I am writing this post as an extension of my head in the sand post titled “I don’t care,” which I published a couple of days ago. I think the unwillingness to learn is a plague on the culture of America; therefore, I want to take an extra day to tackle the topic, but I want to specifically focus on current events and the news in this post.
When asked why one chooses not to watch the news I hear the following excuses: “I don’t have time.” “The news is so depressing.” “Most events don’t affect me, so why should I care?” Each excuse is a rationale to enable ignorance. Economics would state that humans are self-interested; therefore, we make decisions regarding only our immediate self. Sadly, I fear that it is this self-interest that leads one to neglect current events and world affairs; on the contrary, I think people are aloof to how self-interest should generate the opposite effect and drive them to tuning into current events.
“But Ben, if I only care about myself, then why does it matter what is happening with the current war-crimes trial of the Laurent Gbagbo (former Ivorian President)?” If one is solely dedicated to only self-preservation, then The Hague’s trial truly has no significance in life. On the contrary, there is the age old cliché that states history will repeat itself. Since its inception in the early 2000s, International Criminal Court has indicted 39 people with ties to heinous acts such as rape, genocide and the use of child soldiers; therefore, history is continuing to repeat itself. How can we be so ignorant?
Besides repetition of history, further rationale for watching the news can be exemplified by the butterfly effect. The scientific premise of the butterfly effect is that a butterfly flapping its wings creates a wind that can alter weather patterns across the world; therefore, small actions can have a big impact. The butterfly’s flapping its wings can be similar to the effects of distant world affairs on your life.
Consider the following: gas is cheap, but why? One could deduce the conclusion of gas being directly tied to OPEC’s oil production (discussed briefly in the post “Overdramatizing Iranian Oil”). How does that gas price affect the choice of flying or driving? Is it safe to travel on vacations to certain areas based on the global affairs? What are the chances of one of my best friends having to go to war? These are the questions that plague my mind as I see the fluctuation in gas price. These questions are examples of world events having a direct impact on one’s life.
Some of the most distant locations in the world have the greatest impact on our lives. For example, Israel’s choices, actions and how others act toward Israel have MAJOR impacts on the United States. Another example is the European Central Bank (ECB), which is the governing body of the European Union (EU). When the ECB decides to enact a policy, the effects are immediately felt in the member nations of the EU, but because we are such large trade partners, the effects are also felt by the US. Yet another example is the intertwined relationship between China and the United. As the Chinese markets were unstable at the end of 2015 and into 2016, the stock market was highly volatile and the US Federal Reserve chose different policy routes due to the fear of the Chinese markets.
Outside of economics, we need to focus on the world affairs of Syria and Iran to predict potential military action of the United States. Another example is the Zika Virus that is plaguing Central and South America; this virus can cause extreme birth defects, but so many people haven’t even heard of it (especially concerning are the Zika ignorant who are thinking of going to Spring Break in outbreak areas). If you want more ignorance evidence consider this YouTube video in which we see that people know Snooki, but not Joe Biden.
To me, we are in a current event crisis. I fear that we, as a society, risk entering a phase of complete ignorance, which could stem into extreme nationalism and disdain for non-US topics, ideas and citizens.
Let’s abolish global event ignorance.
Below I have two websites that I subscribe to (along with countless newspaper articles and news updates), that are quick five minute fixes to the current event ignorance problem.
Sign up for theskimm.com—a daily newsletter sent to your inbox summarizing (or skimming) the top stories of the day.
Sign up for the Economist Espresso (a paid daily newsletter) with stories of the day
thereisnopeak.com 