I have to admit, out of all the things I am writing about on this topic, this post might be the one I am most afraid to put out there. The first two where pretty easy for me, but this one... Well this one I know I am likely to cause people a lot of cognitive dissonance. I am going to challenge the pre-held belief's of almost anyone who reads this blog and that is going to cause some anger. The problem is that I can't just not say the things that need to be said. I do that, and I don't do a damn thing to change the problems that I see.
I hope you bear with me through this. I will try to be as gentle as possible, but I can't promise you won't get angry or that you won't want to quit reading. I hope you stay with it though, because if you do and you actually hear what I am saying, maybe, just maybe we can start moving forward. Right now not only are we not moving forward as a nation, we are in many ways moving backward. This is a direct result of the fights taking place over virtually every part of our existence. It's not just economic policy, it's not just social policy, it's everything and if we don't stop building the fire we will rip ourselves apart. I don't want that to happen, and I hope you don't either.
With that said I guess it's time to dive into the breach.
We are all part of the problem. Not only are we all part of the problem, we are making that problem worse because we have stopped actually thinking about anything. Where at one time political thought was slow to spread and thus people had time to adjust their thinking, information flows at a pace never seen before in the entirety of human history.
We are assaulted by 24 hour news channels, social media, advertisements, neighbors, friends, family members. Everywhere we go, everywhere we look someone is expressing an opinion and trying to sway the way we think. While no one seems to want to admit to it, the fact is this is effecting every single one of us! It's not just "stupid" people who can't think for themselves, it's also "smart" people and rich people and poor people. It doesn't matter your level of education (because guess what that was propaganda too) or how much life experience you have had, the fact is your opinion is being directed by someone else. This someone else isn't a single person, or even a group of people, this someone else is the mob.
The mob has taken over any kind of meaningful debate and replaced it with farce and pseudo facts. The mob is forwarding hate for conservatives, forwarding hate for liberals, and we are all buying into it. What really sucks is you and I and everyone else are just helping the mob do it. Whenever you post a half thought out opinion of Facebook, whenever you talk about what the news anchor on MSNBC or FOX had to say about the president, whenever you use terms like "idiot conservative" or "blind liberal" or hundreds of other derogatory terms you are helping the mob continue. I know that's hard to hear. I know you are sitting there thinking "well maybe everyone else is part of the mob, but I think for myself". You don't.
This is not to say you don't have an educated opinion. In fact if you are reading this blog my guess is your opinion is educated. What I am saying though is your education has become faulty. The fact is that even the best of us fall prey to the inflammatory news story on Fox, MSNBC, CNN, etc. The fact is that we as a population have become reliant on Facebook as our primary source of news on current event. The fact is that we have all engaged in confirmation bias on such a high level that I really dont' know if we can stop it from happening now. I hope we can and I am writing this post because I want us to be able to, but I don't know if people can handle the truth about things.
I can, and will in the next post, spend time showing you exactly how this all works. However, before I do any of that. I have to make sure your ready to challenge your own opinions. I have to make sure your going into the information I am about to give you with a truly open mind. I don't mean going in looking to prove your pre-conceptions right. I mean a truly honest open mind that is going to honestly consider what I say even when it makes you uncomfortable. If you can't do that, if you can't accept that idea that maybe just possibly you are not the free thinker you want to think you are... well then this is a waste of time.
The thing Is I don't believe it is. I believe that most people want to have the facts right.I believe most people are willing to let go of their opinion when they are given sufficient proof to do so. However, until we face ourselves and admit "hey maybe I am not near the free thinking educated individual I claim to be" well, this battle is lost. Don't let the mob win, don't let misinformation win. Stick with me just a little bit longer. Just hang with me for a couple more posts and I promise you will see what I mean. DO we have a deal?
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