After waking up to my famously loud and obnoxious alarm clock, I rolled over in my bed and immediately picked up my phone. The glaring blue light hit my eyes as I entered my password, ignored the notifications from various news publications I subscribe to, and instead did what I always do — clicked on Instagram. I then spent 20 minutes rotting,
absorbing mindless entertainment, trends, fads, travel videos and “advice” from influencers on quite literally every topic from hormonal health to study tips. My phone, the ultimate distraction and false comfort, persuaded me away from getting up and coaxed me into an endless scroll for an embarrassingly long period.
Once I struggled out of bed, I pressed play on Spotify as I sleepily descended the stairs. My finger hovered over a new podcast episode on Trump’s latest tariff policies. “That’s too heavy for me,” I thought; again, I avoided any sort of reality check. Instead, I chose a podcast about some random influencers’ take on what’s “in” and “out” currently. In the background, as I meandered around my house preparing myself for the day, I didn’t care to listen to the podcast. I didn’t want to face my own company, silence or the present moment. Throughout the day, I avoided the news, I avoided the radio, and I strategically weaved my way out of politically charged conversations. I threw out excuses like second nature.
My main goal had been to keep things light and avoid thinking or talking about the dire realities of modern politics. The irony? I am a final-year Politics student.
This positionality fascinates me, being far removed from a lot of the political injustice occurring at the moment, and yet still choosing to ignore, avoid and distract oneself from current affairs. I have noticed this behaviour in so many around me, too. At this point, we are becoming passive actors in our own lives and our political systems. I think we all bargain with ourselves, saying that if we pay no attention, our systems will mend themselves, dangerous political actors may just disappear, and we will have to endure no mental load due to global strife. That is not how the world works or how political systems remain just and fair.
Records show that the earliest known journalistic product was the Acta Diurna. Said to date back to before 59 BCE, it was a news sheet which recorded daily events and speeches before being hung in public spaces. In China, during the Tang dynasty, a similar report was produced—called a bao—and was circulated among government officials. Town criers, church sermons, and general word of mouth were among the methods of communicating important events to large groups of people. The invention of Gutenberg’s printing press in 1439 facilitated the mass production of printed news and journalism that we know today. Of course, there were always barriers to accessing new information; illiteracy, misinformation and poverty made it difficult to have a strong knowledge of current affairs. In addition to this, “news” existed in certain spaces that, as an individual, you could choose to enter. Consuming news and information was an act of intention.
The progression of technology led to the invention of the radio, which entered homes in the 1920s, and the first television broadcasts of news shows in the 1940s. This marks the infiltration of news from the public spaces to the personal. Now, aspects like illiteracy
and poverty were less likely to interfere with one’s news media consumption due to media accessibility through several different mediums — most recently, social media.
It is important to discuss this, as throughout history, humans have had to seek out news and worldly updates, and nowadays, we actively avoid them.
I do wonder: Is this immoral or unjust? What is the difference between ignorance, indifference, and compliance? To what extent should we as individuals, partake in modern politics? I have come to wonder if it’s the sheer scale of information or the fact that extensive knowledge leads to mental discomfort. As actors in our current democratic climate, perhaps we feel disempowered and ruled by others, unable to have an actual say in our wishes and wants; therefore, it’s excusable to become passive.
In her recent book, Doppelganger, Naomi Klein discusses how the left has turned a blind eye to the rise of the alt-right movement in the US over the last several years. By ignoring and ridiculing them, the left intended to undermine the power and legitimacy of the right, to highlight the ridiculousness of their theories on everything from vaccines to women’s rights. However, this allowed misinformation and unrest to grow and spread, adopting far more into the alt-right doctrine than we have seen in recent years. Not paying attention did not facilitate the movement’s death; it added far more ammunition. By becoming complacent in ‘common sense’ reasoning, the left in the US unknowingly created the political climate they now live within.
Now, as a mass culture, we are repeating that cycle by choosing to avoid news publications and instead opting to become informed on pop culture, consumerism, trends and money-spending sprees as a distraction. The goal of distraction should not fuel our lives. Reality will continue whether we decide to join it or not.
Whether or not avoiding the news is morally unjust is not up to me to decide. It is also not up to me to determine if it is the height of privilege to choose some sense of delusion and mental peace over vital world news. However, it is incredibly evident that individual freedoms, freedom of the press, women’s rights, and the rights of the LGBTQ+ community have been taken for granted by the general public of the West to a certain extent. If we want to keep our freedoms and have future generations live in a safe and civil society, the time is now to wake out of our collective coma to ensure we are aware, alert and in control of our world. Ignorance is compliance; our freedoms are not to be taken for granted.
I am going to have to face my own avoidance and engage in the harsh realities of our politics if I want to live in the world I believe we all deserve, and I urge you to.
Charlotte Patten – Contributor
