Why are we all so angry lately?

Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) said:

Teh E36 M3 said:

Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) said:

mblommel said:

• 24-7 partisan news cycle stoking divisiveness 
• Rampant misinformation rampaging through social media
• Disregard or doubt in scientific data and knowledge of subject matter experts
• Large corporations maximizing profits shrinking the middle class
• Employers mistreating employees 
• Economic headwinds for many people (eg student loan debt, rising home prices)
• Lack of common decency in discourse due to "keyboard warrior" behavior 

Eliminate all social media and a third of our problems would go away.

Reinstate the FCC fairness doctrine and another third would disappear 

Finding a way to curtail corporate greed and get execute pay vs worker pay ratios under control is really tough. 

Ahh yes. Student loans. Have you ever heard of the Smith and Wesson Student Loan Forgiveness Plan? It's the only plan out there that doesn't require the act of a split Congress to enact. Kind of plays havoc with the current labor shortage though. And it only cancels the Federal Loans. Private loans actually last longer than you do. Transplant organ brokers are standing by.

Mistreating employees?? The last guy I worked for had a taste for Peruvian white powder and prescription Adderall. He had problems with anger. Didn't like it when I was late to work because I had to change Mom's diapers. Nuff said about that one. Glad I don't work there anymore.

Reinstate the Fairness Doctrine? With 400 cable channels and satellite radio, every nut in this universe and some alternate universes will get a turn with the Equal Time law. Not sure I want to see that happen.

Eliminate social media? You still have reality TV and screaming talk show hosts on the radio. Eliminate all media and the crazies will come to your front yard and scream at you through a megaphone. They will post signs on your yard and stickers on the gas pumps at your local service station. They will block the streets. I think that horse left the barn a looong time ago.

Curtailing corporate greed? Shades of Che Guevara and Gordon Gekko! Maybe it's just human nature. I don't know. Employee beatings will continue until morale improves. Don't mind the collection agency dudes hiding in the bushes. They are just here for your car. We have great bus service here. Don't forget your mask.

Going back to my cube to hide now. Soon it will be quitting time and the crazies will all be tailgating me home, focusing on my smashed rear bumper for a rematch.

Angry? Who me? Nooo. Maybe just a little bit crazy and my health insurance won't pay for any more sessions. Just like everybody else out there.

 

Hey man, I'm reading your first paragraph as advocating suicide as the answer.  I understand you might be trying to be funny.  Please tell me I'm wrong. 

I might hold similar opinions regarding student debt - I'm against forgiving it even though I'm pretty liberal. All you have to do is be willing to serve- military, teach for America, peace corps, most government service and even some private corporations will support or help pay college debt. I'm not big on forgiving it for folks who aren't willing to give of themselves. 
 

So to the first point. If you were making a joke about it, please reconsider. We can talk further and I dont want to derail, but you may not have experienced what it feels like to have buds take matters into their own hands, and it sucks. My strong feelings I'm representing here are just because I don't want anyone to take anyone seriously a flippant joke about it. Again, hoping I'm wrong about your intent there. 
 

But maybe this plays to the whole point of the thread. We aren't hanging together having a beer around a campfire. I read that one way, and god knows I've made some suicide jokes, but I knew my audience. And often I offend them with one joke or another, but largely I'm forgiven because they know my intent was to get a laugh.  So when tensions get high especially around a pandemic and politics, what is preposterous to me may be very personal to another. 

I believe that student loan forgiveness should be situational. If you are a doctor with a long career ahead of you, then by all means you should pay it back. If you chose the wrong degree plan and ended up making $20,000 a year, they should adjust your payment accordingly. There are people out there in there 70s who don't have enough to eat after they take their student loan payment out of their social security. There are old people out there who have more than $100,000 in student loans thanks to compound interest. What do they accomplish by torturing old people like that? Should they put them in the military at send them to the Ukrane to fight. Send them to the ghetto to teach. At age 70?? Do they even want people past retirement age doing those jobs? If you are sitting there at the end of your life and your options are starving or homelessness, why not make euthanization an option? I know my opinion is radical, but nobody here wants to help these people and a lot of people want them punish them till they keel over. Yeah. Yeah. I know. We have to punish these people until their ancient bodies give out from arthritis, heart disease and pure exhaustion because other people had better luck in their careers. Our country is insane. Let these people escape if they want to. It's not like you can control them if they make that decision. Some people kill themselves over student loans. I know of a few people who committed suicide just last year because of age and financial crap. My own sister ended her life that way. Go ahead and get angry about it if you like. They are screwing the taxpayers. Dead people can't pay interest. This country is insane.

