Informational Apathy

This last year’s presidential election had the highest voter turnout in over a quarter century, and was the best example of democracy in action that this country has seen in a long time. This was mostly due to this last election’s hot button issues fanning the political flame. While the turn out for this election was amazing and a great first step towards an effective democracy we have run into a different hurdle. Over the last 8 years Americans have become more and more susceptible to sensationalism. We have become lazy and instead of taking the time to do the research to make an informed decision. We are allowing a few media outlets to make the decision for us. This is true of both the left and the right. Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, and Rush Limbaugh revolution are just as bad as their Rachel Maddow / Keith Olbermann counter parts. The problem is all these people are all sensationalist whose chief job is not to inform the public, but to make money by entertaining. This is unfortunate because Americans would rather take the advice of one of these self described patriots/protectors than go and do the research themselves. Consequently our public is becoming more and more polarized and uninformed. I find that this stems from a single issue. Our country suffers from a lack of leaders. No one wants to invest the time or take the risk associated with having an informed opinion because then you are culpable. If your opinion leads to rune you are to blame. BUT if you were just following someone else advice you have deniability. We are a nation of sheep being lead by sensationalist who do not have your best interest in mind. Only YOU have your best interest in mind. If you take the time to do your research you may find that your beliefs are not actually republican ideals, but you may in actuality be a libertarian. Or if you are a democrat you may discover you are really more of a Progressive or Social democrat. You have more than two options. You don’t have to decide between fox news and MSNBC. You don’t have to be all or nothing. This political duality is forcing the public to believe that one side is right while the other is wrong, and that there is no gray area in-between. But there is. It’s not all or nothing and you don’t have to let someone else dictate your decisions. Having different opinions doesn’t make either of us wrong so long as we can have a civil educated discussion. Today our political arena’s weapons are hyperbole, name calling, fear mongering, and lies. No decision can or should be made with these devices as evidence. We the public are responsible for allowing this to happen and the only way we can remove this crap from the political arena by educating ourselves. Listen to arguments from all sides. Read source material as well as second hand interpretations. Talk to people with different viewpoints and actually listen to what they have to say. Take your education into your own hands.