If you grow up in a family where your father only speaks about the faults and failings of one of his brothers, your understanding of this uncle will be very negative. In fact, that uncle may have cheated your father out of a serious financial transaction. Your father has turned very negative towards his brother. Without realizing it, you have absorbed this negativity towards this brother.
Story-telling is power and control. It is never neutral.
Whenever we hear anything about another person (especially if it is negative) we must ask: and what is the other side? There are always two people in this disagreement. Am I receiving the other side?
We live in a time when there is more distrust of the institutions of our society which carry the truth of our society and shape our relations within the society. There is growing distrust of all forms of government, the school system, the medical profession, the police, the social-services and family life.
At the same time, the big media give us an onslaught of failure and short-comings of the people who live and work in these institutions. Remember, media is a business and its purpose is to attract more viewers. It aims to present a good story that you will pay attention to whenever you flip on your device to watch. Good news does not sell; bad news brings in the views and hence, the advertising dollars.
The media is weaking the social bonds that holds our society together. We must be very critical if we are to be practicing honesty.
Whenever you hear anything negative about the police always fire back: Why are you not reporting on the police person who helped the new-comers to Canada find a place to live? Why have we not heard of the number of times the police have responded to a distress call of an elderly person, called the ambulance and got the distressed, elderly grandmother into the hospital?
Why do we not hear of the high school teacher who notices that one of their grade twelves is in distress, sits down to listen and opens a new door to a young adult planning to end their life? Why are we not hearing about the compassionate service our teachers are giving our high school students?
To survive in today’s culture we need to have a sharp, critical attitude to anything we hear through the media. There are two sides to every story. Why am I not hearing the positive contribution that so many of my fellow citizens are giving to the rest of Canada?
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