America has a serious entertainment problem. It’s as if the entire country has forgotten to take its ADD pill. We have lost sight of the most important thing: our futures.
And although this can be said about most of the American population, this lack of focus is centralized in our generation.
The millennials.
We are all about the here and now. Always looking for the next best thing that could provide us with instant gratification, but it’s time we do better.
How many of us can say that we sit down and watch the news? Or read the newspaper? And I don’t mean as an assignment from a professor. Imagine watching or reading to purely educate yourselves on what is going on in the world.
How many can say that? I’m willing to bet it’s a tiny number.
A couple of weeks ago, I had a discussion with this guy via Twitter. We were talking about the backlash received from the BlackLivesMatter article that was published.
I was curious as to why it took over a week for people to start complaining about the article. His answer was both amusing and terrifying.
He said, “Let’s be honest. In this generation, no one reads the newspaper for news. Just facts. If it ain’t on social media. We have no idea.”
As awful as it sounds, he is right. Social media rules our lives. Everyone is always Tweeting, Snapchatting or posting on Instagram and Facebook.
While that is cool and hip and all that jazz, the negative side of this is that it is so easy to spread misinformation through social media, then people take it as facts and continue to spread the misinformation. No one takes the time to educate themselves.
That doesn’t work if we are trying to receive instant gratification. Proper research takes time.
Now some of you will say that you don’t watch the news because it depresses you. I get that. I used to be that way until I realized that saying I’m depressed by the news is a child’s answer and I’m no longer a child.
I had the realization that the things going on in this world right now will directly affect me and my children if I ever decide to procreate.
Let me amend my earlier statement. It isn’t that this generation doesn’t pay attention to news, it’s that this generation doesn’t know what qualifies as news.
Kim Kardashian posting another nude on her Instagram is not news. Nor is the fact that Kylie has come out with a new ridiculous shade of lip stain. Celebrities are not going to help you secure a good job and provide for your family. It’s just not going to happen. You know who will help you do those things?
Our president, the governor, our senators and congressmen and women. It’s their job to make sure that we have jobs with livable wages and reasonable taxes. They are the ones with the power to make the changes and guess what, we are the ones who get to decide who they are.
Our voices can be heard if we choose to use them.
I’m not condemning anyone’s social media lifestyle, but I do think that there is a problem when Kim Kardashian getting robbed is covered as if it is mainstream news.
What about the current status on the situation in Syria? Don’t we still have a military presence in Afghanistan? What about our problems with North Korea? The Presidential election? The voting for the Congressional Primary election? Why is the funding for school decreasing, yet tuition keeps rising?
Don’t forget about the current issues with Social Security, because although you think you’re only in your 20’s, this will have a profound effect on your life within the next 20 to 30 years.
Don’t wait until it’s too late. Get informed and stay informed. Talk to your parents, teachers, aunts, uncles or take a break from Color Switch and Pokémon Go and look up some information on it.
We have the power to shape our futures and we should take advantage.
