The downside of not just Facebook, but the internet generally, is that we can always go find someone who reinforces our views. We never have to step out of our own perspective and realize that the world at large might be different than we think. I've seen a bit too much of this narrow thinking lately and finally I just sort of broke. There will be some people who think they know what specific thing caused me to leave, and I can assure you that you should not look to point to one thing because it was a build up over time. It was a great many things, and if you will indulge me, I will try to explain.
I research minorities in the early Cold War, and one thing I learned from reading research from that period on preventing prejudice and bigotry is that when one remains silent, it helps to spread the negative views. That means if you hear someone say something that is bigoted, it's not just those who agree who help spread bigotry, it is also the people who say nothing. Silence is taken as an implicit agreement to the prejudicial attitude. Speaking up is essential to correct attitudes. I know this is different than the typical attitude of just moving along and not saying anything if you don't like something posted to Facebook.
I can give you a less extreme, but nonetheless damaging, example. Take the term politically correct. Now, we've all had a moment where we thought perhaps we are trying too hard to say the right words and perhaps people are too sensitive. I'm guilty of it too. But that really means we haven't taken the time to consider what it's like for another person. I hate it when I'm in a professional situation and men are referred to as men but women are girls. Some would say that I need to not be so sensitive, but then I've experienced dismissal just because I'm a woman, and because I've experienced it, I know the term girl is designed to dismiss. Political correctness was intentionally demonized by people who did not want change in social positions. It's Clint Eastwood lamenting that he could say things in his youth that weren't labeled racist with him lacking the complete understanding that it was totally racist then too, it is just that society has decided to do better. This current celebration of abandoning rules of etiquette is damaging, but most people would rather not counter that and so remain silent. And then the attitude that political correctness is negative is perpetuated and more people find themselves on the defense. Now, realize the same thing takes place when it comes to issues of race, religion, language, culture, and sexual orientation.
The world is not black and white and although we like tidy labels, we must resist this tendency. There is raging anti-intellectualism in the United States today. We don't like experts, we disdain expertise, and we disregard wisdom. You might think it mean for me to say, but I'm going to be blunt: No, your google search is not as good as my two masters and nearly completed PhD when it comes to history. I get that you want to push back and call me arrogant and then dismiss me when I say that. But humanity has functioned rather well when it respects the collectively-gained wisdom of society. We each have different talents and the reason we have the quality of lives we have is because we have pooled our expertise and worked together. Whether you realize it or not, we have the relatively easy lives we have today more due to collective work than to individualism.
And now this brings me to our democratic republic. Our citizens have become confused by what governance means and how it comes about. Alongside political correctness, compromise has been demonized. Politics, governance, and even voting are not about expressing our ideologies. We've already experienced very recently that abandoning the principles of compromise don't actually bring about good governance. The surge of so-called Tea Party Republicans did not bring better ideas or better legislating. It did bring obstruction, standstill, and the price they paid is that most of those candidates lost their primaries. So, while those constituencies perhaps learned a lesson, the country as a whole seems not to have. They didn't know how to work and compromise. They sold ideology, and that doesn't work.
We have problems in Washington; no one is denying that. But guess what? We always have. We've always had a messy system, but it was also designed to withstand the messiness. But the unfortunate reality is that our society has forgotten that politicians are us. You cannot claim to support and defend a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, and in the next breath say that "the establishment" is out to destroy our freedoms. It's not an other. Freedoms can be stripped, but it's done by us. And it's almost always done by fear.
Fear is the single most effective political tool and I'm shocked by how much people fall for it. Fear leads us into bad, typically authoritarian choices, and a willingness to strip ourselves or the perceived 'other' of liberties. The only way to counteract that is through seeking knowledge and wisdom.
It's also not new.
Today it isn't communism, it's a whole list: Islamophobia, xenophobia, homophobia, racism. We have a party, who never used to stand for this, but today they do. They claim they need to "take back our country." That language should make every American sick on principle. We do not all have the same views, dissent is part of our political conversation. It is actually a healthy part.
All I ask is that you seek real information, and unfortunately it's very unlikely that just because you watch a mix of TV news you are in any way informed. Our media has failed us in many ways. If you post something outlandish, I assume you just don't realize. But if you have been informed by either me or someone else and you double down on that which is false, you are choosing ignorance. That serves no one. Likewise, if you won't allow for dissenting opinion on your timeline, you have served no one.
We have real problems. Those problems cannot be solved by lighting the match and hoping the fire goes in the direction you want. Wildfires are rarely controllable. Some of my worries include:
- institutionalized racism and the embedded language that perpetuates the problem; growing (and justifiable) frustrations on the part of African Americans
- a need for better police training, and people acting like wanting more accountability and training somehow means you don't support officers when the very opposite is true.
- people not understanding taxes but just not liking them. We benefit when we pool our resources -- I love public education, roads, libraries, subsidized utilities, etc. We have to pay to get the services we want. Also, educate yourself on how and why a progressive tax system works; stop being afraid when you hear those percentages thrown around because politicians who want to erode our tax base and therefore public services count on you getting scared.
- military build up. We already spend too much on the military which makes us more vulnerable not less.
- religious freedom rhetoric. Christians are not in any way being 'persecuted' in this country. In fact, Christians are the dominant majority and part of the point of First Amendment is to protect individual religious consciousness from the tyranny of the majority. Study world religions rather than believing the shit the pundits spew.
- xenophobia/myth of American exceptionalism. We can learn a lot from our neighbors if we get our heads out the sand and realize that other nations have reasons to be proud of their accomplishments too. We aren't the only ones with answers and we do not need to fear those that flee from persecution. They are against what we are against which is why they gave up everything to run. Respect that.
- wealth inequality. This is probably a big reason you are unhappy with the economy right now even if you don't think that's what it is. We are more productive than ever before but the workers have a smaller share of the bigger pie. This is also tied to money in politics. We have a government of the people, by the people, and for the corporations currently. That has to change, but it starts by recognizing the problem. This is also tied to understanding the tax system better and not being so gullible about that.
Studying history is not about memorizing facts. It's about understanding the overarching change and broad patterns. We don't repeat history, but we often don't learn from our mistakes either. I'd ask you to take some time to become familiar once again with our history. Some parts should make you upset. We haven't always been great. Some parts, especially the parts where we continue to try to live up to our ideals, should make you proud. I love the Crash Course US History videos on youtube. If you follow the series all the way through, it will explain the expansion of freedoms, the complex debate about what freedom even means, and yes, our failures and limitations. I'll be posting some in the coming days as well.
It's in my nature to assume the best -- that people who post egregious misinformation just don't know better. I always think that once it's explained they will learn and grow and stop spreading rhetoric designed to divide. Unfortunately, I've seen how that is sadly not the case. But it doesn't mean I'll stop trying. I realize though that it is not my burden alone to bear. We are in this together.
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