Sometimes I come across a regular, common sense post on social media that is profound because of it’s simplicity. This is one such post – that is pasted below in its entirety – from one of my former students at the University of Louisville. Thank you Tyler (AKA Fish) – for schooling us on how it should be done. And let me add that this process doesn’t have to be laborious, it just takes longer than the few seconds it takes most people to word vomit on their page. Don’t be lulled by the thought that you have to respond immediately to anything; you don’t! Think before you speak, even when you’re not speaking…
From Tyler Lance Walker Gill on Facebook:
“This is my advice for everyone when it comes to getting involved in political discourse, which I believe we all should do: The next time you are tempted to watch the “news”, don’t. Instead, go turn on C-Span (1 or 2). You’ll notice the extremely boring nature of this programming. You’ll also get to hear all the bullshit without the “media” filter, straight from the horses’ mouths. This, my friends, is politics. Beware: this is no place to find truth or facts of any kind. After you’ve gone straight to the source, do your best to find a good secondary source or two – just be careful, and pay attention to where their money comes from; all it takes is a google search to find out whether or not a source should be trusted. Now, see if you can find a good study reinforcing what you heard from our representatives. Find something that uses math and numbers to reinforce findings. Politics should not really be entertaining, and this method of ingesting information is not fun. It’s actually a lot more like homework. But, you have to stop trying to find something that sounds good to you and reinforces your opinions, and go searching for some facts. This is the only way to really get involved in the discussion, and I promise, you’ll feel empowered by information, and you’ll find yourself caring a lot more about whatever issues you find most important. When we all know the facts, we can stop wasting our time arguing over our opinions – two very different things. Then maybe, if we’re lucky, we can more easily hold our representatives accountable.”
Please, share this with someone that may need it!
Dr. Anthony
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- Bullshit and Bathrobes: The State of Our Civic Discourse (civinomics.wordpress.com)
Dr. Michael D. Anthony 