Something I can totally relate to...

What I’ve Learned From Collecting Stories of People Whose Loved Ones Were Transformed by Fox News
By Luke O'Neil

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/04/i-gathered-stories-of-people-transformed-by-fox-news.html

I can totally relate. my dad used to give a shit. he volunteered at Junior Achievement and the Boy Scouts. he paid his taxes without complaint. he worked hard, and played harder.

but as he grew older, the Limbaugh view started to prevail. he became insular. hateful. he retreated from society into his living room. he sent money to the GOP and prayed for the end of Obama.

and when he lashed out at me because I had the audacity to question him, it ended our relationship.

My brother might be one- I'm not sure because we don't speak often and I haven't actually seen him in about 15 years. My inlaws are the exact opposite- my FIL was a conservative and my MIL was always extremely liberal, but during the Bush administration my FIL had an epiphany and was liberal for the rest of his life.

The people I have the hardest time understanding are my old high school classmates. We grew up in a very liberal place. We were in labor unions. We knew Kennedys. Mike Dukakis spoke at our high school graduation. Some of them are far right conspiracy theorists now. One girl I grew up with, her whole family, parents and brothers, are on facebook spewing Limbaughisms all day long. How did they get like that? Two of them are long time federal employees. I just don't understand.

they are looking for an excuse for their pathetic lives rather than doing something about them.

sorry to be so nasty and bitter, but I have run out of patience for the 40%

My boss (who is Canadian) and I were talking about that just this morning. Wondering how anyone can support (worship) Trump and his ilk. It boggles the mind.

roseanne wrote:

My boss (who is Canadian) and I were talking about that just this morning. Wondering how anyone can support (worship) Trump and his ilk. It boggles the mind.

What's not just boggling but horrifying is that so many people voted for the old asshole. That's a real comment on the state of affairs in the U.S. What terrifies me is I see tendrils of that madness seeping into Canada as well. With Trudeau busily self-destructing we're faced with the very real prospect of having a guy who happily poses with neo-Nazis like Jason Kenny and Faith Goldie for pictures and appears at their conferences becoming our Prime Minister.

I have two sisters. One is racist to the point of possibly being neo-Nazi. She lives out of state, which makes things easier.

The other lives nearby and is a die-hard Trump supporter. While I try to avoid political discussions, we do tend to get into arguments. Like so many, she seems to fear the changes to her country, especially from immigrants. She claims that Muslims will take over the county.

I think these people are angry because they are afraid. They - as white Christians - fear they will become the minority and what that will mean. And all this is rooted in the information - or misinformation - they get not just from Fox but other far-right websites.

It becomes something like hanging around with the wrong people, not unlike how a teenager may go down the wrong path because first they start associating with others doing illegal drugs, eventually leading to robbery to support an addiction and then getting a criminal record. All it takes is going to a certain website and then it's all downhill.

Of course to them, it's like becoming aware of what is really going on their country and it all makes sense and is completely rational.

I'm thinking this "phenomenon" is rooted in "life experiences" ~ some relates not only to how our parents believed but also to how the communities we grew up in believed ~ what we were exposed to and what was kept "hidden" from us ~ and when/where we spent our formative years and where we've chosen to live as adults ~ I also see it as being largely based in our personal morality, integrity, and personal honesty ~

I need to think more on this ~ but, in the meantime, please don't misunderstand me: I am NOT giving Fox or Sinclair or other rabidly "far right" outlets a free pass ~ I'll come back to this thread when I sort thru my thoughts ~

Sooz

Or is it the fear that "they" will do to us what we're prepared (and in some cases do) to "them"?