Aren't you nervous about receiving a warning / ban hammer for posting 304 words on why we should have loan forgiveness?...isn't that a big political hot potato?...doesn't that violate GRM policy?

I'd be nervous about providing the counter argument of the need for fairness to those that...

1.  Worked their way through college (me)

2.  Went to a lower cost college (me for both under grad and grad school)

3.  Chose a difficult major so they'd have a good paying job when they graduated (me)

I hope I can say this without offending you...is your lack of fear due to your being on the side of the people doing the silencing rather than the side of the people being silenced...please do set me straight me if I'm wrong.

There's a whole moral hazard element standing behind the argument that we shouldn't forgive student debt that goes beyond the three fairness considerations I referenced above but since I'm in the "get silenced" group, I'll shut up.

Besides, it's 4:00 PM in California on a Saturday so a glass or three of Chardonnay is in my immediate future making it time to step away from any potentially contentious threads.

I tried to make my point while showing you the solid respect you deserve...how did I do?

Id say at this point my anger stems from watching a very large number of people who seem to think the solution to all their percieved problems is to burn everything down and dance in the ashes, with zero thought about what comes after.  

RX Reven' said:

Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) said:

Teh E36 M3 said:

Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) said:

mblommel said:

• 24-7 partisan news cycle stoking divisiveness 
• Rampant misinformation rampaging through social media
• Disregard or doubt in scientific data and knowledge of subject matter experts
• Large corporations maximizing profits shrinking the middle class
• Employers mistreating employees 
• Economic headwinds for many people (eg student loan debt, rising home prices)
• Lack of common decency in discourse due to "keyboard warrior" behavior 

Eliminate all social media and a third of our problems would go away.

Reinstate the FCC fairness doctrine and another third would disappear 

Finding a way to curtail corporate greed and get execute pay vs worker pay ratios under control is really tough. 

Ahh yes. Student loans. Have you ever heard of the Smith and Wesson Student Loan Forgiveness Plan? It's the only plan out there that doesn't require the act of a split Congress to enact. Kind of plays havoc with the current labor shortage though. And it only cancels the Federal Loans. Private loans actually last longer than you do. Transplant organ brokers are standing by.

Mistreating employees?? The last guy I worked for had a taste for Peruvian white powder and prescription Adderall. He had problems with anger. Didn't like it when I was late to work because I had to change Mom's diapers. Nuff said about that one. Glad I don't work there anymore.

Reinstate the Fairness Doctrine? With 400 cable channels and satellite radio, every nut in this universe and some alternate universes will get a turn with the Equal Time law. Not sure I want to see that happen.

Eliminate social media? You still have reality TV and screaming talk show hosts on the radio. Eliminate all media and the crazies will come to your front yard and scream at you through a megaphone. They will post signs on your yard and stickers on the gas pumps at your local service station. They will block the streets. I think that horse left the barn a looong time ago.

Curtailing corporate greed? Shades of Che Guevara and Gordon Gekko! Maybe it's just human nature. I don't know. Employee beatings will continue until morale improves. Don't mind the collection agency dudes hiding in the bushes. They are just here for your car. We have great bus service here. Don't forget your mask.

Going back to my cube to hide now. Soon it will be quitting time and the crazies will all be tailgating me home, focusing on my smashed rear bumper for a rematch.

Angry? Who me? Nooo. Maybe just a little bit crazy and my health insurance won't pay for any more sessions. Just like everybody else out there.

 

Hey man, I'm reading your first paragraph as advocating suicide as the answer.  I understand you might be trying to be funny.  Please tell me I'm wrong. 

