Why we care so much about the economy

You probably already know this, but there is a reason why the economy has been such an overwhelming news story. It might seem obvious to some, but it wasn't for me. So maybe there are some other lost souls out there who haven't yet connected the dots.

The economic downturn has been such a long standing news topic because money is what most people care about most. No, really I mean it. Stop laughing in my face, I think I'm on to something here.

I can hear what you're saying, no shit Sherlock, the economy is such a big news topic because it impacts so many people, right? Everybody has a family to feed and take care of, am I right? It's inescapable, Money impacts nearly every aspect of our life, so of course when it gets harder to come by, well that's important.

Still, I think there's something more subtle going on here. We as a society say many things are important to us, the environment, education, our families, equality, liberty, freedom, yada, yada, yada. But if these things are important, and if they are failing us, or if those ideals are under attack, or eroding away, wouldn't those topics be in the news more?

Let's take education as an example. I submit that, like money, education touches us all as well. We're fortunate enough to live in a place where, if we want an education, it is available to us. It's difficult to believe, but there ARE places were that opportunity does not exist. Therefore, let's assume that we've either attended school or our children are attending school now. Now let's assume that the quality of our educational system is bad and that it has been for a very long time. Then why don't we constantly see news about education? We have a long-standing crisis with our educational system, but we rarely hear about it, talk about, or do anything about it. Why is that?

If we examine our society, we will find system after system is in a state of crisis. Many of these crises are in the very areas we say are important to us, but our leaders, our politicians, nor our media want to talk about it. Are the problems just too complex? Are the solutions so few? Or is the problem that money, the pursuit of money, the love of money, mass consumerism, and a hyper-materialistic drive have all silently snuck-in and replaced everything else we say we care about?

I've come to believe in one common trait in all human beings. What we say and what we do are usually two different things. So if you want to know what is important to someone, examine what they do, not what they say. It should be obvious then, that since we are doing a lot of different things to try and stimulate the economy, then we must think that money is important. So it must follow that if we're not doing much to improve education, eliminate our dependence on foreign oil, reduce solid waste, safe guard our freedoms, yada, yada, yada, then they must not be as important as money.

Jenius Jots - The future of ideas...

While you might think that I only obsess about things here in Dondequiera, rest assured, I torture all of my friends and family in the "real" world too. My latest demented device of torture is the future of journalism. Let's not mince words here, this is serious. Again from "The Assault on Reason" by Al Gore:

"The replacement of an easily accessible, print-based marketplace of ideas with a restricted access, television-based realm has lead to a radical transformation of the nature and operation of the marketplace of ideas in the United States."

With the decline and questionable future of newspapers, we are creating the opposite of what we need, which is, according to Gore,

"When the operations of a government are open to full examination by its citizens and subjected to vigorous discussion and debate, then the corrupt misuse of public power for private gain becomes more difficult to conceal. If the rule of reason is the standard by which every use of official power is evaluated, then even the most complex schemes to violate the public's trust can be uncovered and policed by well informed citizenry."

Increasingly, the Internet is becoming the only way we'll be able to establish the marketplace of ideas so desperately needed. Gore adds,

Fortunately, the Internet has the potential to revitalize the role played by the people in our constitutional framework. It has extremely low entry barriers for individuals. It is the most interactive medium in history and the one with the greatest potential for connecting individuals to one another and to a universe of knowledge. It's a platform for pursuing the truth, and the decentralized creation and distribution of ideas, in the same way that markets are a decentralized mechanism for the creation and distribution of goods and services. It's a platform, in other words, for reason.

Our good friend Gil The Jenius, has always tried to add his two cents into that marketplace, but he's started a new fountain of reason in Jenius Jots. Anyone who wants to take part in the market place of ideas that will shape our future, the future of our children, and grandchildren should add Jenius Jots to your daily reading list.

I believe this is exactly where the future of journalism and an informed citizenry is headed. For better or worse, we are reading less, and being entertained more. So to the extent we can crystallize into bite-sized morsels the ideas, news, and issues that should inspire people to pursue the truth, then I believe we should and I believe it will resemble Jenius Jots.