People here are more politically aware than people I have seen anywhere. They know about all the parties, what the parties are doing, all the political actions their president, vice president, judges, and other officials did and are doing. Politics and the government are brought up in daily conversations every single day, and every single person watches the news daily, and then shares and discusses with others. This part of Pakistani life is very boring for me. I do not exactly keep up with the news so much, and seeing all the violence just frustrates me, and angers me. I know that the habit of not following the news, domestic and international, is a terrible choice on my part. I do believe that we, as humans, should be aware of what is going on in our society, and we should be wary of anyone reducing our freedom, or putting our lives in danger, but seeing all the terrible stuff going on in this world just makes me sad and bitter.
My habit is to maybe listen to ten minutes of news in the morning, and maybe read some headlines online, and read more if the topic is important, dangerous or interesting. I prefer this method much more than constantly reading the news, and listening to new talk shows, and reading the entire newpaper daily, and discussing and sharing with everyone I know.
Good actions and people do exist in life, but those are never highlighted in the news, and I would much rather spend my time interacting with people in my immediate surroundings. It can be labeled as ignorance, and false perception of happiness and happy society, but not being that aware of the news makes me able to be a happier person who can still appreciate the good people and good actions in life.
Representing your party, and showing your patriotism is very popular here. Apparantly, teenage boys love buying flags of their parties, and wearing them as bandanas, or waving them while riding on a motocycle. My cousin was showing me his collection of flags, and literally, he had like 25 flag, all different sizes, most of them for different occasions and different parties. My cousins made a joke that if I put pictures online of me holding certain flags, I might get banned. I did not find the joke funny, rather Orwellian.
My cousin treated his flags as if they were his most prized possessions. He folded all of them afterwards with so much care, and actually hid them in a safe. He even showed me several flags he made with the help of his mom. I was most interested in how politics becomes a part of culture, and part of the definition of "coolness."
My habit is to maybe listen to ten minutes of news in the morning, and maybe read some headlines online, and read more if the topic is important, dangerous or interesting. I prefer this method much more than constantly reading the news, and listening to new talk shows, and reading the entire newpaper daily, and discussing and sharing with everyone I know.
Good actions and people do exist in life, but those are never highlighted in the news, and I would much rather spend my time interacting with people in my immediate surroundings. It can be labeled as ignorance, and false perception of happiness and happy society, but not being that aware of the news makes me able to be a happier person who can still appreciate the good people and good actions in life.
Representing your party, and showing your patriotism is very popular here. Apparantly, teenage boys love buying flags of their parties, and wearing them as bandanas, or waving them while riding on a motocycle. My cousin was showing me his collection of flags, and literally, he had like 25 flag, all different sizes, most of them for different occasions and different parties. My cousins made a joke that if I put pictures online of me holding certain flags, I might get banned. I did not find the joke funny, rather Orwellian.
My cousin treated his flags as if they were his most prized possessions. He folded all of them afterwards with so much care, and actually hid them in a safe. He even showed me several flags he made with the help of his mom. I was most interested in how politics becomes a part of culture, and part of the definition of "coolness."
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