Saturday, August 8, 2009

Information

Are we as a society on information overload?  There's Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, a gadrillion blogs and news sites that people like me spend hours reading.  Curiosity is going to kill me.  And yet, with all of that information that is available, we still seem to be ignorant about so many things.

The healthcare debate is out of control.  And I know that we tend to pick the news outlets that support our own personal opinions but somehow I think we're doing ourselves a disservice.  Not only are they out of control but debate in general has become mean, mean-spirited and just downright nasty.  Today, I read that some of those opposed to the overhaul of healthcare are equating it with Nazism.  My god.  Seriously.  Nazism.  So, OK, if we can't debate rationally and intelligently we'll just denigrate into name-calling.  That's mature. 

I believe that the media is partially responsible for that but I also believe that each individual has to be held more accountable.  Not necessarily but their fellows in the media but by us, the people.  WE have to tell them that this ugly discourse is unacceptable but we aren't.

There are things that need to be fixed but it will never happen as long as we're standing across the street from each other screaming at each other.  Who hears that  after a while?  Nobody.

Healthcare needs to be fixed.  Crime needs to be fixed.  Children having children needs to be fixed but it won't happy until all sides agree to sit at the table and talk about it rationally.

Where has the anger come from?

Gawd.

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