Cynicism and cereal

In addition to death and taxes, there are a number of other things that are certain in life. For example, every morning, my grandpa opens up the newspaper, reads the first few headlines he sees and shakes his head. Then, without fail, this incredible man, who narrowly escaped Hitler’s Germany, came to the United States while it was in the throes of the Great Depression and then returned to Europe as a soldier in the U.S. Army, sighs and says, “The whole world is going to hell.”\nWhen I hear someone who has been through as much as he has say something like that, I naturally begin to think that it might be true. It is quite possible that the news today is at its most depressing height ever. Whenever I pick up a copy of the Chicago Tribune or the New York Times, I am sorely tempted to turn straight to the comics page. Truth be told, you cannot avoid waking up to “all the bloodshed and tearjerker human interest stories that are fit to print,” no matter how hard you try. \nConsider the following headlines:\n“Shoppers ignore dying stab victim”: If you want to completely lose your faith in human decency, read this article. When a young mother of three was stabbed, her fellow convenience store shoppers first stepped over her body and took pictures before they even called the police. \n “Cubs beat Cardinals”: This one is pretty self explanatory. Go cry now, if you need to. \n “Accord on Iraq War slips further away”: There is usually at least one headline similar to this per day in just about every major U.S. newspaper. Although we have become numb to each new notification of sectarian warfare and both citizen and military casualties, knowing that we are far from a solution to this seemingly never-ending war is not the most reassuring news to take down with your morning bagel.\n“A world without oil”: This article deals with Icelandic ventures into the world of alternative energy. However, given our 20.8 million barrel per day habit, this headline is enough to give most U.S. citizens – and certainly most U.S. politicians – massive coronaries. \n “Police arrest disdainful puppy kicker.” OK, I’ll admit that I just made that up, but come on - you know such a headline would absolutely devastate you.\nAlthough there seems to be no end to this barrage of downer headlines, in this case, the adage “ignorance is bliss” does not apply. Just because you ignore a problem doesn’t mean that it’s not there, or that it will go away on its own if given time. So take a deep breath, take a swig of your coffee and brace yourself for the news of the day. Sure, it’s OK to read “Get Fuzzy” first, but don’t avoid the front page altogether. It is only by understanding the world’s problems – or at the very least recognizing that they exist – that we will ever have any hope of doing something about them.