I might hold similar opinions regarding student debt - I'm against forgiving it even though I'm pretty liberal. All you have to do is be willing to serve- military, teach for America, peace corps, most government service and even some private corporations will support or help pay college debt. I'm not big on forgiving it for folks who aren't willing to give of themselves. 
 

So to the first point. If you were making a joke about it, please reconsider. We can talk further and I dont want to derail, but you may not have experienced what it feels like to have buds take matters into their own hands, and it sucks. My strong feelings I'm representing here are just because I don't want anyone to take anyone seriously a flippant joke about it. Again, hoping I'm wrong about your intent there. 
 

But maybe this plays to the whole point of the thread. We aren't hanging together having a beer around a campfire. I read that one way, and god knows I've made some suicide jokes, but I knew my audience. And often I offend them with one joke or another, but largely I'm forgiven because they know my intent was to get a laugh.  So when tensions get high especially around a pandemic and politics, what is preposterous to me may be very personal to another. 

I believe that student loan forgiveness should be situational. If you are a doctor with a long career ahead of you, then by all means you should pay it back. If you chose the wrong degree plan and ended up making $20,000 a year, they should adjust your payment accordingly. There are people out there in there 70s who don't have enough to eat after they take their student loan payment out of their social security. There are old people out there who have more than $100,000 in student loans thanks to compound interest. What do they accomplish by torturing old people like that? Should they put them in the military at send them to the Ukrane to fight. Send them to the ghetto to teach. At age 70?? Do they even want people past retirement age doing those jobs? If you are sitting there at the end of your life and your options are starving or homelessness, why not make euthanization an option? I know my opinion is radical, but nobody here wants to help these people and a lot of people want them punish them till they keel over. Yeah. Yeah. I know. We have to punish these people until their ancient bodies give out from arthritis, heart disease and pure exhaustion because other people had better luck in their careers. Our country is insane. Let these people escape if they want to. It's not like you can control them if they make that decision. Some people kill themselves over student loans. I know of a few people who committed suicide just last year because of age and financial crap. My own sister ended her life that way. Go ahead and get angry about it if you like. They are screwing the taxpayers. Dead people can't pay interest. This country is insane.

Aren't you nervous about receiving a warning / ban hammer for posting 304 words on why we should have loan forgiveness?

I'd be nervous about providing the counter argument of the need for fairness to those that...

1.  Worked their way through college (me)

2.  Went to a lower cost college (me for both under grad and grad school)

3.  Chose a difficult major so they'd have a well paying job when they graduated (me)

I hope I can say this without offending you...is your lack of fear due to your being on the side of the people doing the silencing rather than the side of the people being silenced...please do set me straight me if I'm wrong.

There's a whole moral hazard element standing behind the argument that we shouldn't forgive student debt that goes beyond the three fairness considerations I referenced above but since I'm in the "get silenced" group, I'll shut up.

Besides, it's 4:00 PM in California on a Saturday so a glass or three of Chardonnay is in my immediate future making it time to step away from any potentially contentious threads.

I tried to make my point while showing you the solid respect you deserve...how did I do?

I am not going to respond to you about this issue or discuss it any more on this board, but your response made me very angry. I slammed my fist against the wall it hurts now. It is bleeding. My blood pressure is pumping hard. I have serious problems with stress that have caused medical problems I don't want to get into here.  I am 63 years old. I have gone through hell the last few years. Some of it I have posted about on this board. Some of it I haven't shared with anybody. Maybe posting about things here was a mistake. I was actually consulting a doctor about how to make my life less stressful before it kills me the day before my car got rear ended. Isn't that ironic. Now I am running up my blood pressure and smashing my fist against the wall over an internet post. There is a nice hole there. Want a picture? 

Be careful. This is a VERY sore subject with a lot of people. I know people who died because of this issue. People close to me. I have written many letters to Congress and to the media and I have gotten into some very nasty arguments about this elsewhere. This is not an appropriate forum for this discussion and I apologize for bringing it up. I will never bring it up again here. I am going to log off for the rest of the weekend. I should not have brought this up. It was wrong. My Doctor and Mrs. Snowdoggie both want me to stay off the internet completely. Maybe they are right. Arguments on internet boards make people angry and they are a waste of time. Nothing ever gets solved. Maybe this board just isn't a good place for me. 

