I've lived decently well for 15+ years under the assumption that "if it's important, it'll find its way to me." Haven't watched/read the news in that time span and don't think I've lost out on much because of it.
I don't disagree completely on that. It was factored into my lifestyle. I was OK with that. We only have so much energy in our lives. Waking up each morning and being the best I could be to myself and those in my vicinity seemed a worthwhile goal. Tend to the part of the garden you can touch.
Informed decisions are meaningless on an individual level. The government will be the same no matter who I vote for. Voting is just a way to feel like you did something without any effort
> The government will be the same no matter who I vote for.
"Both sides"/"my vote doesn't count" fatalism is boring and unsupported by evidence. Australians just strongly voted their support of mitigating climate change, and it wouldn't have happened if millions of them thought like you.
> Voting is just a way to feel like you did something without any effort
So what's your solution? What's your alternative to voting?
We know the historical alternative: killing, dying, suffering, or (most likely) a combination of all of the above.
The dramatically lower instance of tyranny in post-democratic societies proves that you're wrong.
The irony here is that whining about the government is the ultimate "feeling like you're doing something without any effort".
I do rely on that, specifically in my case HN users posting big stuff even though it's not tech/startup/hacking news
Obviously by definition I'm lacking the information to disprove but I don't think I've missed anything I needed to know about. I've not been blindsided by any big events or anything
Yeah it does rely on other folks reading the news, people are already doing that though so no worries! I'd be surprised if even 1% of the world's news-available population decides to cut down (to point out also, this entire policy can be reevaluated in minutes if I find myself incorrect)
In any case I think the only news I actually needed to know over the past decade or so was regarding covid and that instantly got through the bubble without issue
For the sake of being on the same page my definition of needed in the case of news is: I need to act in some way to prevent negative results, or I can act on the information in some way that may lead to positive results for good people.
I imagine it's great for your mental health. I wouldn't dispute that.
If you are lucky enough to live in a functioning democracy, you did lose something: the ability to make informed decisions about your government.