Who Can You Trust?

Over the past few years I've gotten into the habit of reading various news sources for my daily dose of news. I've found that despite claims to the contrary, almost no one has a truly 'fair and balanced' look at the world and what's happening in it. Perhaps it's very cynical but the more and more I read these days, the more and more I realize that it's probably closer to the truth than most of us realize. I sometimes wonder if it's always been this way or not. When I was younger perhaps the availability of information was somewhat limited. Sure there was television and news was delivered nearly instantly, but still, there was always that slight delay before word traveled around but now it's almost instantaneous. It has its good qualities and it has its bad qualities.

But I digress; I asked the question in my blog title for today of "who can you trust?" When I ask the question I'm talking about many things; but in particular I'm talking about two that have particular impact on all our lives these days, the media and our government. It's odd that these two should be so closely linked but the more I think about it, the more I realize that the news media (elite, mainstream or whatever the Hell you choose to call it) all has their own agenda. Look at the news these days and most ever channel has a slant one way or the other. Fair and balanced? Only if you happen to agree with the slant that they put on the news. If you like Fox News you will always consider it fair and balanced; similarly, if you like CNN you'll always find them to be fair in their commentary.

But then who do you trust? It's hard to say simply because there are so many people out there who are forcing us to believe one thing or another. It's almost as if they don't want us to form our own opinion anymore. Gone are the truly moderate news agencies or government officials. Everyone has taken the stance over the past few decades of drawing a line in the sand and then challenging everyone to be on one side or the other. No middle ground exists anymore. Honestly, I've tried to stop watching the news, in particular political programs, simply because I've grown weary of hearing nothing but talking heads spewing rhetoric about why this politician is a traitor or why that politician can be considered the Second Coming. No one comes out and tells the truth which is that they are doing most everything they do for their own selfish purposes.

So then who do we trust? Trust ourselves. Form your own opinion; if you think you've gotten to the bottom of an issue by reading up on it on your usual websites or news sources then go to another and read another perspective. It's the only way that we can make ourselves fair and balanced. If we take the lazy way out and only rely on one source then we'll never get the truth. We'll only see what we want to see when it comes to the world around us and essentially we won't be any different than children. I think we can all be better than that but only if we try.