Case in point...

Okay, being empathetic. It sounds like Snowdoggie is in a rough place, and I feel bad for him. I'm not going to comment on the specific topic, because I don't see a way to without sounding mean to some people, no matter how delicately I put It.  Snowdoggie, I realize this is a personal issue for you and I wish you luck solving the problem. Just as I understand that what you are asking of RX Reven is frustrating and personal to him. Opposite opinions, but similar feelings. 

I will point out that this is an extreme example- people on social security having trouble paying student loans. You can insert any other popular issue here, and it's not uncommon to use a rare/ extreme example to call for a drastic changes. This upsets some people. Billions of dollars to address what is likely a fraction of a percent of the scope. This is not uncommon, and those that speak up and point out the numbers get "why do you hate blank!?!" It's hard to have a meaningful conversation that way, and also why many problems go unsolved. 

I keep finding myself typing posts up for this thread and them deleting them without posting. I'm not 100% sure I can put my finger on why. I think it's because I want to make a good point and start a decent conversation but I think it will mostly just start another fight. 

This time last year was my personal low point. Talked to my doctor and got some SSRI prescribed. That made it worse so I tried a 2nd and ultimately discontinued very quickly. I haven't sleep well for the last couple years - which sucks because I am not commuting anymore and I'd love to sleep longer..

But one thing I did about a year ago was to turn off ALL social media notifications. Even LinkedIn. If somebody messages me, too berkeleying bad... Call my phone. I am certain that the lack of blinky  alerts has been good for my mental health. 
 

TL;dr - killing social media notifications has been very helpful and I highly recommend others do the same. 

1988RedT2 said:

In reply to z31maniac :

Please, let us not for a minute hold up google results as impartial or authoritative.  The results are as you say, trying "to push an agenda" and they're getting sued for it.

https://techcrunch.com/2022/02/07/google-shopping-lawsuit/

I wasn't talking about that.

I was saying for example, if you wanted to know what FHA policies are in place, you can use Google to find the federal website that outlines those policies.

Since this has turned into people bringing up specific, political issues and citing incorrect info, I suspect this thread has run its course.

I have typed this up a few times, and struggled to word it correctly, but it really doesn't matter anyway.  We're all dug into our positions at this point and the only thing to look forward to is our eventual collapse as a civilization.  The past few years have been exhausting and frustrating.  We have become several countries held together mostly by the lack of a convenient way to break the place up.  Many of you have touched on the lack of empathy and I'm as guilty of this as anyone.  It wasn't always the case, I used to go out of my way to make sure everyone I knew and a lot of people I didn't were taken care of. Then over the course of the last two years I got to hear from my friends in parts of the country that were  thankfully spared the worst of the E36 M3show that we had here, either directly or implied through countless posts on social media and sometimes here, that what we went through didn't happen.  That events I witnessed, that many of my close friends and relatives also went through and will be damaged from were hoaxes.  I've been asked if I ever found out what my dad really died from, what sort pre-existing conditions he had, and if my mom and I had taken money to perpetuate the government's lies.  I tried and failed to keep people around me, including the only person that really mattered safe.  I've been called stupid or naive for questioning things I know to be false because it goes against what someone was told by an idiot on television that has been proven false.  My coworkers and I have been assaulted for asking people to cover their mouths getting on crowded buses.   At this point I don't have the ambition left to be angry about it but I am incredibly indifferent to what happens.  I do what I can to take care of myself, and if it works good if it doesn't that's fine too.  As for everyone else, they make their choices and if it goes poorly for them so be it, I'm done worrying about it.  We had a good run as a country and it's kinda neat to be here and see how it ends.         

I threw a few darts on page 1 and then threw up my hands and said I don't know why, but I guess after reading more of this thread and thinking about it, it becomes  clearer. 

Whilst it's many things, and different combinations of those things for everyone, there is a fairly common theme... one that wally just hit right on the head. We're all dug into our positions. 

