Hi everyone! My name is Anna - sorority sister, telecom pal, and all around goofball friend of Ashleigh's. As a guest blogger, I will be writing about what's on my mind at the moment, giving my opinions and whatnot. With that said, I know that you've been reading a lot about pop culture on this little slice of blogging heaven, but I wanted to take a serious moment to... rant, about something else going on in the media (and world) today.
Currently, I am employed as a receptionist in Denver, Colorado. I have the pleasure of sharing my office, more affectionately known as the lobby, with an old school big screen TV. To keep things simple, we leave it on CNN during the day. This means, if I choose to watch, that I get to see the same 10-12 news stories over (and over) throughout the day. While I like to stay informed, you could say I get a little burnt out at times, seeing the same stories all day. Recently though, something happened that made me realize even more, the importance of paying attention to what is going on in the news.
While tackling a spreadsheet, one of my coworkers happened upon the lobby and paused in front of the TV. After a few minutes, he turned to me and said, "Can you believe this?" in response to footage of the protests in Libya. Me, thinking he was referring to the atrocious events taking place and expressing shock at the nature of the violence there, responded by saying, "I can't, it's horrible to see what is happening." But NO. What my coworker meant, and further clarified, was this: "Can you believe this? Who cares about Libya? Nobody, that's who. What does it have to do with me, and why do they keep talking about it?" Ummm... what?! I care about Libya, YOU should care about Libya! THIS IS IMPORTANT! Needless to say, it was a little hard to keep my cool.
After my coworker left to go about his day, I sat and wondered how many people feel this way about what is taking place in Libya? In North Africa and the Mid-East in general? How many people have paid attention to the unrest in Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio? Do people REALLY just not care? My sincere hope is that most people do care, and that maybe it's a lack of understanding, not disinterest, that people feel. So, to help put you in the know, here just a few things that you should be aware of about what it going on in Libya:
- Muammar Gaddafi, the ruler of Libya, has been in power since 1969. That's 42 years. Woof.
- According to Freedom House, Libya, along with North Korea, Iran and Cuba, is one of the 10 worst-rated countries with respect to freedom of the press, this means that, "independent media are either nonexistent or barely able to operate, the press acts as a mouthpiece for the regime, citizens’ access to unbiased information is severely limited, and dissent is crushed through imprisonment, torture, and other forms of repression." (Freedom House) Not good.
- Following uprisings across Northern Africa and the Mid-East, in mid-February, people in Libya began to gather to protest the arrest of a human rights activist, Fathi Terbil. The protests that started in Benghazi with several hundred people have since spread across Libya and protesters now number in the thousands. (Wikipedia)
- Unlike the relatively peaceful nature of the protests in Egypt, Gaddafi took violence to an extreme level, and hired "African mercenaries, mostly from Chad, to support its own forces." (Wikipedia) So far, the death toll in Libya is 6,000+, the most of any of the Northern African and Mid-Eastern countries currently facing unrest. (Wikipedia)
- "On 28 February, Gaddafi gave an interview in which he claimed there was no unrest in Libya [stating] 'all my people love me.'" (Wikipedia) Clearly, he is in touch with "his people".
The point to all this? Things are REALLY not good in Libya, and we NEED to be paying attention. Our awareness of events such as this, frame our understanding of our world and the people in it in a critical way. We cannot turn a blind eye to events like this simply because they occur beyond our backyards.
This post is not a rant specifically about Libya or the unrest in North Africa and the Mid-East (still important!) It is about our responsibility to stay informed, to know about domestic and foreign affairs and to realize that what happens in Libya, or anywhere for that matter, may very well impact our lives stateside and may shape the way that our leaders approach the issues facing our society. Awareness, understanding – these are key pieces to the puzzle, and it is our responsibility to be informed about our world.
SO, The next time you are soaking up some Perez or checking out Kim Kardashian's latest crazy booty photo in a magazine, take the time to check out:
- http://www.reuters.com/
- http://www.nationalgeographic.
com/ - http://www.npr.org/
- http://english.aljazeera.net/
- http://www.bbcworldnews.com/
Pages/default.aspx
So, that's all for this rant! Next time, we will tackle an even MORE serious issue: the cute animal video epidemic of the Internet age.
Until then,
Stay curious Actualists! (I hope it's okay that I'm stealing, A.J., it has a nice ring to it!)
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