| Has anyone else noticed how different "things" are then they used to be? Blogging about politics, until about 2010, used to be a process of checking multiple sites for information, fact-checking that information, and then writing about things that interested the individual blogger. The first change came when blogging sites started to decrease in number, and the "information" would spread from blog to website and elsewhere, often not fact-checked. This led to a decrease in sources for information, and a lack of veracity in a lot of the information that was found, even from sources that were supposed to be "clean". Second, a lot of individual voices disappeared, and thus specialized blogs with specific information vaporized. A lot of them went to the largest blog aggregators (on both sides of the political spectrum). Then there came a decrease in the number of topics covered in lots of places: blogs as well as mass media. I stand perplexed. And to a certain extent, lonely. I spend a certain amount of time looking for where to place blame. Yes, I know that's unfair, but nonetheless, that feeling exists. The blame thing. Take the Supremes. They may well take up both voting rights and gay rights cases. Where are the voices? Then there are the state legislatures. Most are now either so red or so blue that there is no chance of compromise because the minority has been effectually rendered mute. Where is the outrage? In the wake of Sandy, where is the discussion on climate change? It's making the local New York and New Jersey papers, but the rest of the country seems to have forgotten. As they did the 9th Ward in New Orleans, which is, sad to say, still mostly a wasteland. The big relief effort, especially in the outer boroughs of NY has come from the Occupy movement. There is little press on that, but much gratitude from the residents. There is the fiscal curb which seems to be absorbing everyone. Yet no one is talking about the financial authorization bills, which are equally important, as well as intertwined. And what of human interest? Both Bob Dole and George HW Bush were hospitalized recently. Dole is now home recovering, Bush is still in the hospital in Houston. It made very few radars. Have we become so focused that we can only think about one thing at a time? Where are the voices? Where is your voice? For what it's worth, my voice has been getting hoarse working on convincing those who cared about the election that the work is not over, and that it's still important to stay involved. I'll be back with more information on what we're doing here in my little corner of the world, but I hope that you will get involved where you are: take action, raise your voice. |
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