Ask yourself, honestly, when was the last time you stopped and said 'you know what, I was wrong ' or 'hey, I've never thought of it like that before, that makes alot of sense. When, as the result of a heated discussion or debate with someone, have you ever sat back, reassessed and change your opinion or point of view.... It's pretty seldom. We're all well dug in, we all have our opinions and our beliefs and its bloody hard to swallow your pride and back away from them right or wrong. 

But I'm not wrong here, the other guy is..... yep, and he's thinking the exact same thing.  

People are tired, tired of arguing, tired of questioning or being questioned, tired of government overreach and government inaction, tired of media, main stream and social, tired of feeling they have to constantly defend their position, tired of the pandemic, tired of the weather, the misinformation,  the neighbours,  the traffic, the the the.... berkeley, we're all just bloody tired!

I miss the days when the biggest argument a guy would have was "Ford or Chevy?"

I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I am convinced the Powers That Be most definitely want us to be divided. Whether for votes, dollars or whatever, they've seen how useful a tool we useful idiots are.

I'm not divisive, you're divisive!

So there!

Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) said:

mblommel said:

• 24-7 partisan news cycle stoking divisiveness 
• Rampant misinformation rampaging through social media
• Disregard or doubt in scientific data and knowledge of subject matter experts
• Large corporations maximizing profits shrinking the middle class
• Employers mistreating employees 
• Economic headwinds for many people (eg student loan debt, rising home prices)
• Lack of common decency in discourse due to "keyboard warrior" behavior 

Eliminate all social media and a third of our problems would go away.

Reinstate the FCC fairness doctrine and another third would disappear 

Finding a way to curtail corporate greed and get execute pay vs worker pay ratios under control is really tough. 

Ahh yes. Student loans. Have you ever heard of the Smith and Wesson Student Loan Forgiveness Plan? It's the only plan out there that doesn't require the act of a split Congress to enact. Kind of plays havoc with the current labor shortage though. And it only cancels the Federal Loans. Private loans actually last longer than you do. Transplant organ brokers are standing by.

Mistreating employees?? The last guy I worked for had a taste for Peruvian white powder and prescription Adderall. He had problems with anger. Didn't like it when I was late to work because I had to change Mom's diapers. Nuff said about that one. Glad I don't work there anymore.

Reinstate the Fairness Doctrine? With 400 cable channels and satellite radio, every nut in this universe and some alternate universes will get a turn with the Equal Time law. Not sure I want to see that happen.

Eliminate social media? You still have reality TV and screaming talk show hosts on the radio. Eliminate all media and the crazies will come to your front yard and scream at you through a megaphone. They will post signs on your yard and stickers on the gas pumps at your local service station. They will block the streets. I think that horse left the barn a looong time ago.

Curtailing corporate greed? Shades of Che Guevara and Gordon Gekko! Maybe it's just human nature. I don't know. Employee beatings will continue until morale improves. Don't mind the collection agency dudes hiding in the bushes. They are just here for your car. We have great bus service here. Don't forget your mask.

Going back to my cube to hide now. Soon it will be quitting time and the crazies will all be tailgating me home, focusing on my smashed rear bumper for a rematch.

Angry? Who me? Nooo. Maybe just a little bit crazy and my health insurance won't pay for any more sessions. Just like everybody else out there.

 

First of all, the title of this thread is "Why are we all so angry lately?".  The bulleted points in my post are a list of things people are angry about. There was no interjection of partisanship, just a list. I guess your unhinged rant as a response is indicative of just how angry people are. 

Second, are you really advocating for people in student loan debt to harm themselves with a gun? If so I'm surprised and saddened to see that sort thing on this forum. That's probably normal discourse in some cesspool like 4chan or whatever but not here (at least until now I guess). I'm really hoping that was some sort of off the cuff part of the rant, because if not it's rather disturbing. Additionally, as a person who had a close relative die from gun suicide I find your comment incredibly offensive. Just another example of the "keyboard warrior" mentality of the internet I guess.

Other responses seem to inject the idea that I was advocating for student loan forgiveness, which I wasn't. Once again, it's a list of stuff people are mad about.

The non-bulleted points aren't meant as a literal solution to the problem of people being so angry but they are certainly relevant.  It's way too late to close Pandora's box on social media. 

