What's Worse? [kinda pol-ish]

[terpkristin]

This started as I was thinking of some of my friends on Tuesday this week (the 11th). I had a conversation with one of them that went like this:

Me: I hope Joe is OK out in Malaysia, there have been a lot of bad storms in that part of the world, even some earthquakes and typhoons.
Her: I heard from him last Monday, he's fine.
Me: A lot of the worst of the weather and stuff has been over this past weekend, yesterday, etc.
Her: How do you know that?
Me: I watch the news and read washingtonpost.com....

This friend votes in elections.

I have another friend who doesn't vote in elections. In her words, "I don't have enough energy to dig through the mudslinging to figure out what the candidates stand for." (I've told her that there are things like the League of Women Voter's guides, but she's also apparently lazy).

So, it dawned on me, which is worse--not having a clue about national and international goings-on and voting or not voting?

/tk

[lynchjm24]

In that person's defense, there is a lot of news in the world and some storms in Malaysia are pretty easy to miss.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by lynchjm24

In that person's defense, there is a lot of news in the world and some storms in Malaysia are pretty easy to miss.

I suppose I should add for the first person that she admits she doesn't watch the news or go to websites like cnn.com or a newspaper website and has no idea what's going on in the world and country.

/tk

[Greyroofoo]

i thought this thread was going to be about polish people.

Oh wait.

[Apathetic Lurker]

I find this thread offensive

[samifan24]

I find people who vote without educating themselves do themselves and the country a disservice. The other people opt not to vote for any number of reasons and are making a decision to do so.

[lynchjm24]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

I suppose I should add for the first person that she admits she doesn't watch the news or go to websites like cnn.com or a newspaper website and has no idea what's going on in the world and country.

/tk

That puts her in the majority.

[RendeR]

Originally Posted by samifan24

I find people who vote without educating themselves do themselves and the country a disservice. The other people opt not to vote for any number of reasons and are making a decision to do so.

Then you find probably 75% are doing a disservice. Polls and interviews of the general populace have shown that the vast majority of voters don't actually understand whats going on during an election year.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by lynchjm24

That puts her in the majority.

I know. It's sad. I was at the gym this morning and they had Fox News, CNN, and ESPN on the tv's in front of me. CNN had brief mentions of a bombing in Kabul and a bit on Webb being in Myanmar, bringing an American home. They also had more than a bit on some celebrity and why she's "back." Maybe it was a former Idol cast member? Fox News had "Man Food" and a "teen magician." Even ESPN couldn't show sports news, they had Ashton Kutcher on for waaaaaaay too long talking about...well, whatever he talks about. He comes on and I tune out.

I suppose even if people watch (or read) the news, without the appropriate filters or ability to find the real stories, they'll never be able to form a cogent opinion on what's actually going on in the world.

/tk

[samifan24]

Originally Posted by RendeR

Then you find probably 75% are doing a disservice. Polls and interviews of the general populace have shown that the vast majority of voters don't actually understand whats going on during an election year.

I knew someone was going to say this. This isn't really what I'm talking about. I'm talking about people who were interviewed right after exiting the polls and were unable to describe which candidate held which position or which candidate had executive experience, things like that. I long ago accepted that the general populace don't care enough to dive into the issues but that's not what I'm talking about here.

[lynchjm24]

There is really so much media available through so many different channels that it's almost impossible to keep up.

Between a newborn, work, tracking my investments, trying to run 4-5 miles a day, trying to shoot an 85, keeping up with the work on a 5k square foot house, my hardcore fantasy baseball league, UConn practice starting and 50 other things - knowing about earthquakes on the other side of the world just doesn't even register to me.

I get very little international news. Luckily my employer gets us targeted stories to read delivered directly to me or there is no way that I could even find a way to keep up with things I really need to know in order to do my job.

At this point I watch MLB Extra Innings and CNBC. I DVR a handful of shows and at this point, I get a lot of news 4 days later watching the Daily Show.

I can barely keep up with the local news in Hartford and Health Care Reform, at this point if something isn't going to effect me directly there is no way to follow it.

Now that I think about it I don't really have a lot of free time. Sometimes I really miss being 25 and single.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by lynchjm24

There is really so much media available through so many different channels that it's almost impossible to keep up.

Between a newborn, work, tracking my investments, trying to run 4-5 miles a day, trying to shoot an 85, keeping up with the work on a 5k square foot house, my hardcore fantasy baseball league, UConn practice starting and 50 other things - knowing about earthquakes on the other side of the world just doesn't even register to me.

I get very little international news. Luckily my employer gets us targeted stories to read delivered directly to me or there is no way that I could even find a way to keep up with things I really need to know in order to do my job.

At this point I watch MLB Extra Innings and CNBC. I DVR a handful of shows and at this point, I get a lot of news 4 days later watching the Daily Show.

