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RE: More anti-Trump projections of hatred
There probably isn't a simple, or single, answer but it's something I've noticed too. My vote would go to social media as the thing that has changed. Right after the election my feed was full of posts of rage. I don't choose my friends based on politics but I was appalled by how the (seemingly) nicest people were so full of hate and felt it was okay (justified? supported? encouraged?) to express it. Even a mild comment such as 'let's give the man a chance' provoked outrage. I worry for them, all that hyperventilating can't be good for their health.
Social media probably played a role in how quickly and widespread that hatred was allowed to fester.
The media in general was not helping either, where everything Trump said was treated as violence against some person or group. Calling everything he says lies, etc.
It almost is not a surprise that there is a segment of the US population that truly believes that they are witnessing the second coming of Hitler. What is surprising to me is the extent of this vitriol.
Okay, I'll split my vote between social media and the media in general. I knew there was trouble ahead when it was deemed that speech equaled violence. I have never seen our country this polarized. It's getting to the point where you're not allowed to have a middle-ground position.
The second coming of Hitler is about right. No doubt in their minds that's so, and they are truly afraid of that. What I would like to say to them is that if he were the man they think he is things would be a lot quieter. He complains about the media, he isn't arresting and executing them as Hitler and Stalin did. Let's get a little historical perspective people before you get all crazy. I hope it's not too late for that.
I honestly expect that Trump will do something to completely vindicate himself, and prove that if anything he's been a victim.
Already, there has been the #walkaway that had the numbers to be 3rd top trending for about a week, but Twitter was keeping it off.
It's to the point where I sometimes wish Trump was doing something clearly wrong, then it would feel more balanced. But even then, going to the middle still manages to push people to the extremes..
My mother told me that the reason we don't discuss politics or religion in polite company is because both are based in beliefs, not facts. But suggesting that they are 'only' beliefs gets people riled up.
Right now we have tons of 'facts' flying around but some are hidden and some are twisted and some are just plain made up. (Oh wait, that would make them 'lies' wouldn't it?)
I had to look up #walkaway. According to what I read it's totally bogus, aimed at disrupting the coming elections, being promoted by conservatives and Russian bots! Which leads me to believe you have your facts right.
My personal belief is that we will find that Trump is the victim, that someone or many someones have a lot invested in having him fail. I have no specific conspiracy theory to offer, it just feels like a set-up to me.
Well, I get the intent of not discussing politics, because it can get pretty heated. If things can be kept to facts and the common ground, it's not usually so bad, but people need to be able to gauge reactions. It's usually not the facts that cause problems, but what people believe about the facts.
Now, more and more it looks like the media outlets aren't even reporting on the same facts, or you can read opposing views of the same event, and the stories are so different that you can't even find the common facts between them.
Then, with Twitter, Twitter says they banned like 59million "bots", but it's mostly people of right wing views that start getting traction level of an audience. The walk away people are mainly democrats, who are moderate or only mildly political. There are many people that have posted their own YouTube vids ... The crazy part, some of these people might get 200-300 views on their average videos, but will have 60-70k views about walking away.
The part I can't say concretely is the exact rank, because people were showing the Twitter numbers for the different hashtags that were trending at the same time. Not my own individual research, so, while they are generally accurate, they are still human.
Sorry if this comes across as preachy, not my intent, was raised Catholic but stopped being active. I truly believe that the world was / is at a crossroads, where one side means we get to fulfill revelations and on the other is the chance at an enlightened future. So, really, I feel that we are witness to a true battle of good vs evil. (Search Georgia guide stones to see opposite perspective)
While money is a factor, it is ultimately power and control that is at stake. Whichever side wins now, with technologies at play, it will never flip back.
Facts and beliefs, and beliefs about "facts" - there's the start of the tangle!
Preachy? Not at all.
This subject deserves thinking about, considering the sides and the angles and which parts fit together. I'd like to think if something 'rings true' then it probably is, but it's not guaranteed!
I'd not heard of the Georgia guidestones. Interesting.
So, you think that the battle between good and evil is more intense now? And that whichever side wins now will be the victor from now on? (If I'm reading that right.) I would hope that isn't so and that there are and ever will be good people willing to keep the good struggle going.
When I was just out of high school, I still remember where you could prefer FOX or CNN (or whichever of the big 5) and while there was different biases, you could at least have enough common ground to engage in a discussion of pros and cons of the different positions. Now, sometimes I will read multiple news articles on a single topic; it's to the point where sometimes the different perspectives will be irreconcilable. Someone MUST be lying because not everyone can be telling the truth.
As far as good and evil; in my limited perspective, it's less that the battle of good and evil is more intense. I would say more that, that battle is reaching an end game stage.
On one hand; we are seeing an increase in surveillance, government controls, destruction of family bonds, etc...
Yet, simultaneously, we are seeing more examples of medical breakthroughs, the exposure of corruption world wide, the breakup of pedophilia and other human trafficking rings.
The way I see it is that; whatever the conclusion at this point, either the world will be turned over to good and the corruption that has been around for most of human history will be blocked from regaining the type of control we have seen in the past. Or, if evil takes over, there will never be another opportunity so long as those systems remain intact for good forces to gain enough traction to offset this.
I like the Star Trek analogy; where we are today will either lead humanity into a future that looks like Star Fleet, or a future where our society will be like the Borg.
I remember those days too, different news channels might present stories with different angles, but not as distorted (and lying) as they do now. I also remember a time when newspapers were thought to have a conservative bias.
I am more optimistic. I believe that good and evil in the world has always been closely balanced. New technologies in the form of war weapons seemed likely to tip the balance and change civilizations. Yes, ours are more sophisticated than the longbow or bluderbuss but those were cutting edge weapons of their time.
Where I am cynical is the fact that human nature has not changed in thousands of years. The "Seven Deadly Sins" are still as active now as they ever were. There are good people trying to make the world a better place and bad people who don't care about any of that as long as they get what they want and have no problem taking from those who can't defend themselves.
So in my view we are just going through the continuation of human history and not an end-of-days scenario. And I really want that to be true!