Greetings sensible people!
Today, I had a coworker mention to me that their partner was running for a local office, which would, under normal circumstances, have made me happy that someone was willing to deal with all of the BS we all know would surely come with holding any office. But then they told me about how the media treated even the local candidates. This, and only this, gave me even more ammunition for what I have suspected for a long, long time.
Even after more than 40 years of life, I am surprised that I’m finally succumbing to the fact that every single communication that comes from the media . . . regardless of whether it is from FOX news or NPR, is tainted and biased. For a long time I have looked for a source of news and reporting that was unbiased and for awhile, I thought that was NPR. And, while I still think public radio is less prone to bias, I must say I’m pretty sure there is bias there too. (Though is question whether there is strong intention behind it.) What does this mean for each person who truly cares about their vote, their influence in the government process and their part in their community?
I believe this means we have even more burden placed upon our time. Every day, we have service after service barraging us with messages that “A” is bad or that “B” is too costly. We are told that “C” is immoral and that “D” is unfair to the party against it. Think about it. What was the last message you heard about a candidate? About the government? I’m willing to bet that the message you heard was negative or was painting a “dire” picture of the events and gesticulations of the main subject. My gosh! How sad it is that I didn’t realize I heard this pap every day without realizing how it was conditioning my thoughts!
Now – this means our first response to what the media says should be: “Really? That’s interesting. Is this really all the facts? Did you tell me everything I need to know?” The answer is they didn’t. The media is there to CREATE news, not report it. The media has to stay in business, so they creat “spin.” They sensationalize the most radical position and then look at what the public’s response is. They then adjust to make more sensationalization if they can. It sells papers. It sells magazines. It sells viewership. But what it doesn’t do is try its very best to portray all positions and as much of the truth as they can.
Because this is the media’s task . . . their call to action. Ours must be to dig and dig and dig, for more information on the people running for office. No, I’m not talking about the petty stuff. I’m talking about the important stuff . . . like how the candidate views public finance or how the candidate feels election law is out of whack. Ask them what they think about abortion? The freedom of speech? The role of government in everyday life?
You think that is enough? No! Ask them everything you are concerned about. And if you don’t get a response, pester them for one. It is their job to let you know what they believe and to know how well they will represent your concerns. Unfortunately, you must do this for every serious candidate; and don’t forget your independents and Libertarians. Each party, or lack thereof, has a role to play in our political process.
What is disturbing is most of us don’t have the time or energy to fully vet each of our candidates. There are dozens of people running for office and studying each one; studying to find the real truth behind each one, is a massive task. What I choose to do is focus on the offices that are important to me and to where I live. Yes, this ignores certain offices, but I truly don’t have the energy to study all candidates for each election. My advice is for all of us to focus on what is important to us and then find the offices that have the most influence over those things. Examine the candidates for those offices and then vote for the one candidate that most matches your conscience and logic.
If we all would put at least 10% more effort in finding the truth about the candidates and in ignoring the crap the media espouses, I’m betting we would see a good uptick in confidence in the government and in happiness in our country. Study and vote wisely!
BP