I can barely keep up with the local news in Hartford and Health Care Reform, at this point if something isn't going to effect me directly there is no way to follow it.

Now that I think about it I don't really have a lot of free time. Sometimes I really miss being 25 and single.

I'm not trying to attack you (or for that matter my friend) on not knowing international issues. I am surprised when people don't know them, as many of the things I know about are things that seem to make the headlines, but it's more of the issue of not being aware of what's going on in the nation and the world, and then voting. With some of my friends, I'm not sure they know there's a debate about healthcare going on right now. With at least one, I'm not sure they can name the VP, even though they DID vote in the presidential election for the Obama/Biden ticket.

I fully understand having a lot going on (heck, we're launching another sat this week, my life is about to become non-existent), but then again, some things are choice. To use your stuff as an example, you seem to prefer to follow UConn sports and improving your golf game (I think that's what the 85 is a reference to) than to watching international news to figure out what's going on in the smallest corners of the world. That's a choice we all make, and some of it is optional. I fully admit, I have a leg-up on news-watching on many people, I'll never run again and can't ride my bicycle right now, so I go to the gym. No matter when I go or what equipment I use, there's ALWAYS a TV with some form of news. More in the morning than the afternoon (where Dr. Phil or Oprah or The Doctors may be on the majority of the tv's), but there's always some news on somewhere. I also spend a few minutes on my lunch break reading the Washington Post's website. If I make it home in time to cook dinner, I throw on the DVR'd episode of The Daily Show while I'm cooking. And those are choices I make. I also watch waay to much NCIS and baseball and play video games.

I just think that voting without making yourself aware of the issues around you (the collective you, not you personally) is irresponsible. It seems incongruous to me for someone like my friend to proudly declare that they vote (in primaries too!) when they also declare that they don't watch or read the news.

/tk

[lynchjm24]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

I'm not trying to attack you (or for that matter my friend) on not knowing international issues. I am surprised when people don't know them, as many of the things I know about are things that seem to make the headlines, but it's more of the issue of not being aware of what's going on in the nation and the world, and then voting. With some of my friends, I'm not sure they know there's a debate about healthcare going on right now. With at least one, I'm not sure they can name the VP, even though they DID vote in the presidential election for the Obama/Biden ticket.

I fully understand having a lot going on (heck, we're launching another sat this week, my life is about to become non-existent), but then again, some things are choice. To use your stuff as an example, you seem to prefer to follow UConn sports and improving your golf game (I think that's what the 85 is a reference to) than to watching international news to figure out what's going on in the smallest corners of the world. That's a choice we all make, and some of it is optional. I fully admit, I have a leg-up on news-watching on many people, I'll never run again and can't ride my bicycle right now, so I go to the gym. No matter when I go or what equipment I use, there's ALWAYS a TV with some form of news. More in the morning than the afternoon (where Dr. Phil or Oprah or The Doctors may be on the majority of the tv's), but there's always some news on somewhere. I also spend a few minutes on my lunch break reading the Washington Post's website. If I make it home in time to cook dinner, I throw on the DVR'd episode of The Daily Show while I'm cooking. And those are choices I make. I also watch waay to much NCIS and baseball and play video games.

I just think that voting without making yourself aware of the issues around you (the collective you, not you personally) is irresponsible. It seems incongruous to me for someone like my friend to proudly declare that they vote (in primaries too!) when they also declare that they don't watch or read the news.

/tk

I know you weren't, I was just thinking 'out loud'.

[lynchjm24]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

To use your stuff as an example, you seem to prefer to follow UConn sports and improving your golf game (I think that's what the 85 is a reference to) than to watching international news to figure out what's going on in the smallest corners of the world.

Yes, I fully admit I really only worry about how things are going to effect me. If there is a huge tsunami on the other side of the world, I certainly feel bad for the people and make some sort of donation, but it doesn't really change anything for me.

The other day there was a fatal accident not far from my house in an area where I travel, my wife travels and many of my friends travel. When I heard 3 people had died, it brought a physical reaction that could have been measured. When I hear about something like earthquakes on the other side of the world, if it doesn't come with a huge number of casualties, it goes in one ear and out the other. Yet, I could wax poetic for an hour about the governor of Connecticut and how she negotiates with the state employee's union.

I think that is just what you have to do with the pace at which we live and how quickly time goes by. If I can't change it, and it doesn't really effect me.... I just can't worry about it.

[terpkristin]

So then, the question of truth. When it comes time for elections (for simplicity's sake, we can take only the "big" ones, like mayoral, gubernatorial, presidential, congressional, and not considering the primaries):
a) do you vote
b) do you feel aware of what's going on as it relates to the race in question (i.e. for a national race do you know what the issues are and do you have an opinion?)

Not trying to call out anybody in particular, more of a "proverbial" you. For the first friend in my story, the answers are a) yes and b) no. For the second friend in my story the answers are a) no and b) yes.

