If all humans were evil, we would’ve been stuck cutting stones right now. However, if we were all good, there would’ve been thousands of Einsteins, Stephen Hawkings, Ma Longs, Rafael Nadals, and Magnus Carlsens. Humanity would’ve been at its peak, where everyone would be amazing by virtue of social security nets. Therefore, it is in our very nature to be good. It is indeed an evolutionary characteristic that has made us who we are today. To not be good is to deny your own humanity. But what does being good mean?
Everyone is kind these days; that is how most children are brought up. Yet, most of them might’ve ended up following ideologies or support movements that have ended up causing widespread sorrow and damage to people who were already living in inhuman conditions due to unknown ignorance. In a world where everyone who has the job of spreading information and conveying narratives is biased to always support the class in power, being kind isn’t enough to be good. Intelligence and knowledge are vital as well. Understanding the world we live in and always fighting for the right side is hard.
There is a hope that one day large-scale education will solve this erratic problem as people who are more educated about their own rights and are willing to understand the various power dynamics that are present in this world will take better decisions & choices. However, in modern society, education is nothing but a means to earn money or higher status, which is shown by the fact that even extremely highly educated individuals don’t have views far different from the common man, robbing it of the magnetic property of opening the mind.
The prevalence of “fake news” is not a new concept, but in the modern technological world, the act becomes far easier with thousands of articles being published that could be read by millions in a given short time frame. One of the most effective methods to read news is to understand the various biases each media outlet could have. Every form of mass media consumed will convey its reality through a lens it finds acceptable, and the lens is not always the same for different sources, as they can have different motives even if their major motive is mostly to deny the working class the rights they deserve.
Now to win over this, the key is to consume various news sources and not rely heavily on a single source, including large mass media outlets, if you are familiar with their biases. In fact, place a strong emphasis on independent sources of news that can be trusted. It is even more important that the conveyed message is thoroughly verified because most news articles do not outright lie but rather present facts in a way that supports their own agenda.
In conclusion, while it may be tempting to give up on news consumption altogether in the current environment of mass media, it is crucial to remain informed about what is truly happening. The world is an ever-changing place, and there are individuals who will prioritize their own profit over truth. Ignorance is not a solution to this problem.
Become a responsible news consumer.