where to begin??
 

So, the original reason i ended up here bugs bunny\I should've taken a left turn at Albuquerque/bugs bunny was a quest for knowledge. i am shamefully ignorant of politics/government. the canadian grad student in my lab knows more about american government than i do! aside from checking out an intermediate school social studies book (which i have considered) where do i begin? there is so much history i feel like this is an insurmountable task. how do you keep up with whats going on? reputable sources?

Read a daily newspaper, The BBC is IMHO the best impartial source (though there are plenty who will disagree), avoid the partisan stuff like the Guardian and Fox News. The Economist is still the best weekly roundup of everything that's going on anywhere, but they have a fairly obvious slant.

Read a decent book on 20th centuary history, properly, it should be over 1000 pages.

Alternet: left/liberal

Reason: moderate/centrist

NewsMax: right/conservative

A couple of active different views to look at.

rock on, thanks!!

No, I'm not a Christian Scientist (not even Christian), but I prefer the Christian Science Monitor for its wide-ranging coverage of world issues. Surprisingly clear and concise.

You might also want to add World Net Daily to your list for right/conservative sources.

If you're looking for general rather than current news kinds of information, try The Pocket Patriot.

Just go here and read every day, both righty and lefty sides (the site itself hangs righty but links to both), and in a year you'll be very well-informed indeed.

And don't forget:

The Daily Show.

Re: where to begin??
 

My suggestion is...don't do it. It's all a sham and you'll get nothing but a big headache from learing about it. :p

I'm just kidding, but that's how I do it. The older I get (and the more I find out) the more cynical and bitter I get about the government. I know enough to be a registered voter and that I cast my vote against the candidate that I hate when told to do so. Simple and to the point. ;)

Just remember: the US has more than two (or three) parties:

DIRECTORY OF US POLITICAL PARTIES

Good luck in your quest for knowledge. :)

I agree with Lady Syc, you swilly wabbit!;) The more informed you become, the sadder you'll be, and you still won't be able to do a damned thing about it. My advise is to get a hold of a video or CD of the old "Rocky and Bullwinkle" cartoon series. You'll learn all you need to know from that.:cool:

I'm not sure what your goal is. Are you trying to find out how the government is supposed to work? How it really works? Or learn enough to make an intelligent choice at the voting booth this fall?:confused:
You are registered to vote, aren't you?

Turn around labrat, you obviously opened the wrong door.

99/44 100%....you have an amazingly low post count for your reg date, most would burn & fizzle in that period of time if they stuck around (are you paying attention LJ?), makes me pay that much more attention to your posts.

But I know what your handle comes from...do I get a prize or explanation or something? I'm not really all that proud, but bet a lot don't have a clue...ever watch "Street Smarts"?

Sooo... What? Are we supposed to be bedazzled by YOUR average of 55 posts per month (I'm throwing in all of June)? Are we supposed to be impressed that you drop in 5 or 6 times a week to make some condescending remark? How honored we all are, I'm sure.:p

LabRat, I personally follow MSNBC, BBC, CBC, Fox and a few newspapers on occasion. I read enough to stay informed and keep my critical thinking skills sharp.

Mari, did you fall and hit your head?

Huh? What? (wanders off in dazed confusion, muttering to herself).:confused:;)

Oh yes, long ago, and have voted many times for various elections. but i would like to be more informed about how gov't really works vs. what the politicians say they are going to do to 'fix' it so i have a better idea about whose smoke being blown up my ass is gonna burn me more if i vote for them. i want to find out candidates real histories, not just the crap you hear on ads etc. for local as well as national elections. thats why i said 'reputable' sources, those that are the least biased, and represent the facts the best. a did this, b did that, and heres the weather.

My own cynical take is that a lot of the media coverage seems to focus on the political fight, rather than the substance behind the issues. I know they focus on the fight, because that is where the story is. Man versus man, slugging it out. It sells more papers. The media would be doing a service to the public if they would actually focus on the issues and the facts behind the issues. The media should do what it can to point out the potential risks and rewards to a proposed policy. Instead, the media only reports what others say about a proposed policy.

For example, I think it would more important for the public to know that a proposed policy by one of the candidates is financially unsound versus knowing that one of the candidates has pulled ahead in the polls.

The media often tries to be fair and balanced when covering an issue. It will present two sides to an arguement even when one side is clearly wrong. They find some crackpot somewhere who believes that the world is flat. Then they run a story about whether the world is flat or round, giving equal time to each side, to be balanced about it. The media should have the balls to come out and say that the world is round. The flat earth dude should get no screen time.

i agree with you to a degree, glatt. unfortunately, we are dealing with concrete facts like the shape of the earth. most of the issues the media is reporting on are contestable for a reason: it is not possible to prove that one is "right" or "wrong".
for every person that decries a budget deficit another springs up to point out why it is ok. for everyone who claims the war is about oil another claims it is about liberation.

most of us have our beliefs and aren't likely to be swayed. we have access to the same info in the world, how could we hold to the "wrong" idea? i believe that there are very few real "right" answers in politics. every action has positive and negative consequences, and the appropriateness of the action has to be judged from each individuals world perspective.

unfortunately it is not as simple as defining what shape the world is. the shape of the world wasn't likely to change, the state of the world changes every day, due to the human factor.

Too many people (most?) will vote for what's good for them, without concern what's good for the country or the Earth.

I wish more people would vote for what's good for xoxoxoBruce.:D