by Brodie Erk

Image Courtesy of istockphoto.com

It seems like the modern world is on fire; there is war in the Middle East, and Ukraine, not to mention the nations like China and North Korea becoming increasingly threatening towards their neighboring countries. Climate change is destroying ecosystems. There are natural disasters, terrorists, and economic depressions everywhere (or so it seems), but none of it affects you, or our community, so why should you care? You might think that it is impossible to help with these global issues, besides current events are all depressing anyway. This belief is very common among Americans, especially young ones, but it is not true, you should care about current events here, and across the world, because the events happening outside our communities do affect us, one way or another, just as you can affect them.

There are a variety of reasons why understanding some amount of relevant news is important. First and foremost the idea that you are not affected by events in other parts of the country, and across the world, is untrue. Tax dollars, something you will soon have to pay, from Pennsylvania are spent repairing the damage done by natural disasters in several other states including Florida, or California. War in the Middle East can cause the price of gas to rise. Cultural movements from the West Coast can spread to here, and rising crime rates in cities you do not live in can affect who is elected to govern all of Pennsylvania, including the community you do live in. The money is not the only impact outside events have on communities, but it is a major one, in a world that is as connected as ours if one area suffers, many others do as well, in some cases causing the price of food, cars, housing, and more to rise.

Secondly, being informed about current events gives you more perspective on everything happening in the world. Even if some of these events do not end up affecting your life, they can still change your perspective and open your mind. This perspective is important to have not just as a human being, but as the voter and consumer you will be in just a few years. To be a good citizen, you have to be an informed one. For example, if you do not listen to the news, you might not realize that the store you buy from treats its employees badly. 

Some people view current events as depressing, and they can be, but there are ways to be informed without listening to one depressing news story after another. You can always get your news from some place off the internet, news sites and television shows that intentionally show only the most negative content will inevitably make you feel depressed, but newspapers, or even just some news sites that focus on delivering the occasional positive stories are much better for your mental health. Another way to reduce the feeling of impending doom that news shows and sites often deliver is finding ways to make things better. Buying cruelty free or fair trade products, donating to charity, or spreading awareness about global issues are good ways to make a difference. 

In conclusion, you should care about current events; they do affect you and they will continue to do so for as long as you live, but they are not completely beyond your control. Even if they are sometimes hard to hear about, they give you empathy for people you do not know and perspective on topics you never understood before, which is very valuable. You should always know about what is going on in the world, especially so you know how to make a positive impact on it.