Political exchange

With so many avenues to watch, read, or listen to the news, how do you know what information you are taking in is accurate? How do you know what’s really going on in the world? Most people have their preferred media outlet. Whether you are left, right, conservative, independent, or any other affiliation, you have your news channel, website, blog, or any other method of receiving the news or connecting to the media that leans more towards the affiliation you have. We take comfort in hearing what we want to hear and receiving that validation. You must ask yourself if you want the truth, opinion, or a manipulated partial truth that, if you allow it, pushes your feelings and beliefs in the direction that your preferred outlet wants it to go.  Would you prefer to form your own opinion based off the facts of an event or topic rather than being told what to think or how to feel?

Presumably, most people don’t want to be manipulated. We want to know what is happening outside of our normal lives. We want to know what is happening in our world and what the people, the representatives, the public servants, we have elected to serve our country and make decisions based on their constituents’ concerns, are doing about those concerns. We want to know their decisions, what led to those decisions and understand why their decisions are affecting our wallets, our education, our hospitals, why our roads are in bad shape, why we are supporting one country or another and not this country and why the homeless community is growing and what support is provided to which organization. These are all concerns, one or all, held by most individuals. Those individuals, you, us, we, we the people, are all entitled to understand what and how representatives are serving in their elected positions.

Right now, there is a divide in our country and many people believe this is due to the media. Though some media outlets have biased reports, there are some that fight to give only facts.  Let’s be understanding, to a degree, and realize that no media outlet is perfect, and it is very difficult to report on certain topics because to make headlines and grab people’s attention, these organizations need to make a statement. This is sometimes when unconfirmed or biased opinions come into the reporting of events. The likelihood of the average person changing how news is reported is slim. The most likely and best option is for us to know how to decipher what is being said and differentiate between fact and opinion and the emotion behind it. The emotional opinions that fill the media currently, and this is a strong term, has “radicalized” both the left and the right causing immense strife and anguish among our fellow Americans.

First and foremost, we are Americans. We all need to remember that and to remember we are not products of our elected officials, we are the citizens of this nation and the idea of freedom, dreams, and especially equality for all people. If we fall into chaos, arguing who a better candidate is or who has the correct beliefs, then our actions are what the world sees. Our “leaders” stay in place, we tear ourselves apart and we no longer function as a free society. We need to form our own opinions, respect the opinions of others, but still work for what we believe in and take pride in rebuilding our country in the image that it is supposed to be. A free nation that allows us to be free and enjoy it. Not a nation that causes people of all races, creeds, beliefs, orientations, etc., to fear speaking out about their beliefs due to another being offended. The world is an offensive place, if we allow it to be.

Take any report or topic in the media today and analyze it.  Find the opinion and emotion in the reporting and remove it.  Look at only the raw data and verify it with multiple sources.  Understand, none of us know the exact story unless we experienced the event firsthand. Even our day-to-day life has multiple points of view.  You’re running late to work and everyone you pass on the road is too slow or in the way.  From your point of view, they may be carefree or distracted.  From their point of view, they may be driving safely because they are driving their kids to school and want to get there safely.  Maybe you’re the one driving your kids to school or being a good citizen or helping someone, and you think that someone not holding a door for you or speeding, or any other aggravating action occurs which causes you to judge the action and that person.  Put yourself in their shoes.  Maybe there is an emergency, maybe they are distracted because they just lost a loved one or possibly having a medical emergency.  The fact is, we don’t know everything about every situation or why anyone makes the choices they make, especially when we make so many decisions day by day about the simplest of things.  When reading an article or watching a video we connect to the story in our own way based on our own personal experiences.  This triggers different emotional and even physical responses from everyone.  Therefore, your opinion about the topic is no less important than any other’s opinion on the same topic.  We must understand that.  This does not mean you should change how you feel, that is your freedom.  You can, however, choose how to respond.

With this perspective, you should no longer look at any report with the same eyes.  Challenge yourself to dig deeper and be vigilant.  Don’t trust every article and every headline at face value or just because you like what it says.  “The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable.” -Berry Stevens.  What we see on major headlines isn’t always the truth.  Not outright. Make yourself better, grow and remove the blinders, find the truth and set yourself free.  Even if you must be miserable first.  It’s the only way our great nation will heal and thrive again