Readers speak: Democracy is not a spectator sport. We need to stay tuned in.

These days I’m hearing my friends and neighbors commenting that they can’t watch, listen to, read the news, it’s just too upsetting. I get it.

Tuning into the news is like signing up for that seed in the pit of your stomach to grow, the uncomfortable feeling that seems never to fully go away.

Paying attention to the news allows self-preservation tools like denial to dissipate and there you are having to deal with just how bad for democracy things really are. I get it.

The problem is apathy may be what destroys America rather than corrupt politicians.

Our new heroes may be the people who stay tuned, who pay attention, and who continue to do what they can to stop the lies. The people who vote and tell their neighbors to vote. The people who refer to facts without engaging in political arguments. We do need to stay tuned in, to care, to do what we can to save our country. It’s up to us. It’s called Democracy and democracy is not a spectator sport.

Marianne Brown, Wethersfield

https://www.courant.com/2026/01/28/readers-speak-democracy-is-not-a-spectator-sport-we-need-to-stay-tuned-in/