The Age of Uninformed Politics

The age of uninformed politics is upon us. The beast has been growing for a while and now it seems to be consuming us all. Make no mistake, things will never be the same. Now, with the way information is shared, it is easier than ever to pass lies off as truth. Deception shakes the hands of strangers every day while honesty hides her face among friends. I blame technology. I blame money. I blame all of us.

I think that one of the problems is something that we were all taught growing up. As a kid, I always used to quote things that I had heard on television, trying to pass off what I heard my favorite comedian say as actual fact. My family, my friends' parents and even my teachers would always tell me that If I didn't read it, then I couldn't trust it. They told me that I couldn't trust what was on T.V. and that television was all about ratings; that they could make anything up on my shows. I liked that. I'm glad that I was brought up that way, because it would make me go out and research what I heard my favorite comedian say. It made me read books. I would read the leftover newspapers after I would get done delivering my local paper route. I wanted to be informed so that it was harder for people to dismiss my opinions, and I didn't want people to easily be able to feed me misinformation.

The popularity of the internet has, in a way, changed all of that. And although academic professionals refuse to accept many websites as legitimate sources of information, the majority of the voting population doesn't seem to feel the same way. Information printed on private websites is being treated as the holy truth. Because it's the written word, and something they are reading, it must be true.

And the more popular it is, the higher amount of legitimacy does it hold. Take the iPhone 6 #bendgate as just an example. After a video or two went viral of new iPhones bending in people's pockets, people started thinking all iPhones bend. #bendgate caused Apple stock to temporarily fall, and I heard many people discussing the fact that they were hesitant to purchase one if it bends so easily. But let's keep this in mind: In the first weekend the iPhone went on sale, more than ten million units were sold, and according to an NPR radio report, Apple only had nine official incidents of the iPhone bending. But the damage, as they say, had already been done. People have even made videos showing how easily the iPhone 6 bends, by actually trying to bend their phones. Look, I don't care what phone I have, but if I want to bend a phone, I will. Maybe it's time those people who put their phone in their pocket should admit that, just maybe, the reason the phone bent in their pocket in the first place is because they have a fat ass. But I'm digressing a bit. Everyone knows that in business, perception is everything. This is just an example of how a popular video can shape the perception of the public. The problem is when this same phenomenon happens in politics.

I read a blurb online the other day that was trying to convince the American voting public that President Obama was allowing illegal immigrants to serve in the military and protect this country. This was obviously an anti-Obama propaganda post asking the readers, "how can we trust a president who is allowing illegal immigrants, who don't care about us anyway, to protect our country"? How could illegal immigrants protect our nation, the author explained, if they don't love our nation enough

to come to it legally. Words like "treason" and "traitor" were used throughout the article, but that wasn't the scary part of it because both sides of the aisle have used smear campaigns to their advantage since the beginning of politics. The scary part about the whole article is that it had over twenty four thousand shares, meaning twenty four thousand people had shared this article with their friends, family, and acquaintances. After reading absurdity like that, I'd like to think that most of the people were sharing the article because they wanted to share the ignorance and bigotry contained within it's words. But I know that's not the case. I knew that wasn't the case by the amount of comments written by people who I am ashamed to call my countrymen. Anger. Absolute hatred. Emotions that cause people to get up and act, all caused by a downright lie blaming the current president for a program that was set up by the president before him (MAVNI was signed into act by George W. Bush and finally started in 2009 under President Obama).

Obviously, most of these concerned citizens expressing their disappointment in their president hadn't done any actual reading, research, or actual fact checking. Because they were reading something that was well written, most of these self proclaimed patriots believed it. I mean, if someone took the time to write it, it must be true. I feel like a lot of these online political gurus think, "Yes, you have written words that explain a lot of the views that I share. I like you. You think like me. I trust you." And these people, these online freedom fighters, are going to go vote. They are going to get pissed off about these lies they are told, and they are going to go to the polls and vote, and that scares me.

But the age of uninformed politics continues further than that with all of the celebrity news anchors. All of them. From the Fox News team, telling the world that the left is turning America into the modern day Sodom and Gomorrah, to the MSNBC anchors doing nothing but complaining about how the right won't play fair. I can't go through a day of work without hearing, word for word, what Bill O'reilly's views on illegal immigration in the country are. Of course, my co-worker is passing Bill's words off as his own. I don't hear the slightest sign of actual intelligence in these people's words, as their mouthes move like a puppet without a functioning brain.

And of course, we already know that certain news channels are going to report with a biased point of

view. I'm not talking about bias. I'm talking about how these news channels, the same ones that claim to report the news honestly, are giving us bold faced lies. The faces of the news are becoming so popular that people are following them with blind faith. It's starting to almost get to the point where caring about what Wolf Blitzer and Glenn Beck have to say, is almost the same as caring about what Tom Cruise and Ben Affleck's opinions on the Benghazi scandal are. And it continues to go that way as more and more people seem to trust people like Jon Stewart as a viable news source. I mean, I absolutely love Jon Stewart, but him being a "News Anchor" on Comedy Central just helps to prove my point.

So what's the point then? What the hell are we supposed to do? Well, hopefully you just continue to do what you have been doing. Hopefully, instead of sharing the political propaganda that you see on Facebook right after you read it, you should do some research on the subject if it's written about something you care about it. And if it isn't factual, you need to do your duty to not share it, but to tell the author, and the people reading the same lies as you, the actual facts. We need to do less convincing and more enlightening. I can make up any fib that jumps into my head in order to convince you of something and get you on my side. But we should strive to actually educate and challenge each other. Start asking why and questioning authority because the ones in power don't want you to. It's not good enough to just make a decision, but instead, make an intelligent one that you are able to defend when challenged. The world doesn't need another talking head. It needs a thinking mind.


H.H.