The news has been depressing recently. Not because of the news itself, which is somewhat depressing but I'll admit to being rather jaded so, no, that's not the real problem. A news article gives you the information with a slant from a singular source and is to some extent unbiased. I'm not naive enough to say it's completely unbiased, I know that's not true.
What really bothers me is the comments these articles receive. With the age of the internet we are given the ability to comment on just about everything in a way that leaves us anonymous. I have never seen such violent, crude, ignorance as I have on those comment boards.
Obviously, one can ignore the comment streams and focus solely on the story itself, but it does highlight the amount of ignorance rampant in the US. It's not just ignorance, it's willing ignorance. Not just a lack of education, but an unwillingness to become educated. You can't say, "I didn't know." You can't say, "I had no chances."
Guess what, if you have internet access, you have an opportunity to learn. It's the internet! There are websites chocked full of science, math, art! Google has free digital books you can download. Free!
Not just the internet, but there are these things called libraries, where you can check out books, for free! There are community centers, volunteers, and adult education centers willing to help you, and some of those are free. Education is the only way to combat ignorance, and the cycle of ignorance needs to be broken.
I have no illusions that anyone actually reads my rantings, but I had to say something.
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