Inside the Echo Chamber: You're Totally Entitled to Your OPINION; You Are NOT Entitled to Being RIGHT!
Visiting Facebook this morning (No, I am not deserting Steemit!); actually made my first political comment on someone's post in quite a while.
In true fashion, I ended up annoying both the left and the right over their collective inability to step outside their own myopic echochambers.
Fiery sunset
I pointed out that both sides seemed to be more concerned with BEING "right" than whether a right solution was found to deal with certain issues.
Which, of course, strirred the pot considerably.
The offending item: A short clip comparing Fox News' completely different reactions to Barack Obama and Donald Trump saying — almost word for word — the exact same thing about having talks with North Korea.
When Obama talked about the US meeting with North Korea, it was "treason," when Trump said it, it was "genius." At least according to Fox News.
Now, Before You Get Your Knickers in a Twist...
I don't give a flying flip about which side of the political equation YOU — or anyone else — falls on.
Fiery sunset no. 2
What I am am saying here has nothing to do with whether I am (or am not) Liberal or Conservative, it has to do with a completely different (albeit "related") question:
Here's the question: Do you want to find SOLUTIONS to the world's problems, or do you simply want to find "proof" that your established belief system or "reality" is TRUE?
Seems most people — even those who hold forth as "open minded" — want to cloister themselves safely inside the confining echochambers of their own little slices of reality.
Usually, those slices — especially in the wacky world of politics — revolve around "blaming the other guy," rather than having a stance of your own and being accountable for it.
Just in my lifetime, I remember when Bill Clinton was President, almost everything was George Bush, Sr.'s fault. When G.W.Bush became President, almost everything was Clinton's "fault." When Barack Obama became President, suddenly everything seemed to be Bush's fault. Now Trump is President, and everything is Obama's fault.
Why do People DO this?
Often, individual supporters are even worse than elected officials, wearing the puffed up mantle of "my candidate can do no wrong" as they shred the previous President. "
Fiery sunset no. 3
Had a bad taco yesterday-- that's OBAMA's FAULT!" Going along and your car breaks down. "That's Obama's fault!" How can it possibly be Obama's fault? "Well, it was built while he was President!" Yeah... it was... in Japan!
These days, it's made even funnier — or more ridiculous — by the fact that everyone is harping on about "fake news," and yet many of those complaining engage in a sort of "hero worship" for their side in which they take credit for things that are of no relevance to the question at hand.
Typically, that's how "fake news" is created: You take two hard facts and present them in such a way as to persuade people there's a connection.
I'll offer a recent example: In April 2017, US unemployment fell to the lowest rate in over 10 years. In April 2017 Donald Trump was President. Both true statements. However, the "news" that unemployment was at a 10 year low because Donald Trump was President could best be regarded as a disingenuous non-sequitur; he had been President for a total of three months at the time so the "causality" was nonsense.
And Yet, That Seems to be How the World Works...
So what's MY skin in this game?
Fiery sunset no. 4
I'm tired of watching a world filled with people who are more concerned about "BEING right" than they are about creating a right world for us to live in.
I am also tired of a world in which short term thinking seems to dominate; be it among individuals, in companies, in politics: Nobody seems to care what happens beyond the time horizon of "while they are in power."
What about the world you're leaving for your grandchildren? Or is that "their problem?"
Meanwhile, I watch examples of "who cares?" happening within 100 feet of where I sit, while I work. The "Downtown Beautification and Infrastructure Improvement Project" here in our town has been going for about three months now. Today, part of the ongoing "beautification" involved the 75-year old trees lining our main street being cut down to make room for "progress."
What sort of "progress" that might be is a mystery to me. But it smacks of someone (or someoneS) creating a program to make THEM look good and important, while ignoring whether it would actually benefit anyone and make the citizens proud and happy.
How about you? Does the world of politics seem filled with hypocrisy? Those complaining of fake news... CREATING fake news of their own? Are people caught in their own echo chambers where their beliefs are upheld regardless of how that may destroy the world? Is it more important to BE "right" than to work towards a "right outcome" for all? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!
created by @zord189
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 180326 17:20 PDT
I am done with politics... it has become it's own echo-chamber of detached individuals making a career by advertising themselves.