/tk

[claphamsa]

I think people put to much into this... i mean when you vote, your voting for someone who has as little of an idea what is going on as your friend.... so why waste your time?

[lynchjm24]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

So then, the question of truth. When it comes time for elections (for simplicity's sake, we can take only the "big" ones, like mayoral, gubernatorial, presidential, congressional, and not considering the primaries):
a) do you vote
b) do you feel aware of what's going on as it relates to the race in question (i.e. for a national race do you know what the issues are and do you have an opinion?)

Not trying to call out anybody in particular, more of a "proverbial" you. For the first friend in my story, the answers are a) yes and b) no. For the second friend in my story the answers are a) no and b) yes.

/tk

Probably not a popular viewpoint, but I only vote when the election is close. Well if an election I care about is close.

When I was in college I was registered in the town where I went to school. We had a congressional race that was decided by 21 votes according to Wikipedia. Ah yes, I turned out to support a man named Ed Munster. If only 22 others had as well.

I know that a high percentage of people have no clue, but if you don't have a general idea of the issues in a presidental election you really have to live in a bubble.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by lynchjm24

When I hear about something like earthquakes on the other side of the world, if it doesn't come with a huge number of casualties, it goes in one ear and out the other. Yet, I could wax poetic for an hour about the governor of Connecticut and how she negotiates with the state employee's union. I think that is just what you have to do with the pace at which we live and how quickly time goes by.

I kind of recognize that actually, but not from exactly the same standpoint. What you're describing though reminds me of something that really hit me somewhere a little past halfway in my radio career, doing live reads of something like 9 minutes of news an hour for anywhere from 4-6 hours six or seven days a week. Basically you get disconnected from things like death tolls or most tragedies or whatever because if you don't, you'll make yourself crazy from the sheer enormity of it and the daily volume of them.

[ColtCrazy]

I have a friend that wrote his own name in on the Presidential ballot because he heard that Obama would not swear himself in on the Bible. I called him an idiot. I think it's even worse when people jump to conclusions on "news" items that are meant to do nothing more than ruffle the feathers of the great unwashed.

Ignorant people are everywhere, and our country gives them a right to vote. No wonder slander campaigns are so effective.

[NewIdentity]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

This started as I was thinking of some of my friends on Tuesday this week (the 11th). I had a conversation with one of them that went like this:

Me: I hope Joe is OK out in Malaysia, there have been a lot of bad storms in that part of the world, even some earthquakes and typhoons.
Her: I heard from him last Monday, he's fine.
Me: A lot of the worst of the weather and stuff has been over this past weekend, yesterday, etc.
Her: How do you know that?
Me: I watch the news and read washingtonpost.com....

This friend votes in elections.

I have another friend who doesn't vote in elections. In her words, "I don't have enough energy to dig through the mudslinging to figure out what the candidates stand for." (I've told her that there are things like the League of Women Voter's guides, but she's also apparently lazy).

So, it dawned on me, which is worse--not having a clue about national and international goings-on and voting or not voting?

/tk

I don't understand, why don't you like people who watch The Weather Channel?

I must admit that sometimes I am in that boat also. Especially during football season. Unless it is on Sports Center, PTI, NFL Live, or buried in the Sports section I may miss a lot of world events myself.

I wonder how many people here DVR their local news; or any news shows other than sports programs? MY guess would be not many.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by NewIdentity

I don't understand, why don't you like people who watch The Weather Channel?

I must admit that sometimes I am in that boat also. Especially during football season. Unless it is on Sports Center, PTI, NFL Live, or buried in the Sports section I may miss a lot of world events myself.

I wonder how many people here DVR their local news; or any news shows other than sports programs? MY guess would be not many.

I might answer the original question given more time later, but -- my god, why would anyone DVR the crap that is the local news? Most people who have DVR also have the internet, and can get the same info, and take up only five minutes of their time doing it.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

... why would anyone DVR the crap that is the local news? Most people who have DVR also have the internet, and can get the same info, and take up only five minutes of their time doing it.

Because, at least in some markets, local TV news actually generates more content than the local newspaper/other sources and not all of that content ends up on TV station websites (varies a good bit from station to station). Plus not everybody who is internet active has any interest in watching video on a small screen.

DVR'ing local news to find out about typhoons in Indonesia may not be much of a smart play but finding out what happened at a metro school board meeting can be.

[Grammaticus]

It is not hard at all. Just check two websites a day (figure out which two work for you) and in 15 minutes per day you can pretty much stay on top of anything that really matters. If something interests you more and you have the time, then take it.

I agree, a tsunami in Asia is not the same as being informed on US politics.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by RendeR

Then you find probably 75% are doing a disservice. Polls and interviews of the general populace have shown that the vast majority of voters don't actually understand whats going on during an election year.

i agree, then they shouldn't vote.