In the last couple weeks, the United States has been restless with tragedies to left and right. Of course you all should know the events I’m referring to: the bombing in Boston and the plant explosion in Texas. And that is just the tip of the upheaval ice burg. But my interest isn’t in discussing events that are being covered by every media mogul in the nation. Rather, I would like to address the mistake of talking about something you know nothing about. I know I won’t offend anyone directly by saying this, but ignorant people really grind my gears. My article last week had a similar theme to it, but it just goes to show the idiots really speak up when tragic events happen in the United States.
Suddenly everyone has an opinion, which is fine. However, many people spread their rendition of “facts” and before you know it you’re talking to someone about one of these events and they seem to know a lot about it. Really, they have not read a single credible article about the events; they just gathered random notions from Facebook. Then you start believing those made-up facts, maybe assuming what that person said is credible, and then you start repeating what that person said to another uninformed person, that does the same thing. That’s how rumors are spread, and maybe even conspiracy theories… It takes maybe 15 minutes to read an article and enlighten yourself a little bit. You can do this while eating breakfast, while waiting in line, while in the bathroom, while smoking (since that is an explicitly useless activity in itself, and yes I’m a smoker). But for some reason, many people don’t take the time to inform themselves, even just a little. I understand not informing yourself with political and social events, they are often frustrating, repetitive, and tedious. In fact, I only started staying updated on the nation’s happenings because that’s the kind of things my dad and sister talk about, so family outings always left me in silence while they discusses current events.
I’ve been hearing from people all week, people I don’t hold in a high intellectual regard, that our government staged the bombing in Boston. This conspiracy circles back to 9/11, which many claim was staged by the government in order to strike fear in the hearts of the public and then manipulate us into voting for the person we think will best protect us. Or so I’ve heard. The thing with conspiracy theories is they are so crazy and far-fetched that some actually make pretty good sense. Regardless, they always seem like too much. The joke is on me and the other rational thinkers if one day it is revealed that our entire history has been one big conspiracy like some people propose, but I just don’t believe it.
This is why I wish people would inform themselves before throwing their ridiculous ideas out into the airwaves for everyone to hear. I guess I shouldn’t be so critical of people being misinformed, when major media networks don’t even report correct and credible information to the public, that’s a pretty great example to follow. But the most outrageous idea doesn’t need to be your only input. In my opinion, we should know what happens because this is our country. Everything the government does affects the citizens, so why not know about it? Every action stems from an idea, so maybe knowing a fact, then having an idea in response to that fact, can spark some monumental action… And it doesn’t hurt your “image” to know what you’re talking about from time to time.