Wally (Forum Supporter) said:

I have typed this up a few times, and struggled to word it correctly, but it really doesn't matter anyway.  We're all dug into our positions at this point and the only thing to look forward to is our eventual collapse as a civilization.  The past few years have been exhausting and frustrating.  We have become several countries held together mostly by the lack of a convenient way to break the place up.  Many of you have touched on the lack of empathy and I'm as guilty of this as anyone.  It wasn't always the case, I used to go out of my way to make sure everyone I knew and a lot of people I didn't were taken care of. Then over the course of the last two years I got to hear from my friends in parts of the country that were  thankfully spared the worst of the E36 M3show that we had here, either directly or implied through countless posts on social media and sometimes here, that what we went through didn't happen.  That events I witnessed, that many of my close friends and relatives also went through and will be damaged from were hoaxes.  I've been asked if I ever found out what my dad really died from, what sort pre-existing conditions he had, and if my mom and I had taken money to perpetuate the government's lies.  I tried and failed to keep people around me, including the only person that really mattered safe.  I've been called stupid or naive for questioning things I know to be false because it goes against what someone was told by an idiot on television that has been proven false.  My coworkers and I have been assaulted for asking people to cover their mouths getting on crowded buses.   At this point I don't have the ambition left to be angry about it but I am incredibly indifferent to what happens.  I do what I can to take care of myself, and if it works good if it doesn't that's fine too.  As for everyone else, they make their choices and if it goes poorly for them so be it, I'm done worrying about it.  We had a good run as a country and it's kinda neat to be here and see how it ends.         

Quite honestly, I have re-read most of this thread and I have changed my opinion on one thing. Having a beer, or even having a discussion with the other side is not only a waste of time, it is no longer possible and probably dangerous. It goes beyond anger to outright fear. The only thing left to do now is to find your own tribe and hunker down, keep a low profile and protect yourself from the enemy the best you can. Bad times are coming. Forces outside the country are throwing even more fuel on the fire for their own purposes. What comes next will not be good for either side. Be well and protect yourself from the oncoming storm however you can.

I usually kill threads pretty effectively, so here we go. 
 

The media sells blood and they want more of it.  The best way to get more blood is to have everyone on edge and at each other's throats. They will gladly ruin someone's life or crash the economy to sell advertising. It's that simple. 
 

Politicians are disgusting used car salesmen on their best days. That pretty much angers everyone with a modicum of intelligence. The stench is so strong that people have to dig into their opinions in order cast a vote for one side or the other.  When questioned, they know that they voted for a lying sack of E36 M3, so they are ultra defensive. 
 

If Scrooge McDuck shows up with a stack of cash to "fix" a sector of the market place, everything in that sector will inflate.        That is an economic fact. A whole swath of the population does not seem to understand or accept this. The rest of us are blue in the face from yelling into the hurricane. 
 

Everyone does not experience the same event the same way.  There are always different points of view.  Modern media has taken that to a new level of multi-polarization. 

 

Boost_Crazy said:

In reply to mblommel :

• 24-7 partisan news cycle stoking divisiveness 
• Rampant misinformation rampaging through social media
• Disregard or doubt in scientific data and knowledge of subject matter experts
• Large corporations maximizing profits shrinking the middle class
• Employers mistreating employees 
• Economic headwinds for many people (eg student loan debt, rising home prices)
• Lack of common decency in discourse due to "keyboard warrior" behavior 

Eliminate all social media and a third of our problems would go away.

Reinstate the FCC fairness doctrine and another third would disappear 

Finding a way to curtail corporate greed and get execute pay vs worker pay ratios under control is really tough. 
 

This right here is a great example of why many people are frustrated, but not for the reason you think. I'm trying really hard to respond to this in a way that doesn't take this on a political tangent and stays on topic, so I won't address the individual statements. 
 

