Why are we so polarized?

[Meathead]

An interesting article from BBC. I think sites like this, Brietbart, Daily Kos and the likes of Fox and MSNBC are first and foremost among the culprits. The internet has allowed us to accomplish a great deal, but the drawbacks are becoming more apparent with each passing year. Also, much of MSM has dropped it's impartiality in favor of gaining ratings with those who want news spun their way. I don't know if it will ever get better.

Well, now I see that I have to have 15 points (whatever the hell those are) to post a link to other sites. Kinda silly. Anyway the article is on BBC's web page and is called "What happened to America's community spirit?", if some one with this ponderous posting privilege is inclined to link it.

I wonder if I can say that.

 

[SniperFire]

Government spending is 100 times more redistributive than it was during the JFK era.


Let me repeat that for anyone who missed it.


Government spending is 100 X more redistributive than it was during the JFK era.

What has changed in America? The use of force of government to take from some to give to others in exchange for votes.

Leftists are gutting and destroying America.

 

[Mac1958]

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We're so polarized because many who have a significant vested interest in keeping us divided are doing their jobs very well. Add to that many in the populace who blindly buy into it, and there you have it.

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[plant]

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We're so polarized because many who have a significant vested interest in keeping us divided are doing their jobs very well. Add to that many in the populace who blindly buy into it, and there you have it.

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Yep . They watch like a tennis match .

 

[California Girl]

It has a lot to do with the attitude of the President. I don't remember any other President calling other Americans 'the enemy'. The man just fucking sucks.

But he's funny.... not intentionally, I know... but that comment about having learned that he's supposed to work for ALL Americans made me laugh. The clue is in the job title. What a fucking doofus those borg elected.

 

[Meathead]

@ Sniper - your response encapsulates the problem.

@ Mac - your comment doesn't explain why it would have been different today.
Vested interests of have not changed.

Without the article, this is going nowhere.

 

[bitterlyclingin]

Hmmmmm? Tough question.
How about this? "If you own a succesful business, you didn't build that! Somebody else did!"
Or this "Income redistribution is good."
Or this, throwing the white working class male, the class that built this country, no apologies to the musical group Heart, their rock and roll, marijuana smoke, and cocaine lines did not, under the bus as part of your base.
Or even this classic from early on as the country got to know Obama "You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, a lot of them -- like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they've gone through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. So it's not surprising then that they get bitter, and they cling to guns, or religion, or antipathy toward people who aren't like them, or anti-immigrant sentiment, or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations"

 

[Black_Label]

An interesting article from BBC. I think sites like this, Brietbart, Daily Kos and the likes of Fox and MSNBC are first and foremost among the culprits. The internet has allowed us to accomplish a great deal, but the drawbacks are becoming more apparent with each passing year. Also, much of MSM has dropped it's impartiality in favor of gaining ratings with those who want news spun their way. I don't know if it will ever get better.

Well, now I see that I have to have 15 points (whatever the hell those are) to post a link to other sites. Kinda silly. Anyway the article is on BBC's web page and is called "What happened to America's community spirit?", if some one with this ponderous posting privilege is inclined to link it.

I wonder if I can say that.

Here's the link, BBC News - What happened to America's community spirit?

 

[bitterlyclingin]

Government spending is 100 times more redistributive than it was during the JFK era.


Let me repeat that for anyone who missed it.


Government spending is 100 X more redistributive than it was during the JFK era.

What has changed in America? The use of force of government to take from some to give to others in exchange for votes.

Leftists are gutting and destroying America.

"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country" JFK Inaugural Speech
Barry intends to add an entire new dimension of meaning to that fabulous Churchillian statement "Never have so many owed so much to so few"
Valerie Jarret, daughter of one of the members of the 1970's Chicago Communist School
David Axelrod, mentored by another member of the 1970's Chicago Communist School.
"By their friends yee shall know them"

 

[dblack]

This is something I've been thinking of posting about lately. Especially after my occasional run-ins with mainstream media. I was listening to NPR yesterday, where went go on and on about the "bitterly divided electorate", etc... etc... telling me how sharply divided the two major parties are, yada yada yada...

And I just don't see it. The entire thing feels like glammed-up fake wrestling to me. Stepping outside the "ring", and looking at the way each party has actually governed over the last 20 to 30 years, I see precious little to distinguish them.

I think the reason the two parties compete so bitterly isn't based on their differences. I think it's caused by their common goal. They both want control more than anything else. And they'll say anything, flipping and flopping with the breeze, to get it.

 

[SniperFire]

The communists would not be able to function without sheep such as dblack who give the Leftists cover to do the things they do.

 

[auditor0007]

Government spending is 100 times more redistributive than it was during the JFK era.


Let me repeat that for anyone who missed it.


Government spending is 100 X more redistributive than it was during the JFK era.

What has changed in America? The use of force of government to take from some to give to others in exchange for votes.

Leftists are gutting and destroying America.

