Personal Responsibility
Individuals used to have many reliable resources available to help them learn what’s going on in their country and, if necessary, when their involvement was especially needful. The major TV networks were reasonably objective in their presentation of the news and typically ended their broadcasts with an editorial statement (and appropriately identified it as such). Newspapers took pride in presenting the facts accurately and reserved their views for their OpEd pages. Schools taught from books that rarely gained public attention and, in many communities, some teachers became noted as exceptional in their field.
Things have changed.
It’s hard to tell the difference between “news” reporting and opinion in both newspapers and TV… facts are much harder to discover. It is common to hear about parents objecting to some book being used in a school curriculum due to the content being highly political, advancing a particular social agenda, or distorting the facts. Sad to say, it’s rare to hear about the outstanding teachers who not only love their jobs but are exceptional at it.
It is much harder for us responsible citizens to do our duty when election time rolls around. The internet has certainly increased access to more information than we’ve ever had before, but there is a lot of DISinformation out there, too, which requires us to validate the truthfulness of virtually everything we find… a daunting task.
In the past, although I’m sure the politicians were thinking about them far earlier, the public wasn’t bothered with elections but for a few months every other year. Now, it seems we’re in full-time election mode, inundated with ads and “news” coverage… which grows tiring, even to those who care. The “noise factor” is very high.
It takes a lot of time and effort to determine the facts and filter the lies. It takes a lot of focus to ignore the constant exposure to advertising (and news) messages… when you hear something so many times from so many directions, it’s hard NOT to let some of it creep into your mind. It requires discipline to decide which candidate would be best for our COUNTRY and is strong enough to place his/her self-interests second to doing what is right. It takes courage to make up your mind in the face of opposition… indeed, to even try to influence others to your way of thinking. But it is the most important responsibility we have, so must be taken very seriously. The very survival of our country depends on us.
Today, the job of being a “good citizen” is a tough one. We must each take personal responsibility and make conscious, thoughtful decisions when voting. We are obligated to perform our duty with the preservation of our nation’s core principles in mind. We call for all citizens to:
Participate responsibly!