Many of the statements above are not only highly political, but inaccurate. But they are on the okay political side, so they get a pass on this board and in society in general. Not only are many of these statements extremely one sided, you are calling for the silencing of opposition or even questioning of these statements. I do not have the opportunity to make a knowledgeable rebuttal backed up by fact to some of your statements, as it would  violate a taboo topic- despite that fact that you brought it up. I'm not calling to silence you. I'm not afraid to debate you and prove where you are wrong. I'm not afraid to listen to you and accept where I am wrong.  I feel bad for you. You seem to have written those statements with great confidence, the confidence of someone who hasn't seen both sides of an issue and doesn't know what they are missing. Worse yet, as of the time I replied, you have 7 thumbs up for your post. 

So to circle back, why are people so angry? Some people are angry because they don't understand why people don't agree with them, despite not even listening to the other side. Others are angry because they are told that they are wrong, questioning is wrong, and they are silenced. 

The bulleted points were a list. Just a list. People are angry, these are some of the things they are angry about. I think it's telling of your state of mind that you injected a view I might have into the post. There was no call to silence anyone, that's your opinion.  But let's break it down point by point:

• 24-7 partisan news cycle stoking divisiveness

Can you rationally say this is not true? We have million media outlets spinning the "facts" to whatever suits their viewer's taste for the sake of profit. So much so that we as a society can't agree on what did or did not happen on any single item. You don't think it makes people angry to hear 24-7 that the "other side" is doing evil deed X, Y or Z? Back in the day we could tune into Walter Conkcrite hear "And that's the way it is" and go on with life. 

• Rampant misinformation rampaging through social media

Before social media every town had their own village idiot, but they had no good way get in touch with one another, organize, refine and spread. Now they have been given a outsized megaphone and a virtual soapbox. I'll pick on one that everyone here (hopefully) can recognize but not be offended by: flat earthers. These kooks have been around forever but never amounted to much. Now they're all over social media, spreading, increasing. So now some people are mad because there's been a "conspiracy" all along by the government to conceal the true nature of the earth! You can apply this to any number of issues on any number of sides, but it's certainly stirring people up not helping us as a society.

• Disregard or doubt in scientific data and knowledge of subject matter experts

This is tied in to the above two items. We have an anti-science problem. Even though our society is ever more reliant on science and technology the backlash against it is increasing. Instead of using the most reliable, smartest  and most knowledgeable members of society to inform decisions many turn to whatever source of information is attuned to whatever message they want to hear. How long will it be before we devolve into belief in magic and superstition?

• Large corporations maximizing profits shrinking the middle class
• Employers mistreating employees 

Can you really say this isn't true? Objectively the middle class IS shrinking. Inflation adjusted real wages haven't been tied to GDP since 1980 even though GDP has steadily increased. CEO pay has skyrocketed while worker wages remain flat.

 To quote Forbes magazine:

"In the 1950s, a typical CEO made 20 times the salary of his or her average worker. Last year, CEO pay at an S&P 500 Index firm soared to an average of 361 times more than the average rank-and-file worker, or pay of $13,940,000 a year"

Addtionally, to quote the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

The broad facts of income inequality over the past seven decades are easily summarized:

• The years from the end of World War II into the 1970s were ones of substantial economic growth and broadly shared prosperity.
  • Incomes grew rapidly and at roughly the same rate up and down the income ladder, roughly doubling in inflation-adjusted terms between the late 1940s and early 1970s.
  • The gap between those high up the income ladder and those on the middle and lower rungs — while substantial — did not change much during this period.
• Beginning in the 1970s, economic growth slowed and the income gap widened.
  • Income growth for households in the middle and lower parts of the distribution slowed sharply, while incomes at the top continued to grow strongly.
  • The concentration of income at the very top of the distribution rose to levels last seen nearly a century ago, during the “Roaring Twenties.”

 In order for our economic system to function properly and benefit the majority of Americans everyone needs to have skin in the game. Regular people should be able to get a decent paying job, buy a house, buy a new car and have their 2.5 kids be able to go to a decent school. The sad fact is that most companies nowadays see employees as a commodity or asset rather than as people. Just one small example are the Amazon warehouse people in Kentucky who were told they would be fired if they left during a tornado. How is that OK?

