Should you follow the news?
For so much of my life, I was invested and impassioned by world issues. That is also why I largely don’t follow them today.
There are many reasons to follow politics, and almost as many reasons not to. Every painful story I read about gave me reason to turn away — yet it is for that same reason I felt I could not.
Civil society, which we are fortunate to occupy, is based off the idea of participation. Among our civil duties is the right to vote, which many think of as an obligation. The underlying promise is that we can affect change in our environments through such action, and make some progress on the things we read about.
Yet, what end does following politics achieve? This satirical headline was forwarded to me by a friend recently: Local Woman Stays Just Informed Enough to be Angry and Sad All the Time.
Comedy aside, there is real truth in the above. Political polarization has reached a generational high. Social media sites that are inclined towards political discourse, like twitter, are widely agreed to be toxic.
You might think easier to turn away from the bad things (it is in fact, surprisingly difficult). But the truth is, watching the news doesn’t necessarily help either.
There are many good reasons that politics is so polarized. There are issues that we should not accept. However, the news is as much a contributor to that as anything else. We largely speak past each other, and worsen the problem. Perhaps the focus should not be to invest more time in this same engine then.
I ultimately have come to two heuristics that I use to judge my involvement in a political issue, from a moral perspective first, and then a practical one:
- Am I able to make an impact on this issue?
- Does this issue impact me?
If the answer to both is truly no, then it does not make sense to invest more energy into it. If I the answer to 1 is no, but 2 is yes, I educate myself because it would be irresponsible not to. And if the answer to 1 is yes, but 2 is no, I act because it would be immoral not to.
I saw many people over the years come to be wrong on their positions. Some changed their minds, while others arrogantly refused to. Many of those who take on the burden of other’s pain, in their tragic sense of responsibility, took on a sort of righteousness. This afforded them an eminence that allowed them to make decisions for others, cast blame, or engage in hyperbolic discourse. It is no wonder this phenomenon is so most readily seen, I think, in politics.
What I learned over my years of political interest is summarized in that old Socratic quote
“All I know is that I know nothing”.
In recognition of this, I largely stay away from attempting to control others, or trying to tell people what to do. I‘m not sure this is the right approach, and surely this is something that requires nuance. But I always keep that quote in mind.
I think the final question comes back to where we started. What then, of that act of civil society — voting?
The enormous complexity of politics makes it difficult to become educated on them. However, most people already know how they are going to vote. They have morals and values that tells them where they stand. If there is an issue that they care about or are affected by, they have enough experience to know where they stand as well. It’s an imperfect answer but think about it — who really is on the fence about the upcoming US election?
Peter Thiel, in his book on entrepreneurship Zero to One, writes extensively about competition. The greatest entrepreneurial achievements are not through competition, but through creation of entirely new markets that solve more unique and impactful problems. In fact, the ‘psychosis’ of competition leads many companies to their downfall, as Thiel documents.
Taleb, a favorite author of mine, discusses something similar in his book ‘Skin in the Game’. Rather than focus on Zero Sum games, where there can be only one winner, and the rest lose, why not focus on wealth creation — becoming the tide that raises all boats?
When you think of it this way, politics, with its election of a single head, is the world’s largest zero sum game. Many of its negatives are a natural consequence of that. That does not dissuade me from voting. But it helps me reach the conclusion I have now — if I am truly passionate about positive change, I should focus on doing things that are productive, so I can actually make a real impact. That to me begins with the heart of entrepreneurship — solving a problem.
None of this is achieved by reading the news. As I have turned away, I have been surprised by how little I’ve lost. Seeing the news blinker at my office, it’s jarring to see how mundane violence and tragedy seems as it scrolls by underneath a news anchor.
I have stopped following the news, or am actively trying — it’s easy to get sucked back in. I’ve realized that doesn’t have to come at the expense of what drove me, and what I believe in.
