From Pine View Farm

Hate Sells category archive

It’s Bubblelicious 0

At Psychology Today Blogs, Jessica Koehler explores the effects of living in a bubble, like, say, just as a for instance, a news bubble. Here’s a bit:

A primary bias influencing perception is confirmation bias, where individuals favor information that supports their beliefs and overlook contradictory evidence. Within echo chambers, this bias manifests as a tendency to emphasize flaws in opposing views and overlook flaws in similar viewpoints. Through selective exposure and confirmation bias, perception creates a lens through which beliefs appear validated and reasonable. This subjective reality becomes even more powerful when combined with social pressures to conform.

I commend the entire piece to your attention as being a most timely read.

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It’s the Stupid, Economy 0

Michael in Norfolk isn’t buying the narrative that Trump’s winning the election was about the economy. He argues that

As in 2016, alleged economic concerns are a smoke screen for something far uglier: racism, homophobia, religious extremism aided by the ignorance of too many voters who foolishly believe anything Trump says. I worry about the future not so much for myself – at my age, I likely have another 10-15 years ahead of me – but rather for my children and five grandchildren who will have to live with the wreckage . . . .

Follow the link for the rest of his remarks.

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Base Desires 0

The Rude One offers his thoughts about Donald Trump’s victory. The gist:

His voters might have been misinformed about a lot of things, but they know who Trump is, and they’re completely fine with it.

Follow the link for context.

(Warning: Language.)

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“History Does Not Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes”* 0

Robert Cauthorn, writing at the Las Vegas Sun, hears a number of rhymes between today and the era of McCarthyism and the “Red Scare.” Here’s just one of them; follow the link for the rest.

The phrase “the enemy within” is among the darkest phrases any politician can utter because it presages the arrival of purges, pogroms and persecution. The public must take it seriously. Those words are spoken in sincerity, they are a means of justifying tearing American culture apart while rewarding friends and eliminating critics.

Just like today, in the 1950s the forces of authoritarianism talked about the people who opposed them as degenerates and sexual deviants. And it should not go unnoticed that McCarthy’s right hand was lawyer Roy Cohn, who later became Donald Trump’s prized mentor.

Methinks you will find his article somewhat disquieting.

__________________

*Mark Twain.

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Navigating the Disinformation Superhighway 0

WHYY, an excellent radio station which I listened to when l lived in the Philly area, offers some excellent pointers for avoiding misdirection ploys on the Disinformation Superhighway.

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“History Does Not Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes”* 0

At the Portland Press-Herald, Victoria Hugo-Vidal hears a rhyme. Here’s a tiny bit of her column:

Simplicio (the author’s great grandfather–ed.) was also mixed-race. His father was a Chinese merchant and his mother was native Filipino and Spanish. This made my great-grandfather mixed-race as well. In the America of the 1920s and 1930s, that was a major barrier to success. So the young man born Jose Maria Ysidro Bonifacio Seraller Jugo became Victor Joseph M. Hugo-Vidal. And he passed as white . . . .

At the same time as Victor was hiding his heritage, on the other side of the family on the other side of the country, in upstate New York, my other great-great-grandfather, Garrett MacEachron, joined the domestic terrorist group known as the Ku Klux Klan.

I commend the entire piece to your attention.

_________________

*Mark Twain.

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A Pet Theory 0

At Psychology Today Blogs, Robert Bartholomew notes that there is nothing new about stories of immigrants eating pets Here’s a bit of his article (emphasis added); follow the link for context.

In the 19th century, West Coast Chinese immigrants were alleged to be eating cats and dogs, and this was used to justify discriminatory policies like the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. It was also a way to dehumanize them as “the Other.” After the Vietnam War, there were widespread rumors in America that Vietnamese immigrants were stealing dogs as a food source. There have long been stories across the U.S. that pets have mysteriously gone missing near Chinese restaurants. Urban legends about Haitian migrants eating dogs and cats became prominent in the 1990s and coincided with an influx of people migrating to America from Haiti. These stories spread organically, fueled by the fear of those who are different from us and concerns that they will change the fabric of American society.

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The Disinformation Superhighway 0

At Psychology Today Blogs, Elesa Zehndorfer takes a look at a rapidly growing career path: “Disinformation entrepreneurs” who propagate claptrap via “social” media for money. She notes (emphasis added)

Posing as fellow Americans (Democrats, Republicans, or others) the goal of disinformation entrepreneurs (DE) across the world is simple: Search daily trending topics, then ramp up polarization between partisan voters as aggressively as possible by baiting readers with outrageous, offensive posts. The political issue, nation, or ideology is not important; the capacity to make a few bucks is all that counts.

Follow the link for her article, and, remember,

    The things that you’ve seen,
    And can read on your screen,
    They ain’t necessarily so.
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Flotsam 0

Image:  Donald Trump standing atop a pile of garbage in a garbage scow with flags reading

Click to view the original image.

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A Notion of Immigrants 0

Frame One:  Man standing next to

Click to view the original image.

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The Disinformation Superhighway 0

The things that you’ve seen,
And can read on your screen,
They ain’t necessarily so.

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“History Does Not Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes”* 0

Writing at the Detroit Free Press, Arlene Frank, a daughter of Holocaust survivors who immigrated to the United States, listens to Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric and hears a rhyme.

