The Axis of Evil
Hi! Happy Sunday!
I was reading an article today that struck me as more than a wee bit of Hunting The Snark:
From this Quartz Article:
Fear and shame define demagoguery and so there is no mystery, none whatsoever, of where Trump's supporters come from. They come from a true Axis of Evil: right-wing media. After forty-years of every day hatred there is zero doubt where these haters came from. None. All of Trump's talking points are staples of right-wing media. Trump could easily be an AM radio talk show host and no one would think anything of it. Trump would not stand out, at all. His hatred and fear is right-wing media stock-and-trade. There is no reason for the Hunting of the Snark where Trump's voters are concerned. There is no mystery.
The solution to the demagoguery is we need to talk to each other, warts and all. First and foremost we the people need to come together as a nation and all of us agree to build media we will support together, without demagoguery. We need a common set of facts and fertile soil for respect. If we don't do this then the teeth gnashing that exists today will never end. We need a media commons that does not promote a single morality. Some issues like abortion will always provide a great moral divide. The mistake is not admitting moral relativity, the mistake is dismissing people who do not share your moral objectivity.
As an aside, I am saddened by Quartz interview of the "moral philosopher" primarily because a "moral philosopher" knows better, or should anyway. There is no free will and there is no moral objectivity.
Generally free-will gets lumped into two categories: human accountability and human programability. The human accountability argument goes that decisions live in some influence-free zone of personal pure will where the only influence is a person's own desire. When you make the choice then you own that choice 100%. However, even the most rabid free-will advocate admits temptation doesn't just knock at the door, the devil leans on the doorbell and so we have to resist and overcome our baser instincts in order to practice free-will.
We now know definitely that free-will does not exist. Every decision you make is intertwined with all kinds of influence, including what you had for lunch. In the philosophical book, "Thinking Fast and Slow", Daniel Kahneman tells the story of an experiment conducted in Spain. Judges who consider parole cases, whether to deny prisoners parole, do so all day in Spain as a occupation. Parole is morally important stuff where a person's life hangs in the balance. Is a prisoner going to be set free? It turns out that for prisoners whose cases were considered after lunch then they were more likely to be given parole than for those whose considered right before lunch.
Back to Trump voters. Trump didn't originate his demagoguery. All of his demagoguery originates in right-wing media. Similar to how Hitler just took advantage of the anti-semitism that already existed in Germany, Trump is just riding the wave of hourly and daily demagoguery pouring out of right-wing media. This suggests that if right-wing media keeps tacking with the same hatred and fear that they have been for forty years then nothing is going to change.
The question then is not where do Trump voters come from, but what do we do about right-wing media?
What we officially do is nothing and what we personally do is everything.
I've have consumed right-wing media since its inception with Rush Limbaugh and Fox News. Right-wing media spreads hate publicly via passive aggression. In today's world it is not acceptable to say, "I hate liberals". That's hate speech. However, one can insinuate one hates liberals by saying "Liberals hate me" and that is not considered outright hate speech and so prohibiting outright hate speech has failed. The hate speech just becomes passively encoded. I've listened enough to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage and other right-wing media persons to know that "Liberals hate us" is a core message of their propaganda and demagoguery.
Conservatives need to admit that liberals are Americans and don't hate them. The irony of conservatives these days is that they wrap themselves in the flag of patriotism all the while dismissing an entire half of the population of this country that approves of Obama today. You can't dismiss half of America and then call yourself a patriot.
Liberals need to quit practicing a form of political correctness that results in a Hunting of the Snark of Trump voters or terrorists.
Love everyone. We are all in this together. The demagoguery of right-wing media promotes hate and fear of others and fosters more hatred and fear then there otherwise would be. That's on them. However, the political correctness of the left that tries to squash the speech of personal hatred and fear results in a free pass for people promoting hatred and fear; people who need to be called out. Ignoring a problem is on the people choosing to ignore it.
The problem with hatred and fear is not who is being hated. The problem is the choice itself: when people choose to hate or be under the spell of fear. When people choose to hate and react to fear, or if their brain is such they can't help themselves then such people should not be dismissed. They are still human and our brothers. Those of us who have training to manage hatred and fearful instincts need to help those who do not, otherwise we will be doomed.
The Axis of Evil is right-wing media demagoguery. Right-wing media needs to be held to account. However, any censorship or any prohibition of right-wing media is not the solution. No, the solution is we the people need to talk about changing the nature of right-wing media and to get conservatives to voluntarily reject demagoguery. It is not going to be easy. Hate and fear are primordial and hard-wired into our very DNA. But no matter how hard the fight is, convincing people to voluntarily reject demagoguery is the only effective way.
Voluntarily Reject Demagoguery!
Politics as Science!
Demand Irreni World Scale!
Anti-theism is feminism!
Think disruption!
Empathy for all!
Moral relativity: think it, breath it!
Prove it or lose it!
Conversations equal consensus!
Welcome to the 21st century!
Scale your empathy, scale the world!
Find your tribe!
Be sexy people!
The future is coming!
Innovate at a rapid pace!
Slow speed ahead!
Well come! and well met!
