There is no shortage of problems in this country which we will delve into in later posts, but given the level of despair and hopelessness many people are feeling during quarantine and in the wake of the George Floyd incident, we will kick off our blog on more of a positive note.
For decades, the American two-party system has divided the country into “left” and “right.” The Democrats have been dubbed the “left,” with CNN and MSNBC as their mouthpieces, and the Republicans have been dubbed the “right,” with Fox as their mouthpiece. Each side fuels unbridled hatred of the other side, using the most extreme examples to stereotype their target. The left has “Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse,” and the right has “Watters’ World,” segments dedicated to entertaining their audience with mockery of people on the other side. Hillary Clinton literally put everyone on the right into one basket: the “basket of deplorables.” The left views the right as uneducated anti-science racists, sexists, and xenophobes. The right in turn views the left as out-of-touch elites who are more concerned with rhetoric and political correctness than with doing anything concrete. (Don’t worry, the positive part is coming.)
This game has two advantages. The first is ratings. People love to root for a team- just look at all of the sports fanatics out there. If there is no conflict, no outrageous statements being made, and no crazy people to gawk at, the news becomes dry and does not attract enough viewers. But when did the news become a money-making venture rather than an honest delivery of the truth? The turning point, according to Tom Bettag formerly of CBS News, was in the mid 1980s when 60 Minutes started making money and people realized that reporting the news could be profitable. Larger corporations began buying the news networks, to the point where 6 corporations now control 90% of media, consolidated from 50 companies in 1983.
The second advantage is the division itself. If everybody is perpetually at each other’s throats over artificial differences, the people will never come together and demand what they deserve. However, the powerful corporations that stand to benefit have no incentive to rock the boat. Ultimately, left or right, we all want the same things: food on the table, a roof over our heads, to be cared for when we’re sick, education for our kids, and a sense of security. As the richest country in the world, America could afford all of it for everyone if its priorities were straight, yet we are left to fight over crumbs.
As it turns out, it is easy to paint a large group of people with the same brush. It is easy to shut down a conversation before it begins, especially with people you have never even met. It is easy to take all the ways you have been wronged and project those wrongs onto another. Corporate media giants have become adept at playing to people’s deepest fears and emotions to scapegoat people. The liberal New Yorker whose dear minority friend was the victim of a hate crime is told it is because of the racist Trump supporter. The Trump supporter whose job was outsourced due to devastating trade deals like NAFTA and TPP is told it is because of the out-of-touch liberal elites. The liberal New Yorker whose female friend was raped is told it is because of the sexist Trump supporter who is promoting rape culture. The Trump supporter who can barely afford to put food on the table let alone a college education is given a glimpse of the scorn leftists have for him on CNN. Is your loved one who voted for Trump the same as those people who are mocked on CNN and MSNBC? Is your loved one who went off to college and developed uncomfortable new ideas the same as those people who are mocked on Fox?
If there is one thing politicians are adept at, it is saying what it takes to get elected. This becomes challenging when the needs of the people are in direct conflict with the whims of their donors. Note how no experienced politician sells endless wars by saying “Let’s go bomb those countries and steal their oil.” They instead sell war with “We need to help the poor people who are suffering under the reign of a brutal dictator.” They use this rhetoric because they realize that the majority of Americans are driven not by greed but by a desire to help the helpless, and this alone should inspire hope for humanity.
Now the question is how to harness the best of humanity for real change.
Written by Ramya. Artwork by Dhanya.
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