Easily Distracted

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about how easily distracted we become. “Everyone” is concerned about health care and 2/3 of all Americans want health care reform, including some sort of universal health care, but our congress takes months and months to act. We become frustrated by the slow, messy process of legislating the mess (which some have likened to making sausage) and get distracted but other things – often very silly things. So we end up with a watered down version of what we really want that never does anything; and the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and we’re all unhappy.

The biggest problem is that most of the time we cannot focus on more than one thing at once, and let’s face it, the problems have been pretty big over the past year. We tend to look for any excuse to escape, so we are distracted by really stupid stuff. The 24/7 nature of news nowadays only makes the problem worse. News organizations have to constantly “feed the beast” – fill air time or post new items to their Web sites.
Having worked in television, I can attest it isn’t some basic conspiracy. But we are like sheep, easily led astray – staring at the guy waving a sign that says “look over here.” Usually it has to do with celebrity gossip, sports, or – most likely – being much more concerned with our own problems than with the “big picture” problems. I’m not sure how to solve this, but here are three simple things that might help.

1. Get informed, diverse news and opinion. Having more ways to get our news is a very positive thing – I firmly believe that. Looking for information from multiple sources is also a good way to keep from simply confirming any bias you already have. It helps to get alternate perspectives and to question what you hear or read.
2. Accept that there is usually a legitimate, alternate viewpoint. Anyone who has ever been involved in a news story will tell you that the news entity got the story wrong. This is because bias and perspective play a huge part in how we understand anything. If news reporting were just about reporting “facts” we would never have any news.
3. Expect and demand accountability from news media. Write to news editors and journalists and ask them to focus on the things that really matter. Tell them what you think – but do it in a respectful, constructive manner – and make sure you sign your correspondence, including contact information. Nowadays, the majority of so-called feedback that news media get is anonymous, nasty in tone and completely discounted. Signing correspondence insures that you’ll be taken seriously and that you will be respectful to the recipient.

I guess it goes back to what my teachers always said about politics in general: if you don’t like what’s happening, get involved, get in the game, and stop standing by the sidelines.