Be Informed

Like slightly more than half of the voters in America this last election, I did not vote for Donald Trump.  And, like many, I did not have an overwhelming love of Hillary Clinton.  (However the feminist side of me loves the idea of a woman president!)  As with most, it boiled down to who was the lesser of two evils.  For me, this boiled down to Clinton. I tried to base my decision on who had policies I could agree with and who I felt was more experienced and fit for the job.  My candidate did not win but that's the way it goes. There's another election in four years.   

Somewhere in this election, policy issues got lost along with civility.  I don't want to rehash the ugliness of this election. What I want is a return to respectful discourse about where we are headed now.  In order to do this, we need informed citizens.  This is a duty of all citizens of a democracy. BE INFORMED.  

In our house we have the Wall Street Journal and the Kansas City Star delivered daily.  With my library card, I access the on-line data bases that my library subscribes to and I read the Washington Post and the New York Times as well.  Granted, I sometimes don't have the time to read every article I would like, but even when pressed for time I try to catch the front page news.  Like many today, I also follow several news sources on various social media platforms.  Social media news requires extra vigilance on all of our parts.  Don't fall for tabloid type headlines.  Refuse clickbait. If you consume news from television--watch MULTIPLE channels.  

If we refuse to educate ourselves with a variety of sources, we become part of the ugliness and this cycle is doomed to be repeated and our country suffers for it.

Technology today has made it easier than ever to become informed about issues.  However, this same technology has also made it easier than ever to ignore all other view points.  With the click of a button we can "unfollow" or "block" viewpoints that we do not want to agree with or learn about.  

Don't get me wrong, if someone is rude and not willing to have a discussion then I have no time for them.  Discussions however require LISTENING and FACTS.  Neil deGrasse Tyson, Astrophysicist sent the following tweet "When facts are what people want to be true, in spite of contrary evidence, witness the beginning of the end of an informed Democracy".  Well said Mr. Degrasse.