Principles and the actual content and consequence of legislative action unfortunately have no correlation at all to the talking points anymore. It's a bit like coca-cola presenting itself as a life-loving healthy drink (look: green lables and organic sweetener) for active adventurers.
I try to ignore the bickering for my attention.
The real politics that affect my life are probably in the sphere of my neighbours and my landlord and how I have to market myself to them everyday, anyways?!
I guess there's a point I am struggling to make: We as a society ( both geo-politically as well as on the smallest social scale) are so far detached from the core of principles that we are merely dealing with nothing more than surface projections of some "remarkability". It plays out on all levels and it makes our collective existence quite unproductive in the long term scale.
I see it as a phenomenon of time as we go through evolutionary cycles. The totality of individualism under external impressions is clashing with the availability of information without time constraints and delays. It feels like everything is just going down from here, but I think we are just building up a healthy deficit to be filled with renewal by the generations to come... our grand-grand-grand-children will be able to deal with things constructively again...
P.S.: well, that turned into quite the ramble
filled with hypocrisy because solutions aren't found in coercion ✌
Well said. I just find it a little sad, sometimes. It would be nice if enough people could pull their collective heads out of their collective dark orifices for long enough to think about something greater than themselves...
This post is sponsored by @appreciator in collaboration with @steemitbloggers. Keep up the good work
I love this post. How timely since just last night I was at someone's house thumbing through a magazine. What did I find in it? An article about this VERY thing. It was well laid out, the arguments for "fake news" and red herrings and all the other tricks that are used in "journalism." It was fascinating. I wish I could remember the name of the magazine. Oh well. You make some valid points. Often we are not truly open minded, but we just want to be right.
In the world now people doens't think about others.They are just busy with them self.You are talking about their grand children they don't even think about their children.All the powerful country is involved in killing people in the name of peace.Just have a look at middle east.In the name of democracy they indirectly destroyed some country.This is a selfish world and that's why this world will be destroyed.Thanks for the post.
follow me back rupok! nicely said!
In HDI index all the powerful country holding a good position but all of them are killing people all over the world.Just to expand their arms business they are creating all kinds of problems.Such as america attacked iraq just for their oil,the entire world knows it,but nothing happended.This is the world filled with brutal hypocrite person.Can you imagine killing 1.5 million people just for oil.How can they sleep?I can't understand they must be the devil force.@upvoted and resteemed
Hello @denmarkguy!
I agree with this and our new ADHD society. Politics aside (because I know jack about it) , this reminded me of something that happened in my Philosophy class last week. We were all asked what first principle (cause) do we believe started the universe.
Everyone chose one cause—except one student. He concluded as a minister that believing that God saying let there be light can exist alongside the theory of a big bang.
What that showed me is that someone doesn't have to be wrong in order for you to be right, and many people are trapped in "black-and-white" ego-driven thinking!
Just wanted to share!
<3 shello
It seems nobody wants to listen to anything that conflicts with their personal opinion. Not only do they not want to listen, they don't want others to hear it either. I've seen many posts on Steemit flagged for putting the other side of the argument on subjects such as fluoride, vaccines and veganism.
you should have seen what happened when I mentioned the problem in Scandinavia with a certain extremist movement moving up the ranks of society in positions of power and destroying our traditional societies.. my account was destroyed. From 35 reputation to 7, in hours!
they are here, it is swarming with them. They show this excact behavior. Preprogrammed to flag / downvote anything that just hints of conflict with what they already believe about the planet and societies and culture!
so I will not mention them or the movement / what they call "religion" of theirs, which is no religion at all.. but any logic, rational person know what I speak of!
I am going to make a precise and as simple as possible list of good knowledge.. I have seen so many quotes and ways of saying the same relations on our planet.. I know it can be a lot more easy.
So just follow me. Any way, I will try to be as active as possible anyway, commenting and such.
But I could use this list myself a lot, so I will make it, and I am sure many will love it... Then you can always just refer to the list to find "that good quote" that describe the present situation perfectly, simply and precisely!
Do you understand what I am thinking here?
best regards! Bliv ved med at poste!
The world is getting increasingly drugged up, misinformed, dummed, killed, poisened, misled..
Steemit is extremely important for us to be able to keep sane and sharing good, important info with all of our new family here ! Keep warm and strong my sisters and brothers!