I was reading an article today that struck me as more than a wee bit of Hunting The Snark:
From this Quartz Article:
"It’s easy to dismiss those [Trump voters] who disagree with us as either ignorant or malevolent. Oxford moral philosophy professor Robinson is neither. And nor, ultimately, is each and every one of the millions of people who’ve chosen to support Trump. Anyone who hopes to understand and address the concerns of those backing the Republican candidate will need to set aside such simplistic preconceptions."Just as a reminder, Irreni World Scale is about solutions and not punditry. The Irreni model of governing is inclusive, everyone belongs. There are no outsiders with Irreni and all seven-billion people on this planet are welcomed. That's the solution. You might say, "love everyone" by asking people to voluntarily reject demagoguery.
Fear and shame define demagoguery and so there is no mystery, none whatsoever, of where Trump's supporters come from. They come from a true Axis of Evil: right-wing media. After forty-years of every day hatred there is zero doubt where these haters came from. None. All of Trump's talking points are staples of right-wing media. Trump could easily be an AM radio talk show host and no one would think anything of it. Trump would not stand out, at all. His hatred and fear is right-wing media stock-and-trade. There is no reason for the Hunting of the Snark where Trump's voters are concerned. There is no mystery.
The solution to the demagoguery is we need to talk to each other, warts and all. First and foremost we the people need to come together as a nation and all of us agree to build media we will support together, without demagoguery. We need a common set of facts and fertile soil for respect. If we don't do this then the teeth gnashing that exists today will never end. We need a media commons that does not promote a single morality. Some issues like abortion will always provide a great moral divide. The mistake is not admitting moral relativity, the mistake is dismissing people who do not share your moral objectivity.
As an aside, I am saddened by Quartz interview of the "moral philosopher" primarily because a "moral philosopher" knows better, or should anyway. There is no free will and there is no moral objectivity.
Generally free-will gets lumped into two categories: human accountability and human programability. The human accountability argument goes that decisions live in some influence-free zone of personal pure will where the only influence is a person's own desire. When you make the choice then you own that choice 100%. However, even the most rabid free-will advocate admits temptation doesn't just knock at the door, the devil leans on the doorbell and so we have to resist and overcome our baser instincts in order to practice free-will.
We now know definitely that free-will does not exist. Every decision you make is intertwined with all kinds of influence, including what you had for lunch. In the philosophical book, "Thinking Fast and Slow", Daniel Kahneman tells the story of an experiment conducted in Spain. Judges who consider parole cases, whether to deny prisoners parole, do so all day in Spain as a occupation. Parole is morally important stuff where a person's life hangs in the balance. Is a prisoner going to be set free? It turns out that for prisoners whose cases were considered after lunch then they were more likely to be given parole than for those whose considered right before lunch.
Back to Trump voters. Trump didn't originate his demagoguery. All of his demagoguery originates in right-wing media. Similar to how Hitler just took advantage of the anti-semitism that already existed in Germany, Trump is just riding the wave of hourly and daily demagoguery pouring out of right-wing media. This suggests that if right-wing media keeps tacking with the same hatred and fear that they have been for forty years then nothing is going to change.
The question then is not where do Trump voters come from, but what do we do about right-wing media?
What we officially do is nothing and what we personally do is everything.
I've have consumed right-wing media since its inception with Rush Limbaugh and Fox News. Right-wing media spreads hate publicly via passive aggression. In today's world it is not acceptable to say, "I hate liberals". That's hate speech. However, one can insinuate one hates liberals by saying "Liberals hate me" and that is not considered outright hate speech and so prohibiting outright hate speech has failed. The hate speech just becomes passively encoded. I've listened enough to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage and other right-wing media persons to know that "Liberals hate us" is a core message of their propaganda and demagoguery.
Conservatives need to admit that liberals are Americans and don't hate them. The irony of conservatives these days is that they wrap themselves in the flag of patriotism all the while dismissing an entire half of the population of this country that approves of Obama today. You can't dismiss half of America and then call yourself a patriot.
Liberals need to quit practicing a form of political correctness that results in a Hunting of the Snark of Trump voters or terrorists.
Love everyone. We are all in this together. The demagoguery of right-wing media promotes hate and fear of others and fosters more hatred and fear then there otherwise would be. That's on them. However, the political correctness of the left that tries to squash the speech of personal hatred and fear results in a free pass for people promoting hatred and fear; people who need to be called out. Ignoring a problem is on the people choosing to ignore it.
The problem with hatred and fear is not who is being hated. The problem is the choice itself: when people choose to hate or be under the spell of fear. When people choose to hate and react to fear, or if their brain is such they can't help themselves then such people should not be dismissed. They are still human and our brothers. Those of us who have training to manage hatred and fearful instincts need to help those who do not, otherwise we will be doomed.
The Axis of Evil is right-wing media demagoguery. Right-wing media needs to be held to account. However, any censorship or any prohibition of right-wing media is not the solution. No, the solution is we the people need to talk about changing the nature of right-wing media and to get conservatives to voluntarily reject demagoguery. It is not going to be easy. Hate and fear are primordial and hard-wired into our very DNA. But no matter how hard the fight is, convincing people to voluntarily reject demagoguery is the only effective way.
Voluntarily Reject Demagoguery!
Politics as Science!
Demand Irreni World Scale!
Anti-theism is feminism!
Think disruption!
Empathy for all!
Moral relativity: think it, breath it!
Prove it or lose it!
Conversations equal consensus!
Welcome to the 21st century!
Scale your empathy, scale the world!
Find your tribe!
Be sexy people!
The future is coming!
Innovate at a rapid pace!
Slow speed ahead!
Well come! and well met!
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