Here’s a bit:

The lies, blame, xenophobia, antisemitism and anti-immigrant sentiments that are currently being advanced are reminiscent of the Nazi propaganda that forced my father into a concentration camp and my mother to scrub the streets of her beloved Vienna while hate was spewed at her.

Follow the link to read the article.
______________

*Mark Twain.

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The Wannabe, One More Time 0

At Psychology Today Blogs, David Kyle Johnson identifies characteristics common to fascist movements (note that he does not claim this to be a complete list) and asks whether it reminds us of anyone in the news.

Here’s the list; follow the link for a detailed discussion of each item.

  • Nostalgia for a Mythical Past
  • Leader Cult and Hero Worship
  • Us vs. Them Thinking
  • Anti-Intellectualism and Distrust of Expertise
  • Victimhood and Conspiracy Thinking
  • Glorification of Violence and Aggression
  • Obsession with Purity and Control

Afterthought:

In a related vein, Steve M. offers some thoughts as to why so many persons seem willing to overlook the warning signs that Donald Trump, if given the chance, will try to become America’s Hitler.

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Polarization Nation 0

At Psychology Today Blogs, David Evans considers why dis coarse discourse has become so coarse and offers some suggestions for reducing today’s political polarization. In our current political climate, his article is well worth a read.

Here’s a tiny bit; follow the link for the rest.

But around the year 2000, the country began to be more polarized.

(snip)

A big factor has to do with the way we receive our news. Early in the twentieth century, the radio came into prominence, and the government required that all broadcast stations be licensed. Herbert Hoover as Secretary of Commerce at the time, recognized that the stations were a public trust and shouldn’t favor one political party over the other. So he instituted the Fairness Doctrine.

The Fairness Doctrine required that a broadcast entity, when it reported a story about one political party, had to also give the other side a chance to respond. Both political parties needed to be treated fairly and equally.

But Ronald Reagan, as president, vetoed the Fairness Doctrine, and the equal treatment of both political parties in the news vanished. Before long, partisan broadcasters such as Rush Limbaugh appeared and, soon after that, Fox News.

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A Palmer Reading 0

Robert Reich, in a longer piece about Donald Trump’s recent remarks about Arnold Palmer, reports an item which leapt out at me. He notes that Palmer was no fan of Trump. Here’s that excerpt:

Arnold Palmer’s daughter told The Sporting News in 2018 that the golf legend was so incensed by what he saw as Trump’s lack of civility that he made noises of disgust when Trump appeared on the television “like he couldn’t believe the arrogance and crudeness of this man who was the nominee of the political party that he believed in.” She added, “My dad had no patience for people who demean other people in public. He was appalled by Trump’s lack of civility and what he began to see as Trump’s lack of character.”

Follow the link for context.

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The Hurricane Disinformation Hurricane 0

At Psychology Today Blogs, Susan A. Nolan and Michael Kimball look at the swirl of falsehoods that followed hurricanes Helene and Milton and at the reasons some persons allowed themselves to be swept up in the cyclone of claptrap. They also offer some suggestions for preparing a storm cellar in which to shelter from the stormers.

In view of the amount of traffic on the disinformation superhighway, I find it a worthwhile read.

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“They Want Apartheid Back” 0

Thom talks with a caller about why some people vote Republican, even though Republicans’ “policies” are inimical to their health and well-being. He offers a simple explanation.

As someone who grew up under Jim Crow and remembers my Daddy making sure he had paid his poll taxes, who was in school during desegregation, who trained in U. S. History with an emphasis on U. S. Southern, and who freaking pays attention to what’s going on, I find it difficult to take exception to Thom’s argument.

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Still Rising Again after All These Years 0

Jackie Calmes makes a compelling case that Donald Trump has shown us who he really is many times.

The question is, “Are enough people paying attention?”

Read more »

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“The Good Old Days” 0

At Psychology Today Blogs, Eva M. Krockow takes a look at what she calls “declinism,” which I would loosely describe as the notion that the world is going to hell in a handbasket coupled with a yearning for the mythical good old days. She suggests that this feeling is can be fed by news reporting, which quite naturally focuses on stuff that goes wrong, and by politicians seeking to appeal to persons’ fears and unease. She closes her piece with some suggestions as to how to avoid declining into declinism.

A couple of snippets (emphasis added):

The bias reflects an overly negative view of the current situation, and it usually goes hand in hand with tendencies to romanticise the past. Individuals with declinist views typically bask in nostalgic recollections of what used to be, while overlooking or discounting less-than-rosy memories from that time.

(sni0

One example of political declinism includes the Brexit campaign slogan “Take Back Control,” which implied the need to regain sovereignty to prevent further decline. Another example is Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign slogan “Make America Great Again,” which suggested that things were better in the past.

Methinks this a timely read.

Afterthought:

You might ask some Brits how Brexit is working out is working out for them. (Hint: It isn’t.)

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A Notion of Immigrants 0

At Psychology Today Blogs, Joseph A. Shrand considers why so many would dehumanize those from other countries and cultures, aka “aliens.” Here’s a tiny bit from his essay; follow the link for the complete article.

For one human to hurt another we first have to dehumanize them. You are not going to hurt someone you care about until they dip below the threshold of being human.

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