Keeping in Touch

“Keeping in touch” with what goes on in the world provides indispensable information that is necessary to know in today’s butterfly effect of global affairs. I use the term butterfly effect (in which a small occurrence somewhere in the world can lead to larger repercussions) because we have easy access to the rest of the world. International relations of any one country to another are strong today, and any overseas decisions or affairs the U.S. decides to get involved with ultimately affects the lives of Americans in some way.
The media, especially the internet, is useful for keeping in touch with the world. Of course news in the papers is the closest to unbiased (although often small biases in news are unavoidable). I prefer to hear more about what’s going on in the whole world rather than just the U.S., so I try to keep up with that. I am lucky to have grown up with that interest; I’ve lived in 5 countries and most of my friends are from very mixed backgrounds or nationalities, so I also like to keep up with news for their sake. For example, my good friend who is half Israeli and half Brazilian temporarily served as a soldier in Gaza very recently for the crisis with Hamas. My parents who work for the government and are living in Frankfurt keep me informed on American political relations with foreign countries.
I like to hear about global politics most steadily as well as political affairs within our country. I also like to closely follow a presidential campaign, so up until the recent election I was watching very carefully to always see what was going on with the candidates and their parties. Despite the importance of the constant global news-flow coming our way, “getting away” from it all is also enjoyable in small doses. Many people have stressful jobs and are frequently tied to keeping in touch with family and the outside world. In this case quiet vacations and meditative time away from the blackberry, pager and internet is good for the health! Following global current events is a good idea as long as one can strike a balance, and is able to occasionally part from his or her PDA!