(From June 2014)
The news is, almost by definition, mostly bad. Human nature being what it is, it isn’t very newsworthy to us when things are fine. It is the upsetting of the status quo, threats to our well-being, and shockingly awful things that pique our interest.
The last dozen or more years, while most of us have been living our lives to the best of our ability, the national and international goings on have generally not been very good.
The world of radical Islam arose from smoldering in the shadows to exploding around the Middle East and elsewhere – including New York City. China, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela are only a few of the other spots in the world where there are problems.
Domestically, we’ve had social discord, economic problems, and increasing concerns about our privacy and freedom. Shootings and stabbings are on the front pages too often. Suicides – especially among returning veterans – seem to be an epidemic.
So, for more and more people, keeping up on the news has become really unpleasant, along with being really depressing. If a person were inclined to feel hopeless, reading or watching the news will surely push them over the edge.
Last weekend I spoke with a couple of people who off-handedly mentioned that they can’t watch the news anymore because it is too upsetting. I like knowing what’s going on, but I find that I’m staying less in touch than usual these days.
The problem is, when it comes time to prepare for the future, it’s good to have an inkling of what might happen. Will gas prices go way up? Will inflation make everything more expensive? Will taxes go up? How can we plan around those factors for our best interests?
If we have learned anything in the past dozen or so years, it is that things we never thought would happen really can happen. It pays to be aware of how things are trending.
And, with fewer people keeping up on the news, that means fewer people will be able to make good decisions when it comes time to vote again. Worse yet, people will make their election decisions based on attack ads on radio and TV that end up making us feel disgusted with all the candidates.
So, I guess even though the majority of the news in the world is pretty awful, we should probably read, watch, and listen to the news. And, we should find a number of different sources for what we take in, to make sure we’re getting the whole story.
And, keep reading your local, weekly newspapers. It’s one of the few places where good news about good people working to make communities better can be found.
Peter Wallace Writes 