The News Media is Biased
This point has become painfully clear since the 2016 that put Donald Trump into office, and the #resistance movement that followed it in all major news outlets. I hope that nobody reading this is surprised to hear this. You should clearly recognize that even the most highly regarded news sources have become propaganda outlets for either major political party.
The News Drives Our Biases
Something publications have been great at in the last few years is driving fears between groups of people. I’m a straight white Christian guy that makes decent money and likes guns. There are plenty of examples of our culture that either shames or outright vilifies people like me. I don’t like it, and I’m naturally inclined to find sources of news and culture that don’t make me feel like an asshole.
Those sources also tend to paint the world in a narrative that only further drives the division between people who see things differently and myself. I hear and see things on these propaganda outlets and agree with some of them. And thus, the indoctrination is begun. To repeat the cliche: “It is a vicious cycle”.
What’s really sad, is how these divisions play out based on race and income. There isn’t a really good reason for a straight white man to have any issue with a gay black trans-man. However, those echo chambers that say the things we want to hear, are the places that drive fear against each other too.
The News Chooses Our Reality
The result of partisan news media outlets, is that we become more isolated and polarized against each other. What will appear abundantly clear to me will seem like heresy to friends of mine. They’ve chosen their reality based on what feels comfortable to them. I have done the same.
So, when we argue with each other, we are acting as pawns in someone else’s battle. We only “know” what we heard on the radio, saw on TV, or read on a website that we chose to believe. All of the conspiracy theories about political candidates are ammunition for someone else go get more power.
Think about it. Why are pro-life activists almost always pro-death-penalty advocates as well? It makes no sense. Why is the Black Lives Matter movement tightly wound with communism? That makes no sense either. Why was Donald Trump so against Executive Orders when Obama was the president, but so willing to use them now? Why was “Defund The Police” so important in Democratic circles until Kamala Harris was nominated as the Vice Presidential pick for Joe Biden?
None of these positions make any sense on their own. Yet, largely we follow the narrative told by the news outlets we choose to believe.
Keep Your Circle Tight.
National news and politics is fraught with dishonesty and half truths. I have a handful of issues that matter to me that guide how I vote in national elections. Those issues are personal to me. I cannot vote about things I have no direct impact or visibility into.
- I cannot vote regarding racism I do not see.
- I can’t vote against police brutality I do not see.
- I won’t vote against an immigration emergency I do not see.
- I cannot vote for safety programs I do not use.
- I won’t vote to support wars I do not believe in.
- I will never vote to remove the freedoms of anyone.
I bring up voting in all of these circumstances, because that’s the action I can take regarding things I see in the news. These issues are often brought up, and I have almost zero ability to do anything about them. I can vote, but what am I voting for?
The Sadness is Real
It feels like we’re all heading towards something awful. It feels like we’re getting meaner to each other. My like-minded friends and I are all buying up ammunition, guns, and food supplies. The fear is that real for us. That’s not a good place for us as a country to be.
I’ve talked about this craziness a lot lately. I must sound like a broken record by now, constantly asking all of you to be reasonable. What I see though are things that scare me. It happens enough that I can’t stay quiet about it all.
I’m 100% sure that someone reading this is angry at me right now for something I’ve said. That is a problem. I’m doing the absolute best I can to be patient and non-offensive here. If you’re angry at me right now, ask yourself why?
We can all point to anecdotal evidence we’ve personally experienced that validates talking points we’ve heard on the news. The reality however, is that if we all turned off the news …
