In an unrelated (but nonetheless awesome) twist of karma, I received a nice phone call from an editor of The Columbus Dispatch, following up on a letter I had written regarding simple electoral reform in Ohio. They were agreeing to post what was basically a copy-and-paste job of a Facebook rant I had made previously, regarding simple things on which Americans can agree in American politics.
It was ironic to me that, during a time of national outcry over a myriad of impactful issues (e.g. tax reform, net neutrality, foreign election propaganda), our local newspapers are not being utilized by We The People fully to their best extent. Instead, we continue as concerned citizens to scream into an empty echo chamber, marketed to us as a way to “give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.” Meanwhile, our generation continues to absorb “alternative facts” and drivel spun by fellow keyboard warriors and despotic regimes alike, while homegrown local newspapers continue their decline into cultural and financial irrelevance.
As part of a younger generation still struggling to define itself among the noise of a hyperbolic media world in the United States, I can’t understand why We The People allow the media titans in Facebook, NYTimes, et al. continue to paint us with their partisan labels, while robust debate and simple consensus on basic solutions to today’s problems continue to wither away in the dustbins of today’s digital age. I implore fellow Ohioans and Americans to challenge the conversation with which we’ve become so exasperated, in order to forge a new brand of American politics that transcends top-down divisions and serves to grow our democracy in a positive and inclusive manner. When We The People stand up to reclaim the stage, we enable the essence of what Makes America Great.
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