The ONLY Thing I Hate is Orchestrated FEAR

I have friends and family who are all over the board when it comes to their political leanings.

 

And sometimes I get frustrated–even pissed off–when I try to interact with them, because we seem to have been exposed to “facts” (biases and propaganda) from our favorite political pundits and go-to information sources that sequester us into separate “tribes” or “camps” bemoaning how ignorant or (even worse) “stupid” the other person is for believing what they do.

 

Now, before I continue, let’s define “ignorance” and “stupidity” so no one who reads this thinks I’m calling them stupid.

 

Ignorance  = “lack of knowledge or information.”   If I tell you, “The cat is on fire!” and you put up your hand, turn the other way, and say, “Not interested,” you are ignoring a fact that others would find, if not outright upsetting and appalling, worthy of doing something about.

 

Stupidity = “the inability to understand something due to insufficient intelligence (brain power), thus leading to the misinterpretation of a fact.

 

If you were stupid, you wouldn’t have the mental ability to understand any of the following, so you wouldn’t be able to process  it or consider its value. NONE of you who read my books or blog posts are stupid.

 

But many of you are misinformed (accidentally by others), manipulatively dis-informed (consciously lied to and misled by bad actors with unhelpful, anti-democratic agendas), or ignorant of facts that you won’t at least acknowledge because we’re all inclined to filter out what makes us feel uncomfortable or double-minded.

 

(I include myself here. I can’t  know every available fact, and I’m not impervious to fear, although I have darned little of it except presently in the way this country seems to be headed under the present administration and GOP. But I do know where to go to FIND verifiable facts, so my fears are justified, while many of yours have been implanted and are IMAGINARY chimeras. (In ancient Greek mythology, a chimera was “a fire-breathing female monster with a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail”).

 

But here’s the thing: I don’t blame you or hate you. I blame and hate/loathe/despise the so-called “news” sources you consult when trying to figure out what’s happening in the world. And I include some of the mainstream media for your ignorance and misleading, but especially Fox and far-right conservative news.

 

 

Before you read any further, estimate right now where your usual news source rests on the “media bias” curve and then find out where it actually is on the “truthiness” curve. I truly think you’ll be surprised, and that some of you will be utterly appalled! (Use the Interactive Map at the above link so everything is clickable. Please spend about ten minutes there before you continue here. Look around. Be sure to click on the news sources you usually avoid watching for their “truthiness” ratings.)

 

Whose stomach is turning right now?  Have you, in your daily life, seen news sources vilified that haven’t earned the vilification? Have you seen news sources exalted that haven’t earned the exaltation?

 

I sure have.

 

And when we watch and believe different information sources (I will no longer refer to them all as “news” sources, because a great many of them are “noise” sources– that is, misleading propaganda and outright disinformation, commonly known as lies.)

 

You’ll notice that the most reputable sources don’t opine, vilify or pontificate. They report what happened and let you decide what it means.

 

The slightly less reputable sources may opine and pontificate, and occasionally even appear to condemn, censure or vilify, but they do so based on available, document-able facts, not on wild-eyed conspiracy theories or bigotry.

 

Reputable news sources and political candidates don’t make broad-based proclamations that are patently false, bigoted and unsavory.

 

Disreputable news sources and political candidates do make blanket accusations and bigoted statements to augment their own small-minded worldviews. Examples from a single politician: “Shit-hole countries.” “We will ban all Muslims from certain countries” (excluding, of course, any with Trump Towers in them; to these, like Saudi Arabia, we will sell arms and nuclear info–even though it was Saudi nationals who attacked us on 911 in New York and at the Pentagon. See why this matters NOW?)

 

Do you see where I’m going here? Disreputable news sources and politicians feed you wild claims that lead you to believe people of color and all Muslims (except Trump’s Muslims) are out to get you (even though Trump’s Muslims kill reporters and have attacked America already).

 

They’re trying to convince you that not all Americans should have the same rights if they’re black, brown, female, LGBTQI or any other recognizable divergent from white and male.

 

They’re trying to convince you that liberals and progressives are out to destroy the America that white males created for themselves (on the backs of their owned property: their wives, black and Chinese and other slaves and indentured servants, and using genocide to clear the land for them).

 

Yeah, I  know. Now I’m America-bashing, which chaps your hide. Well, it chaps MINE, too, but these are incontrovertible facts. Whitewashing facts is what has brought us to where we are today, with citizens at each other’s throats, accusing the other side of hating America. I don’t know very many people who hate America, I certainly don’t. I hate some of what America has done in its long history, but that’s different.

 

So, here’s the thing: I think we all love America. I just think that some of us have been led to be afraid of a diverse, immigrant-rich America, while others of us welcome it.

 

If immigration laws hadn’t been skewed after about 1910 to favor white Christian Europeans over Jews, Muslims, Hindus and other black and brown people, the Holocaust wouldn’t have killed as many people as it did. (Are you aware that America  turned away shiploads of fleeing Jewish refugees during WW II, just as we’re turning away or caging thousands of fleeing South Americans who will be murdered if they stay where they are? These refugees aren’t on pleasure excursions to America; they’re fleeing for their lives. They have every right to seek asylum here and to be treated as the victims they are rather than vermin.)

 

So my ask, here, is to take a look at who’s pulling your strings.  WHY are you allowing yourself to be frightened by “what might happen”?

 

Are your doors locked and bolted against the oncoming hordes?

 

Has anyone of color, or a  Muslim, or an LGBTQI individual harmed you personally?

 

Do you have any truly close friends (not conquests) who are female, black, brown, red, yellow or LGBTQI?  If not, please go out and make some. Until you do, you’re always going to be afraid!!! (Those of us in these categories have far more reason to be afraid than you do, and we’re willing to risk it. So go for it!)

 

STRETCH YOURSELF SOME! IT FEELS GREAT!!!

 

Ask yourself which of Bernie Sanders‘ policies you disagree with, and why? (Higher taxes? CHILL!!! Unless you’re  in the millionaire set (you aren’t, are you? Didn’t think so!), your costs will actually go down. With Medicare For All, you’ll have no deductibles, no co-pays, plus you’ll have dental, eye and hearing care added, and you’ll no longer have higher-education loans to pay off, and a college education will be free, as it is in most other developed countries.)

 

All I’m asking you is to stop being so afraid of what fear-mongers are feeding you and look at the very real threats facing the ideal American way of life: life, justice, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all Americans, not just rich, white males.

 

If that scares you, maybe you weren’t cut out to be an American citizen.

 

What I’m seeing in this nation right now certainly makes me want to live somewhere else.

 

Unless we turn this around, we’re going to be like Germany during Hitler. And that, my friends, liberal and conservative, is a very real fear. Tyrants “get rid” of their “enemies” in ways I hope we never ever see again in this world. But I’m seeing the beginnings of it right now.

 

Please, please, please wake up!