[j-c-hewitt]

You can delegate your concern to a political party, which is essentially all you are able to do as a citizen in a country like the US particularly if you live in a state that does not have a lot of referenda.

If you want to learn more you can spend more time on researching the issues. Otherwise you could vote on a single issue, or just pick the party that is supposed to represent people like you with a similar hierarchy of values.

The US also doesn't have mandatory voting, so declining to vote just signals that you have delegated concern over civic issues to other people who are willing to make that (sometimes significant) sacrifice of time, energy, and money.

[daveFNbuck]

The problem with the strategy you describe is that if too many people use it, politicians can just openly lie about what's happening in the world and what they're doing about it. A voter who has identified with a party and is no longer interested in learning the facts has no way to correct for this.

[TallGuyShort]

Do politicians who openly lie about what's happening in the world and what they're doing about it get corrected? Now THAT would be news.

[daveFNbuck]

Yes, it happens all the time. There are many news websites that track and correct lies made by public officials.

[mg794613]

I think he meant more in terms of "big media" instead of "you can find the actual truth if you go to these places"

[TallGuyShort]

I also meant in terms of effect. Yes, you will find things exposed in various media outlets. But if I turn on CNN during a Republican presidency I see people on the edge of rage-quitting life and if I turn on Fox News during a Democratic presidency I see McCarthyism is alive and well. And if I do the opposite I see literal propaganda. I don't think most of their viewers are really looking for truth but are basking in deep, echo-ey pools (or sensory deprivation chambers, if you please) of confirmation bias.

There are far better news outlets, and I agree that press and media need to exist and be free for the purpose proposed above, I would just argue that in the most popular media, that isn't really what's happening for most of their audience, and I personally am far happier not seeking out mainstream news myself because of how sensationalist and biased most of it is. I'll eat my hotel breakfasts and airport snacks somewhere other than in front of the complimentary TV.

[awb]

Perhaps, but there are usually people in positions of power that care and for better or worse probably have more influence than the general electorate.

[effsey]

It's not a strategy, it's a choice to be happy. I don't have control over other people, and I don't want it.

[daveFNbuck]

There's a simpler solution if you don't want to exert control over other people. Don't vote.