Editor’s Letter: “The risks of being ignorant”

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]f you’re reading the Boar then it’s plausible to assume you’re interested in issues which affect you and the opinions of students around you.

I’m talking now to the people who may have picked up this newspaper on a whim, the people who skip over a few of the news and politics pieces because they’re wordy and quite frankly, a bit boring.

The people who would rather read about music, or which is the best lipstick to buy (which you should definitely also know). The people who get uncomfortable when the conflict in Syria is brought up in conversation, not because of the unsettling content, but because they’re not really sure what’s happening; and are afraid they’ll be outed as an uneducated imposter, undeserving of a place at one of the top UK universities.

But the truth is, learning about these sorts of wide-scale issues is difficult for those of us who haven’t been brought up in an environment where political discussion is encouraged; there no one place with a clear cut breakdown of the ins and outs of, for example, Egypt’s political turmoil.

For the unversed, trying to get to grips with these issues its like grasping at straws – googling one unfamiliar reference leads to an article with ten more. The process can be downright infuriating, and can leave you with knowledge of only the extent of your cultural obtuseness.

Admittedly, the Boar isn’t the best place to target people who are politically apathetic, but it’s a good place to start. The truth is that not too long ago I was pretty ignorant to the things going on in the world.

It’s easy to keep your eyes closed in the bubble, remaining oblivious to the events involving people on the other side of the world.

Take the recent Nigeria massacre; just a few weeks ago more than 2,000 people in and around the town of Baga were killed by Boko Haram.

The enormity of this event went largely unnoticed by western media, thanks to the Charlie Hedbo shooting which took 17 lives. Our population as a whole seems to be able to sympathise more with the victims in France because they were predominantly white professionals.

Now I’m not saying that we should all know the particularities of every country’s crises, but even if you feel like a complete novice, it’s better to try than to stagnate in political disengagement.

The hard truth is that is that when we are presented with something unfamiliar or confusing, it’s easy to not pay attention, but as young people with the tools and opportunity to change lives, we need to make sure to stay informed about whose lives need to be changed.
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Photo: flickr/talatu-carmen