Been thinking about why the landscape of politics has become so shrill. We've always had political disagreements in this country, but they've never been as vitriolic or ad hominen as today.
I think I came up with a reason.
The problem is that both sides no longer share the same facts. Those who get all their news from Fox News [and some Russian-supported alt-right websites] have ENTIRELY DIFFERENT starting assumptions. Within their worldview, their political conclusions are logical and consistent. Anyone who promulgates different views, to them, is a traitor to their country and everything that's near and dear to them.
These people are not stupid. They're just dangerously misinformed.
We on the center and left, OTOH, who get our news from a variety of sources including the Main Stream Media and various international sources, see an entirely different landscape. We see the actions of Fox viewers as self-defeating and unfathomable. We do not understand how they can justify their actions because we do not share the "alternative facts" that they base their worldview on. We think they're stupid because they reach different conclusions than us, assuming they're starting with the same facts we are.
But they're not.
I've said it before. I'll say it again. The only way to heal the divisions is to reinstate
the FCC's Fairness Doctrine. - Thomas Jefferson wrote:
- An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people.
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