To not much care about the rest of the world but care deeply about the UK

[CatieBlanket]

It's a mess out there, always has been and, let's be honest, always will be. When we intervene we tend to make things worse (Afghanistan, Iraq to name but two). The new governments end us as corrupt as the ones that were overthrown. Aid money is, on the whole, squandered. Billions of £ & $ & € of it

A significant minority of men just love to kill indiscriminately. The others love to oppress women.

The situation in the Middle East is unsolvable and the poverty in African too vast for us to deal with.

I'm actually becoming immune to hearing about hostages being beheaded and suspect many of us are, hence ISIS new method of murder by immolation.

So let's concentrate on righting the wrongs of our island. Sort out the NHS, get people into work, look after the vulnerable, stop domestic violence and child abuse, build decent housing for people who live here?

AIBU (Labour supporter, by the way before, anyone accuses me of being UKIP)

It wasn't a brilliant op but most of us have been slaughtered over a badly or naively worded thread on MN and it can be really upsetting. Personally I would rather watch the news than piss off the aibu crowd.

She said "I've been trying to think of replies but my OP says it all" in a later post. She means it. It really does say it all I guess: if by saying it all you mean "saying something really dumb".

Being slaughtered by AIBU crowd? Nah, more like being mauled by dead sheep.

Here's where my priorities are (as stated in OP) So let's concentrate on righting the wrongs of our island. Sort out the NHS, get people into work, look after the vulnerable, stop domestic violence and child abuse, build decent housing for people who live here?

at me being racist!

'Funny how the people on here protesting they care considerably more than you can turn into something so snidey and uncharitable.'

I agree Cavalier

I personally switch off when people over egg sanctimonious techniques to win an argument. I think the OP raises an honest and human reaction to the catalogue of atrocities abroad we read about daily.

Being unable to help everyone doesn't mean you should stop trying to help anyone. Foreign aid is imperfect but, for those helped, it makes all the difference in the world.

Closing your mind to problems based on political/geographic boarders begs the question where should we draw the line? Just caring for your own country? What about just your own county? Your own street? Your household? Or maybe just yourself?

So, what do you suggest then? Censorship? Pithy little news items about missing pets

No but I remember my DCs listening to Radio 1 regularly and the news is on the hour, if they were at home or studying it would be on all the time - so that could be some horror repeated hourly 7 days a week to impressionable young people. Is this really a good idea. I would prefer that 'news', and I use the commas as it is debateable which news is important (how much of malala's nobel speech was heard?) was on at say 9, 12 and 6 in the evening. And if you want more news than that you go to radio 4 or 24 hour tv news to hear it.
I've lived in the states and what makes news is what has video with it. The main item on the news might be a car crash in your street, but that would be because a helicopter camera team were able to get there quickly to record the results. It seems we, the public are attracted to horror, but for young people there should be a choice.
And because we are attracted to horror the news channels have to fight to get the most horrible on quickest. The BBC used to lag behind but not even them now imo.
Perhaps the ire raised on this thread is a result of constantly dealing with being upset/ angry/ powerless/ shocked but unable to resolve any of it, as I said it can't be good for you.

There's a lot of seriously uninformed posting on here. I suggest some of you (including OP) do more reading about foreign and domestic aid, government funding, international trade agreements etc before posting on here.

It's because of the reading and research I've done about all of the above that I've come to the conclusion I have

I view international interventions like my housework - can I make it perfect. No because I don't have the time, but if I stop doing anything then it gets a hell of a lot worse. So I keep chipping away and every now and then it comes to fruition. I don't agree with all the interventions we are involved in, but there are others that we are morally obliged as human beings to care about and try to ameleorate.

Some of the things you care about -eg NHS "crisis" would take no more than a shift in attitude away from reporting the easy to measure and report targets such A&E waiting times. Does it matter in the majority of cases that you waited 3hours and 45 minutes or 4 hours and 3 minutes? No - but somewhere at some point an arbitary decision was made that less than 4 hours = good and over 4 hours bad. Political mileage and advantage can be made from the reporting of them so it will continue to be an "issue".

Yanbu op. The older I get, the more cynical I am. I think it is very egotistical for leaders to think they can 'liberate' countries where corruption and misogyny are part of the majority mindset.

I'd much rather money were spent in the UK on education and the NHS.

I do have an interest in what's happening around the world, but I don't think the UK can solve world problems and would rather the government stepped back.

I advise you to look at alternative sources of news and information from the mainstream media. We are given a very prejudiced, slanted and one sided view of world events by them. Where we are the 'goodies' ...

I forgive the OP for having empathy fatigue, I have it too...

It's not just you, OP

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compassion_fatigue

Without having read the entire thread, just addressing myself to your OP, I think you are very sensible. If each citizen of each country applied themselves to solving their own country out, that would be great.

Particularly as it is very hard to get good facts about the real situation every in our own country, let alone the ins and outs of the situation in a country like Nigeria, for example.

I sometimes forget myself, but I do try to avoid giving opinions on other countries where I have never even been. I know for example, living in Mexico as I do, that the BBC seriously misreports on Mexican issues, so how can I form an intelligent opinion on another country based on information I get from only a couple of sources?