• Economic headwinds for many people (eg student loan debt, rising home prices)

The facts are that it's simply harder for all types of people to get ahead. It's much, much more expensive now to go to college than it was for my generation (gen X)  or the boomers. Combined with no real wage growth over 40 years and it adds up to a lot of younger people having a difficult time. Housing prices are insane and not only in the large metro areas. I have kids and I have real concerns that their standard of living will be lower than mine. I think a lot of people have the same concern on all sides of the political spectrum. 

The non-bulleted points I made could be construed as political as they were my own opinions. They weren't meant as literal solutions because they are impractical and the problems we have are extremely complex. Apparently you feel as though you are somehow being persecuted and silenced, but in reality that couldn't be further from the truth; there are a million and one echo chambers across the internet where people are free to espouse any view they subscribe to. 

What I find interesting is the tone of your reply makes it sound as my list of things people are mad about is a direct attack on YOU. I don't even know you, so that's not even possible, but you certainly made your response about ME, which is yet another "keyboard warrior" moment.  It seems as though you have some anger/persecution issues, so don't feel sorry for me, in fact I feel sorry for you. I hope you can get them worked out. Honestly I come to the GRM forum to get away from this sort of thing on the internet so don't expect any further responses to you or this thread.

Maybe I'm angry because that puppy you insisted on getting starts barking at 4:30am and your  little "let her bark it out" theory hasn't worked for the past 4 months.

I find it interesting that the "why are we angry" thread is up to 9 pages of anger and sometimes hatred but the "go have good experiences" died 3 days ago

I think there is one thing that is missing in some of the lists of causes.  There is clearly a significant effort by certain other countries to create as much mayhem as possible in the US. I don't know but I am pretty sure a lot of these hot button pushing is being done by outside actors (this has been prove in some cases).  Many inside the US of course are willing to take up those dishonest causes.

It's clearly working and (as noted) the media and politicians are playing right along (this very much goes both "ways" BTW).  I think there are some who can and should discuss these things, but there are clearly those who shouldn't.

Bob implies the only real solution above.  Stop listening so intently to these "voices" where ever they may originate and take control of your own happiness.

(BTW Bob, I have post going up in the main forum today you might have some interest in)

bobzilla said:

I find it interesting that the "why are we angry" thread is up to 9 pages of anger and sometimes hatred but the "go have good experiences" died 3 days ago

Yeah, it was an interesting thread until a few started arguing back and forth, which always happens, and kills good threads. I expect this one will be locked today. 
The last few pages show there are some really, really, angry people walking around. It's gotta suck to go through life like that. WTF?

In reply to mblommel :

I think you completely missed my point. My intent wasn't to debate your bullet points with you. My point was that many of - I said many of, which doesn't mean all-  of your bullet points that you listed were of subjects that many people can't freely talk about. Often half of the conversation is suppressed. Then you went on to freely give your opinions. I was trying to explain to you that a lot people can't do what you just took for granted. Then you went and not only shared your opinions- which many can't do- you advocated for further silencing dissent. 
 

I will address one of your points because I believe it is relevant and not too much of a tangent, and I'll do my best to keep it politically neutral. I would love it if misinformation in the media and on social media just went away. There is a lot of misinformation, on just about every topic from every side. The trouble is, who would decide what is misinformation? Often, without any mal intent, today's misinformation is tomorrow's truth, and today's truth is tomorrow's misinformation. What about when more is learned and what was truth changes? Many people are reluctant to reluctant to adapt. Add in bias, and now the misinformation police have incredible control over society. While misinformation is ugly and unfortunate, history has shown that the free and open exchange of ideas is vastly better than suppression. 

In reply to Boost_Crazy :

My wish is for social media companies to act as a contract tracer for lies. If a story is proven to be false, go ahead and label the people perpetuating the story as untrustworthy. To regain credibility, they'd have to earn it back. 

In reply to Boost_Crazy :

When news became a for profit enterprise, saying whatever would keep eyeballs on the channel/website became the driving force. Consequences be damned. 

Unfortunately, I don't know if that genie can be put back into the bottle.

Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Boost_Crazy :

When news became a for profit enterprise, saying whatever would keep eyeballs on the channel/website became the driving force. Consequences be damned. 

Unfortunately, I don't know if that genie can be put back into the bottle.

Agreed. Shouldn't be able to call themselves a "news" channel if the content is opinion...