staying informed vs. information overload

[OneBlueSky]

I read DU mainly to keep abreast of what's happening in the country and in the world, and I suspect many others do the same . . . and while I'd like to be an informed voter with at least a rudimentaly knowledge of the issues of the day, it's getting harder and harder to find the time or the psychic space to keep up on everything that's going on today . . . think about it . . . how do you stay current on such a host of complex issues, i.e. . . .

- the election
- Iraq
- Afghanistan
- Haiti
- Spain
- Israel/Palestine
- India/Pakistan
- North Korea
- 9/11 and the investigation
- black box voting
- a plethora of environmental issues
- the FCC and indecency
- health care and drug policy
- corporate crime and influence
- the religious right and dominionists
- nuclear weapons and depleted uranium
- outsourcing, trade policy, NAFTA and the WTO
- the budget and the deficit
- media consolidation
- energy policy
- gay rights and same sex marriage
- reproductive rights
- Social Security
- animal rights
- armed forces and veterans rights
- crime and punishment and the death penalty

and the list goes on . . . and on, and on . . . all of these are issues that interest me, and that I feel I should be up on . . . but there's a practical limit to the amount of information I can access, absorb, and process . . . any of these (and many other) issues could be a full-time course of study for anyone . . . for those of us just trying to be informed citizens, it's getting to the point that no matter how hard you try and how good your intentions are, you just can't keep up with everything . . .

there's no particular purpose to this mini-rant other than to express a certain frustration regarding the complexity of the world today and how hard it is to stay informed . . . for folks who don't have the kind of time that I do to access the net and who get their information primarily from television, the problem is compounded exponentially . . . I guess all we can do is try to have a least a passing acquaintance with the critical issues and hope that we have absorbed enough to make intelligent decisions . . .

[bemildred]

1. You are making the effort.

That is all that is required.
An affinity for mercy and justice and equity is good too.

[Indiana_Dem]

2. I'm glad you posted that thought.

I feel that way, too. What I HATE the most is when I want to donate money but I can have about 20 organizations to pick from...I can't give to all of them and I'm having trouble deciding what is the most important. So far this week I have a pile from Kucinich, Union of Concerned Scientists, DNC, Dean, moveon.org, truemajority, and DU etc. My husband is unemployed and I cannot give to all at once.

I'm concerned with energy/environmental conservation, peak oil, global climate change, BBV, and ousting the current regime. Geesh, how can I keep up? What to do?:shrug:

[lostnfound]

3. I give an hour a day to DemocracyNow!..DU is my 2nd favorite

way to keep updated. DemocracyNow! does a great job covering a variety of progressive issues; they almost always have 5 minutes of basic news, very concise, on the issues that "we" care about..and then a few 15 minute segments that are more indepth on hot topics.

I can't explain it, but I feel that they do a great job of prioritizing.

[Festivito]

4. Good luck One Blue Sky, be sure to pull back if needed.

The poor conservative Bush supporters who talk with me end running away. They feel like unarmed knife experts finding themselves in a semi-automatic gun fight.

I skip things by simply lacking time to read it all.