 

[SniperFire]

Government spending is 100 times more redistributive than it was during the JFK era.


Let me repeat that for anyone who missed it.


Government spending is 100 X more redistributive than it was during the JFK era.

What has changed in America? The use of force of government to take from some to give to others in exchange for votes.

Leftists are gutting and destroying America.

Take a freeloader such as yourself, for example.

You told us you are going to vote Democrat because you want somebody else to subsidize your health insurance risk.

 

[SniperFire]

 

[auditor0007]

It has a lot to do with the attitude of the President. I don't remember any other President calling other Americans 'the enemy'. The man just fucking sucks.

But he's funny.... not intentionally, I know... but that comment about having learned that he's supposed to work for ALL Americans made me laugh. The clue is in the job title. What a fucking doofus those borg elected.

That's a funny statement when Republicans have made it more than clear that they are only working for the top 20% of income earners. Blaming everything on the poor like the cons do is embarrassing to say the least, especially when conservative policies have only made life that much harder for those at the lower end.

 

[SniperFire]

It has a lot to do with the attitude of the President. I don't remember any other President calling other Americans 'the enemy'. The man just fucking sucks.

But he's funny.... not intentionally, I know... but that comment about having learned that he's supposed to work for ALL Americans made me laugh. The clue is in the job title. What a fucking doofus those borg elected.

That's a funny statement when Republicans have made it more than clear that they are only working for the top 20% of income earners. Blaming everything on the poor like the cons do is embarrassing to say the least, especially when conservative policies have only made life that much harder for those at the lower end.

If you are an 'auditor', let's see if you are any good with numbers.

Are the 'poor' and middle class massively increasing their consumption / redistribution of government spending compared to what the contribute, historically speaking?

In fact, is this consumption of the public largess EXPLOSIVE and OUT OF CONTROL?

 

[Steelplate]

I read the article and it is spot on. Especially where it says something like "Americans tend to absorb the information that supports what they already believe and discards the rest".

If you're only reading and taking in information that you already believe in....like say...FOX/MSNBC/Heritage.org/Huffington Post....You aren't learning anything.

Add to that, that all of these entities have a vested interest in keeping people coming back to watch their broadcasts and read their contributions.....so they cater to their audiences to create a loyal base. Even if it means skewing the truth, arranging numbers so it looks worse/better than it is, even throwing out scary words like Fascist and Marxist.

But...it's just not the media....it's us. We are over-privileged and lazy. We don't want to think anymore.....It's much easier for us to do "one stop shopping" for our information than it is to hear the "other side's" point of view too and make rational decisions based upon a proper dissemination of the biases that both sides employ.

The most important thing, IMO, to remember is that no matter what Beck or Maddow tell you....there is no Communist or Plutocratic plot to destroy America. If we can all get that through our thick skulls....perhaps we can the start working on solutions.

 

[auditor0007]

Government spending is 100 times more redistributive than it was during the JFK era.


Let me repeat that for anyone who missed it.


Government spending is 100 X more redistributive than it was during the JFK era.

What has changed in America? The use of force of government to take from some to give to others in exchange for votes.

Leftists are gutting and destroying America.

Take a freeloader such as yourself, for example.

You told us you are going to vote Democrat because you want somebody else to subsidize your health insurance risk.

Freeloader? You are one of the biggest dipshits in this forum. I had insurance and I was forced out of the system by the insurance companies when I moved out of state. You are one stupid idiot. The funniest thing about it is that despite being considered high risk, I am healthier than 95% of Americans my age.

Now I do have insurance again, but I never come close to meeting my deductible. Oh, it isn't free either fuckwad.

 

[Meathead]

Blaming everything on the poor like the cons do is embarrassing to say the least, especially when conservative policies have only made life that much harder for those at the lower end.

I doubt you have much of an idea of what a hard life really is. Anyone who has lived or traveled extensively outside of Europe, N America and Japan would find your last remark patently absurd.

 

[auditor0007]

It has a lot to do with the attitude of the President. I don't remember any other President calling other Americans 'the enemy'. The man just fucking sucks.

But he's funny.... not intentionally, I know... but that comment about having learned that he's supposed to work for ALL Americans made me laugh. The clue is in the job title. What a fucking doofus those borg elected.

That's a funny statement when Republicans have made it more than clear that they are only working for the top 20% of income earners. Blaming everything on the poor like the cons do is embarrassing to say the least, especially when conservative policies have only made life that much harder for those at the lower end.

If you are an 'auditor', let's see if you are any good with numbers.

Are the 'poor' and middle class massively increasing their consumption / redistribution of government spending compared to what the contribute, historically speaking?

In fact, is this consumption of the public largess EXPLOSIVE and OUT OF CONTROL?

Hey dipshit, if you followed anything I have ever said in this forum, you would know I am a big supporter of raising the retirement age. Doing so solves all these long term cost problems and keeps everyone covered through the end of their lives.