By Wylliam Smith
Beyoncé is having TWINS. It’s all over the media, and everyone is talking about it. Breaking news, they say: Queen B is not only pregnant, but she’s having TWINS. That’s all good fun, but how is the U.S. debt being handled?
It is always nice when when of our favorite celebs or idols does something interesting, such as getting married, having kids, starting a relationship, breaking off a relationship, making a new album, starring in a movie, getting divorced, is seen at a local Walmart, potentially going to date another celeb, tweets something slightly amusing, takes a step, takes a breath … You get the picture.
Nowadays, the “news” is filled with things that are increasingly un-newsworthy, and the Internet is the biggest culprit in propagating this. It is constantly bombarding you with the latest news about famous people doing pretty, frankly, average things. This wouldn’t be so bad if people actually kept up with the current news.
Sadly, however, that is not the case. I bet that if you were to ask people about Chance the Rapper’s new album, they could probably tell you when it came out and what their favorite song was. On the other hand, if you reverse that and ask people who some of the United States’ closest allies are, a vast majority of people wouldn’t be able to answer that.
While I’m not saying that all people are like this, the overwhelming number of people who are is quite daunting. What is even scarier is people who do things without knowing about current affairs.
For example, when I interviewed people for The Daily Iowan on Election Day, one of the questions I asked is why did you vote for whom you did. It was an optional question, but even still, there were many people who couldn’t answer it. Not only that, but they couldn’t even tell what the goals of the person they voted for were.
To avoid bringing politics into this, I will just leave this topic by questioning how people can cast their votes if they aren’t adequately educated in who they are even voting for. And yet, if you were to ask someone about the latest “cash me ousside see bout dat” meme, they would know exactly what you are talking about.
Personally, I find this not only sad, but slightly frightening. Of course, we live in a world of social media, so there is no real way I can make someone strive to keep up with current events. But, even still, I implore you to attempt to invest as much time into world news and politics as you do in knowledge of Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s love life. That way you will begin to stay in touch with the world around you.