“If you don't want a man unhappy politically, don't give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none. Let him forget there is such a thing as war. If the government is inefficient, top-heavy, and tax-mad, better it be all those than that people worry over it. Peace, Montag. Give the people contests they win by remembering the words to more popular songs or the names of state capitals or how much corn Iowa grew last year. Cram them full of noncombustible data, choke them so damned full of 'facts' they feel stuffed, but absolutely 'brilliant' with information. Then they'll feel they're thinking, they'll get a sense of motion without moving. And they'll be happy, because facts of that sort don't change.” --Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.
During this past week, my aunt decided to deactivate her Facebook account because the entirety of her feed was news articles about the tragedies of the modern world -- domestic and foreign. The heartbreak became too much, so she decided to stay away.
I would be lying if I said that I didn't contribute to the bombardment of travesties. But her deactivation got me wondering, what makes us want to share these morbid, devastating stories? And what makes people not want to read about them?
People share articles about the most recent bombing or shooting or whichever world leader declared war against whichever country or this death or that death to promote awareness about that tragedy. That's why I do it, anyway. I think that my 400-some-odd Facebook friends should know about ISIS bombing one of the holiest places in Islam. They should know about the Orlando Massacre. They should know about voting for which candidate will cause which outcome. They should know about the war in Palestine. They should know about every absolutely horrid thing happening in this world because we, as a human race, got us to this point. Sure, not every single one of us may have directly contributed to the evils of the world -- but how does being blind help rid of them?
But conversely, what does promoting awareness do? Say I reach out to a good percentage of those who have added me on Facebook. They at least skim through the current event articles I post -- get the gist of what happened. Maybe they even share that article themselves. But how does this move us forward as a society to reduce the amount of calamities in the world?
What I'm hoping is, it'll inspire my friends and family (and, hopefully, their friends and family) to further their knowledge -- to keep educating themselves. It shouldn't stop at that one Washington Post article; it should keep going into learning more about the place where that tragedy took place, who runs that place, what is being done by leaders and militaries and professionals to change those things. And maybe readers of these original articles take this newfound knowledge and put it into action, whether it be lobbying or running for office or just simply voting.
Falling into the "ignorance is bliss" cliche may lessen the heaviness of our hearts -- perhaps selfishly so, if looked at at a certain angle. But being more educated opens up a world of opportunities and gives us a chance to further our societal progression. It's not that those who decide to turn away from the news stories about the issues which face our planet are purposely doing so to prevent our advancement from happening. They just don't realize how impactful opening their eyes can truly be -- and boy, can it make or break us as a species.
