Hello friends,
This entry will most likely be a wall-o-text, and for that I apologize, but I am fired up and I need to get it out.
I know that people loathe discussing politics. It's generally divisive. After all, everyone has his or her own opinions. They hold them close to their hearts, and for good reason. Our personal philosophies and values are a product of our life so far. To challenge those ideals is often perceived as a threat, and we respond accordingly. Sure there are some people that claim they love discussing politics, but it has been my experience that those people either enjoy picking a fight or they tend to discuss politics only with people that are ignorant of current events or have difficulty in formulating their own fact-based opinions. There is of course another breed of people that enjoy discussing politics…radio talk show hosts.
I'll admit that I listen to talk radio…conservative talk radio. Once my Liberal friends' eyes return from rolling back into their heads in disgust, I would like to say that I agree with you. Conservative talk radio makes me sick. So why then do I listen to it? Because I want to hear the news from a perspective that isn't marketed like a cup of Starbucks coffee. I want the raw facts so that I may formulate my own opinions on what needs to be done to get us out of this sad state of the union we find ourselves in. I don't need some media sweetheart telling me what I should think of the President's policies and I certainly don't need him/her telling me how I should "feel" about it. Is talk radio news packaged or marketed? Absolutely, but at least it's from another perspective. An objective perspective…well…some of the time, but not often enough.
I don't listen to Rush, primarily because I am busy when he is on the air. I listen to Hannity because he is on during my commute. I try to listen to Michael Savage whenever I can and I check out Drudge's website when I have a free moment in front of a PC. If I had my choice, I would skip Hannity all together. He seems like a nice enough guy, but he frustrates me to no end when he over simplifies issues on his show. Much of this, as well as his problem with cutting people off is due to lack of time. To some extent, this is understandable. He has a show to run. The show needs to be entertaining, and to many, the sensationalized over simplification of issues is what the listeners want. Just as the masses that tune into CNN and MSNBC to get their dose of Obama, the less Liberal masses tune in to talk radio and FOX News to get the opposing view. The problem isn't with the perspective, it isn't even with the presentation. It's with the damn audience.
The sad truth is that the audience is lazy! They want to tune in, have someone tell them what they should be thinking, and then go about their day trying to make sense of their lives. This needs to stop! By stop, I don't mean people need to stop watching/listening to the news. What I am saying is that people need to do what Reagan always said, "Trust, but verify." When I listen to Hannity, and he makes some claim about current healthcare legislation, I don't simply accept it as fact. I do my best to research it myself and sort out how much of it is truth. Do I always find the truth? Nope. In fact, this is another problem that we have, not only in the U.S., but everywhere on the planet. Finding the truth can be next to impossible, especially with the click-and-go resources that we have these days. Every article, website and program is designed in a particular way for a particular reason. Maybe it's ratings that they are after. Maybe it's a personal political agenda. It could even be misinformation for the sake of causing trouble. To top it all off, even our school textbooks and history books are dripping with political agenda. So what do we do?
We look at the bloody facts, as raw and as painful as they may be. If we can't find the facts, then we ask…no, we DEMAND that our government officials provide them to us. If it is clear that they have a vested interest in lying to us (which is almost always) then we find the most neutral source that we can and ask for the raw information and the details on how the information was obtained.
The swine flu craze is a good example of how this breakdown hurts us in so many ways. The reason it's such a good example is because it is happening so quickly. The flaws in the delivery of information are so glaringly bad, that it's obvious no one knows what the hell is actually going on. Even if there is a true authority, they are drowned out by the sea of "experts". Some people claim the vaccine is dangerous while others swear it is safe. One outlet reports hundreds of healthy children dying from the swine flu while others explain that they had underlying conditions and that many have been misdiagnosed or never even tested. Meanwhile, society tears itself apart because everyone has their "official" source of information that they trust without question and they will argue with everyone else simply because they want to win an argument that backs up their personal experience. Am I the only one that thinks we are being played here? As long as we are confused and arguing, we are helpless and controllable.
This isn't conspiracy thinking here. I'm not saying that there is necessarily an all powerful group of people out there, government or otherwise, conspiring to control us. There doesn't have to be a conspiracy. A group of people comprised of individuals that have self-serving agendas can control the masses just as easily (as a group of conspirators) so long as each of those people is willing to compromise the lives of others in order to reach their personal goals.
My point is, we need to stop letting other people run our lives. We are where we are because humans get lazier every generation. At some point, many of us opted to sit back and let "other people" run the world simply because it was easier to do so. Some may argue that that is what government representatives are for. We vote them in to do our bidding. In theory, this is true. In practice, it is so far from the truth that it's surprising that we don't see it. Or is it? I will be the first to admit that in the past I found politics not only boring, but so confusing that it seemed unlikely I would ever understand it unless I dedicated my life to it. For the most part, I still feel this way, but this is due to ignorance, not lack of intelligence. We are all smart enough to know the basics of right and wrong, and we certainly know what in life is important to us. So why is it that we vote (or worse, fail to vote) for people and issues that we know little to nothing about? Why did you vote for Obama or McCain? Was it because of the party label, or for what you thought was the lesser of two evils? That was an easy question. How about your state representative(s). Do you even know his/her name? How about the sheriff or the governor or the mayor? How many senators do we have? What are their names? How many kids do they have? Do they even have kids? Are they religious? Where are they going to be campaigning next and what is their position? How did they vote on the last issue that was important to you? This is important stuff people! The people we vote in today may be the "leaders" of our children.
Can I answer all of those questions? I am ashamed to say that I can't, because until recently I too have been asleep. But now I am awake, and I am furious that I let it get this far without so much as a cursory glance at what was going on. If you were able to answer most or all of those questions, then I salute you. If not, then please, PLEASE, wake up and start learning, listening, reading, researching and most of all thinking about the things that matter to you and what the people in power think of those same things. If they aim to undermine things that are important to you, then let them know, either by writing to them or voting them out if they fail to acknowledge your concerns. Don't give me that garbage about not being able to make a difference either. They read our letters. Why? Because they don't know who we are. For all they know, you could be the president of a large organization that has a lot of influence over how they vote. You may have a blog read by thousands of registered voters. They don't have time to look you up to find out if you can get them fired. Because of that, they must treat all of our letters with the respect that they deserve, because if they don't, they will join the ranks of the unemployed. Plus, if we actually keep an eye on them, we will have a better handle on the truth and their version of it.
If we all begin to act like individuals instead of party members, we will have a much more accountable government…someday. A government that will actually do what we want. At this point, a writer might insist that you "get involved". This can be an overwhelming request when you don't know where to begin. So I will ask you to perform a simple task over the next 30 days. Choose an issue. It could be healthcare, abortion, the war in Iraq or global warming. Still too overwhelming? How about the state budget deficit or another local issue? Once you choose an issue, spend 20 or 30 minutes a day learning about that issue from opposing groups. Do your best to reduce their opinions to undisputable facts. Finally, consider how you would like the problem to be handled and write it down. Find out who your local representative is and send him/her your opinion in a letter (not an email because they don't read them). I suggest a hand written letter ( I know, your hand is already cramping up), but I recently learned that they will actually respond to hand-written letters (except for McCain, but he has short-timers syndrome).
That's enough for now…
Ryan
