We’ve all heard the phrase “ignorance is bliss”. In some cases, I’d agree. There are many things about my friend’s intimate relationships I could have gone without knowing. I prefer being in the dark as to what is happening on the latest episode of “The Bachelor”.
When it comes to news however, I’ve always wanted to know. I remember back to junior year of high school, I had this moment of utter depression at all the problems of the world. It was during gym class, where I had chosen swimming as my elective. Swim class that year was momentous for so many reasons now that I think about it. Anyway, my friend Peter and I were doing laps, and we were swimming side by side with our heads above the water so we could talk. I think at the time we were discussing some U.S. embassy being bombed or something. I went off on a dozens different problems going on in the world and I just became enraged at how I could do nothing, how all these problems were never going to be solved. It was a moment of total awareness and it took me days to get back to being myself.
Since then, I’ve been careful to chose my news wisely, making sure I don’t break down and have this moment of pity for the Earth. Unfortunately, as a mass communication master’s student, there’s no way to avoid it really. I listen to NPR and I subscribe to Google Reader so I get five different news sources all compiled onto one page. For the past few weeks, the anger has been brewing. I’ve been trying to keep it at bay, but it lashed out today after I saw these articles:
Blogger Arrests at Record High
Oil at Record Near $140 a Barrel
Taliban fighters take over several Afghan villages
Africa needs an extra $40bn in aid
Floods drive corn to record high
So we can’t afford gas or food. Which means that the price of aid is going up. Which means aid organizations have to pick who gets what, or who lives and who dies. And though Iraq may be going better, Afghanistan is getting worse. And on top of that, people can’t talk about it.
I’m going to go watch some stupid romantic comedy to cheer me up.
