You want to know what I think? Not that anybody cares what I think, but what I think is that one of the biggest issues we have in our great American Society is apathy. It just seems that people really don’t care about much outside their small circle of family and friends. The second biggest problem with our great American Society is ignorance. Most do not take the time to educate themselves about the issues or they don’t care. Of course, there is that third class of citizens who don’t take the time to educate them selves about the issues, but are very opinionated on the issues based on all the misinformation they have obtained from “reliable” sources such as Facebook and the Comedy Channel.
I have watched a number of “Man on the Street” interviews and am amazed at the lack of understanding of the issues that seems to be rampant in the American public. I realize that for the sake of the bit the interviews are edited in order to only show the most amusing, if apathy and ignorance are amusing, responses. Yet I can’t help but wonder if they have to work very hard to separate the apathetic and ignorant responses from the rest. People would rather criticize the opinions of others than to obtain an informed opinion of their own. The key word in that last sentence is “informed”. Interestingly in today’s digital world it is not at all difficult to become informed on a topic, should one want to take the time. It seems most do not.
I noticed that frequently one will have an opinion, informed or uninformed as the case may be. The opinion takes on a life of its own and the owner of the opinion would rather fight over their opinion than to take the time to listen to what the other side has to say. Fox news listeners, the pundits on CNN just might have something valid to say. Do not dismiss them merely on the basis of their liberalism. MSNBC listeners, the Fox News pundits just may have something valuable to say. Do not dismiss them merely on the basis of their conservatism.
The Townehouse Phoenix represents a small microcosm of society but illustrates my point. The Phoenix currently has 153 articles on-line, of varying topics. In each and every blog article I invite the readers to comment and share. Current statistics are that the blog articles have been viewed 11,566 times yet only commented on 370 times. This translates to less than three percent of the readers motivated by the topics enough to be willing to talk about them. Of course I recognize that my articles may not be that interesting and do not generate comment. That is a possibility,, but feed back I have received on the blog has mostly been positive so there is an equal chance that this is not the case. So the question is, if you are not interested enough to comment on what you read here, what else are you not interested in enough to take a stand?
Ask around in your communities, your circles, your locales. Ask people what they think of the issues such as ISIS, or the global or national or local economies, or immigration, or veteran affairs, or crime trends, or the Bengals. I think you may find that we are not apathetic or ignorant about our sports teams, but all the rest, pretty much so. I can only suggest when you see something that you are unfamiliar with, jump on over to Google and do some research. Read as much, from as many varying sources, as you can. Become informed first, then comment. If nothing else, get involved emotionally. Take a stance, have an informed opinion. Above all, start to care. This great nation cannot stay great if we stop caring.
Those are my thoughts, what are yours?
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2 thoughts on “Apathy and Ignorance”
I agree, apathy is a killer of nations and life. Everyone has an opinion, most are NOT informed as to how that opinion fits into everyday life. Like voters, Roughly 40% will vote democratic, 40% will vote republican, whether they know the reason they are doing so or not. Maybe their parents voted that way, so they do too. Maybe they know democrats will give them “free” stuff. Maybe they know republicans generally are economy builders and more hands off the public. Some just dont care. Not to turn political, just using as an example. The woman with 6 kids, doesnt know who are the fathers, claiming she should be entitled to free money and handouts and will vote for obama BECAUSE he’s black. Whats worse than apathy? People like the above mentioned woman. Democrats = Free stuff, republicans = get off your ass and go to work. Since im bound to start ranting, might as well do so.
1. Obamas new immigration policy. Now, it is ok, to ignore the law so families dont get ripped apart. Im guessing the next step is to not prosecute people for any crime, because it may separate families. Illegals are pissed that they didnt get MORE. Deport them all. They illegally crossed our borders, illegally drive and with no insurance. scam our welfare system. an illegal can waltz into a welfare office with 6 kids and ONE anchor baby, and get more than $1800 a month in food stamps PLUS $600 -$1000 a month in assistance money, and NOT have to have any PROOF, that any of them are hers except for the ANCHOR BABY. She doesnt even have to prove who she is. since the ONLY document she has, is ONE birth certificate. And heres the kicker, shes been in this country less than a month.
2. Anchor babies, that has to be changed. If you’re in the country legally, then fine, its an anchor baby. if you’re an ILLEGAL alien, there is no anchor baby, deport them all.
3. People “striking” at walmart. if you dont like your job get a different one. There is no union there, no collective bargaining, and yet, they want to clock in and sit on the floor, and demand more money. they want to be paid more for not working. Fire them
ok, i could go on, but i wont.
Fight Apathy, or don’t