest in the affairs of government on all levels and demand real news from the media.
Entertainment at all costs.
Is it at all possible that we have so many stimuli in our lives that pertinent information is seen by many as boring? This question also ties into another question, are we over stimulated in general? With e-mail, texting, instant messaging, I-Pods, and countless other portable communication devices we are always in touch with friends and pop culture. If we then add computers, game systems and hundreds of cable channels distracting us at home, it is no wonder with all of that information flowing directly to us, few would choose to pay attention to which bills are before State and Federal Congress. Using the myriad of communication devices that lie before us to be civicly involved would be seen by an embarrassing lack of people as entertaining, and in todays world entertainment is more important than ever.
Even in news coverage there is added time dedicated to 'entertainment news,' which really is little more than bored housewife gossip. Cable news channels generally have at least one reporter who covers 'entertainment' news, or celebrity gossip. This same cable 'reporter' is usually the same lucky one who covers the kidnapping, animals with broken leg reports, which public figure is sleeping with whom reports, celebrity deaths, fluffy court cases and any other 'news' that one might find in a check stand isle at the grocery store. If this is often what passes as news, is it any wonder that fewer people pay attention to political coverage?
The truth of the matter is that news is most informative when it requires something of the reader, listener or viewer. If someone has not been paying attention to current events then the days' coverage might be less understood. This is why it actually requires some effort to keep in touch with the ever changing state of current events. Relying on one single source of news in todays' world will give us a very narrow scope of what is really going on. Now I can hear the obligatory groan of people saying, "I don't have time for all of that." Many of the same people who would say such a thing spend hours a week watching 'entertainment' programing on t.v., texting, or gambling on-line or what ever other mind numbing activity distracts them from reality. It is our civic duty to pay attention to the affairs of our country. It is time to grow up, put down our toys and learn what it means to be "We The People." Whether we like to admit it or not, what happens in the capitals of states and in Washington D.C. effects our lives for good or ill. An informed society has a better chance of being a free society. An apathetic society invites tyranny.
So what do we do about it.
If you pay attention then find others who do likewise. Get more involved in campaigns and movements that will help undo some of the damage that is being done in the name of 'Change.' Next, we must teach our children and family members that complacency is destructive. It is important to know and teach that part of being a grown-up is being civicly involved. Voting, paying attention to events in the capitals, in our cities, counties and even abroad is what grown-ups, in a free society, do. Using the excuse that 'all that stuff is boring,' is what a teenager might say. Adults should never allow themselves or others to use the 'it's boring' excuse.
Educate yourself. Then use the knowledge attained to educate others. This is part of taking pride in this great country. Help people to listen to, and understand, the words that flow out of the mouths of so many in the capitals as well as other places of civic importance. Then encourage them to vote for those who will extend freedom, leave the private sector to create jobs and tax the least. People need to know that their lives and professions are effected by actions that take place in the three branches of Government both locally and nationally. We can not hold public figures accountable when we make little to no effort to know what they stand for before they are elected and what they are doing in our name once they are elected.
We have a nation with a government, not the other way around; so, we are responsible for keeping tabs on our elected officials. Many of us will never have to fight a physical battle to ensure freedom, but we are called upon to be productive and educated citizens. Pay attention! It is your sacred, civic duty.
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