In my Mass Media and Law class today, my professor said something that really rang true with me. He has spoken of this before, but elaborated a bit today on our “responsibility as citizens of a democracy.” Basically he claimed we had three main responsibilities to ourselves and our country to be active participants:
- We need to inform ourselves of what is going on in the world,
- and by informing ourselves form opinions and VOTE,
- and we should serve jury duty without whining about it, because everyone has the right to a fair trial.
And while I have been trying lately to keep myself more informed, it is not an easy process (and also very time-consuming.) I have been scanning some blogs and news articles lately though and the following are some things I’ve been particularly interested in.
There’s been a lot of chat about the recent health care, but this piece by Scott Bowen over at True/Slant strikes particularly close to my heart as an athlete and fan of extremes sports. It is frightening to think that insurance companies could potentially pull insurance when you most need it for an injury by basing it on a “pre-existing condition.” And this is happening in all sorts of places as written about by Jerry Lanson.
On a semi-related topic (and because it pisses me off as a female from Utah,) the new legislature in Utah would criminalize miscarriage. Caitlin Kelly and a piece from amplify.com pick it up nicely as to how this threatens a persons rights. While I can respect the fear guiding the new law, it is too vague in its terms for any women in Utah to not fear pregnancy. Will they confine every new pregnant mother to bed rest to insure her health? Because there are many situations that could be held to the definition of providing intentional miscarriage even through reckless behavior.
Concerning education we have an article in the New York Times about teaching the advantages and disadvantages of such ideas as evolution, climate change, and intelligent design side by side. Allison Kilkenny (another from True/Slant. Can you see where I get a lot of my interesting news tidbits?) also discusses backdoor segregation in schools.
On the bright side, the internet has come a lot farther than some would have given it credit for 25 years ago. And, studies are finding that liberals and atheists are more intelligent than conservatives, probably due to their more open-minded nature.
