Can I give a couple of other pieces of advice? 1. Talk politics with people. Just talk politics with people that you get a chance to talk to. At a party, at the barbershop, at a bar, at church. Try to talk to people from a variety of backgrounds. They won't all know what they're talking about, but it'll be interesting. 2. Get involved. Find a campaign that you like and work on it. Find a party or lobby that you can stand, show up to meetings and volunteer for things that you agree with. Sign up as a poll worker (it pays a little).
And rehabbing.. Seriously though a good way to get informed is to first start off with making sure you get the news daily. One thing I do is I leave NPR running a lot of the time instead of listeing to music radio. At the same time I check out the AP and NYT headlines I get on my homepage and watch my the network news broadcast. Also Clutchfans actually isn't bad as a news source as many of the posters are news junkies and will post breaking stories. Plus many of the posters are incredibly well informed on a variety of subjects.
I like point #1 even though it may strike people as crazy. I even had some great conversations with my Dad this weekend, where I did a lot more listening than talking. He's a big time fox junky now, and I had to wade past a lot of the talking points, but I convinced him I'm genuinely and respectfully interested in hearing someone's perspective who is both smart and lived (as a kid) through the great depression. Once we got past the daily trash of media talking points, it was really cool, even though I disagree with some of his stances.
That is a matter of perspective. I will agree that politics and Clutchfans isn't for the faint of heart and you have to be willign to hold your nose. The main thing though is to have an inquisitive mind. Yes a lot of what is said here is BS but if you are willing to dig there is a lot of good information here. For example I've found a lot of the religion debates to be very informative while some of the discussions on TARP were more indepth than what I saw on many news services where people are being paid to discuss it. A lot of this is what you make of it. So yes you will often find yourself in a heated debate where insults are hurled so you need to have a thick skin but if you can handle that there is a lot you can get out of here.
You need to avoid becoming informed and at time misinformed by only the mainstream media. I would suggest in addition going to these two sites daily for a more well rounded view. I like the NYT and ABC Nightly News for the mainstream media. antiwar.com buzzflash.com
Great advice! Repped. Sorry to disagree, but... 1) how are talking to people any different than reading message boards and news outlet? Most people regurgitate what they've read/heard from the news anyway. Talking politics and religion is one of the quickest way to make/lose friends. At least on here, you really don't care. 2) why should he choose a side when he is still learning? We all know that which ever party he chose will be biased, so what is he going to learn from that?
^ This message board, and the internet in general, is dominated by a relatively narrow demographic. Namely, young-to-middle age, upper-middle class, tech-savvy males. It represents probably 5% of the country, tops. If the internet voted, Ron Paul would be President. The media represents an even more narrow demographic. There's a whole lot of opinion out there that he should hear.
As others have said, a brave post! Most people won't admit that they don't know a lot about "the issues of the world," as well as many other things. Recognizing that you don't know everything is a great step towards actually learning, instead of spitting out the latest "talking points" from the political "talking heads" one runs into on the media, and elsewhere. Some of these posts are excellent: Excellent advice at the end of the post, and you could do worse than reading The Economist. It's worth more than 2 cents! Pure gold, but never stop. A year isn't enough, as rimrocker knows, but it's a good start. Listen to wes's advice. Sure, your brother-in-law may get up from the Thanksgiving Dinner table, in front of 15 relatives, because you offered a toast in honor of a newly elected Bill Clinton, and drive home leaving everyone, including my sister, wondering what the heck just happened, but there isn't a reward without some risk. (this happened to me!) So talk to people. If you don't agree, so what? Just be civil and you might learn something, even from those who oppose 99% of what (one assumes) you'll eventually believe in. Good advice about NPR. While you might not always agree with what they are telling you, they are a heck of a lot more "fair and balanced" than the network "famous" (I prefer infamous, but that's me!) for using that phrase. And I can't tell you how often this news junkie found out about a breaking news story here first, before seeing it on CNN, which was running in the background. Hangout is another decent "breaking news" outlet. Good luck! And keep us informed on your progress.
For current events try listening to NPR in the morning and/or afternoon during your commute. A lot of their stories assume you don't know that much about the subject but are intelligent and want to know more. While I think it would be great for you to spend a year studying poli sci, philosophy, religion, etc. I think that is an overwhelming task that would just discourage you. See what particular subjects interest you and become better informed about them. It will then help to give you perspective about other subjects. Recognize there will always be people who are more expert than you about many things, learn to identify those people and at least hear them out.
Esteban is right, that there are mostly lefties posting here, and they aren't afraid to rip you for everything. Often times posters will be too stubborn to care about facts. If you come in here attacking and making general statements, i.e. "Obama is a facist," you are going to get flamed. If you want most responses to you to be civil, especially in the long-term, try being respectful to other people's opinions. Ask about specific issues, and feel free to express why you think something is right or wrong, rather than just saying that something is right or wrong. And post a link when you source something, and make sure the link works. We've had more then a few examples of people intentionally excluding some parts of articles, taking blogs and treating them as facts, and completely making crap up.
This is a great post, and I agree with all of it, including the left-leaning number of posters. What I just posted in another thread, though, is that it's incorrect that the administration of this BBS is part of the liberal conspiracy ruining the universe. The admins ban/demerit people in an even-handed way, which is amazing. And the admins, as I understand it, represent a true cross-section of political beliefs/feelings. (I'm not saying juicystream or the OP suggested this, but some others have suggested it.)
I really liked wes's advice. Talk to people (or as b-bob expanded LISTEN to them). The talking heads on all sides (especially messageboard posters) oversimplify, stereotype and compartmentalize too much. Sometimes to make a point, sometimes to obfuscate one. And getting involved is hugely insightful. Wes didn't say to 'pick a side' (that's often the problem!) -- just get involved and if nothing else, you'll see how the process works and meet people that do spend a lot of their free time trying to make things better. (even if you disagree what 'better' entails).
I don't watch TV news or commentary anymore. Too commercialized. Fox and CNN are like the ESPNs of news world. If you ask me, start reading a lot, particularly books. Some may argue newspapers these days are kinda dumb, but I think papers like New York times and Wall Street Journal still maintain somewhat integrities. So I recommend reading those too. But if you really want to pass off as an intelligent man in social conversations especially with hot chicks, books are the way to go.
I don't consider myself Left leaning, I think of my self as right fair ethical civilized humanist futurist leaning. I'd be anti exploitation. -edit- You know it just stumps me that a lot the same people so into Jesus are the ones that call people "Lefties" with derision. I just don't think they are reading The Book. It's an unfathomable hypocrisy, frankly.
I agree with the part I bolded. It dovetails with what rimrocker said earlier. You can't read too much, in my opinion (although I may be an exception!), especially well written books on history. It is amazing how often things that have happened before still manage to surprise people in our "modern" world. A much overused cliché, but true, none the less. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. - George Santayana
god botherers tend to be the least tolerant among us. reading comprehension seems to be a big problem with our evangelical brethren.
