Is ending the divide/coming together for common good, having civil discourse even possible today?

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  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,662
    HughFreakingDillon said:
    I'd like to pose a question: how divided ARE we, really? I mean "we" as everyone. Millions upon millions. There will always be polar
    opposites. But the vast, vast majority fall into the middle. as always, the extremes tend to be the loudest, no matter the side (MTG, AOC, etc). 

    AMT is not a good barometer for real life. This is literally the only place I discuss politics to this extent. If someone I know/care about starts spouting off about something I disagree with, knowing full well it won't end well (especially if there's alcohol involved), I shut it down. No winner, no loser. Just quit the game. 

    we keep getting TOLD how divided we are. by whom? the media. why? they profit off the division, as do the politicians they say are causing it (they are both at fault). i'd like to think about 70-85% of us are not divided at all, at least not to the extent we're told we are. 

    there has always been violence in this world; political, domestic, random, etc. That will literally never go away. how much of that violence wouldn't happen without the constant barrage of hateful bullshit coming out of the mouths of the people we are paying to tell us (media) and the people we pay to change it (politicians)?

    we give those who influence us the most way too much power. 


    SSS

    Stay informed
    Shut out the noise
    Shut off the news

    That's a very good point- news outlets thrive on sensationalism and division and they are surely jacking up the hostilities.  The media has run amuck with getting away with that crap.  Even news outlets I once favored have made their efforts to persuade a higher priority than informing.  We would do well to be wary of any news source that does this because that very act sabotages critical thinking.   


    At the same time, some of the division is exacerbated by laws that do not reflect what the majority of people want.  Just a few examples: We all want cleaner air, but lawmakers make it too easy for gross polluters to continue to increase air pollution.  The majority of people are pro-choice, but law makers in this country removed a woman's right to her own body.  The system is broken, and broken systems are part of what increases division.
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • OnWis97
    OnWis97 St. Paul, MN Posts: 5,610
    HughFreakingDillon said:
    disagree. we all know/think that indies decide elections. not many here are indies. 

    I wasn't trying to compare AOC with MTG. i was just giving examples of the two extremes in congress. I wasn't suggesting they are at the same extreme point on their respective side. 
    Indies might decide who wins but they don't decide who's nominated.
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  • cblock4life
    cblock4life Posts: 1,855
    OnWis97 said:
    HughFreakingDillon said:
    disagree. we all know/think that indies decide elections. not many here are indies. 

    I wasn't trying to compare AOC with MTG. i was just giving examples of the two extremes in congress. I wasn't suggesting they are at the same extreme point on their respective side. 
    Indies might decide who wins but they don't decide who's nominated.
    Yes.  This allows all us D and R to put the worst available candidates out there for them to vote on. 

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