Talk about Politics

This story is featured in our election coverage.
This is the age of information, and yet it seems so many young people remain uninformed.  Steven Colbert and Jon Stewart are great, but they are just the tip of the iceberg. While it might not seem like the most gripping thing to read about, I think everyone owes it to themselves to be informed about the people leading our country. Especially with the internet being so widespread, anyone with access to a computer has millions of different opinions and viewpoints at their fingertips. Websites like http://www.politifact.com/ and http://factcheck.org/ offer great places to start, and both websites strive to avoid the bias found on many syndicated news stations.  If you want more “guerilla” style reporting on politics and the War in Iraq, try checking out http://wikileaks.org/. Just this past Friday, WikiLeaks released the largest classified military leak in history. WIkiLeaks is one of the biggest whistleblowing websites, and can really be eye opening to look at.

Many people say that the three things you should never talk about over dinner are money, politics, and religion, but where’s the fun in that? We’re all supposed to be well-educated college students here, so why not have a mature discussion with your friends about politics? Ask them their feelings about all the hot topics, and actually listen to their reasoning. Best case, you will learn a little more about your friends, and worst case, you get the stimulating experience of a good discussion. Who knows, maybe a topic or two might come up that you aren’t well-informed about, and it will lead you to do a bit of extra research.