The "trending" preliminary autopsy results of the 2016 election of Donald Trump is best summarized in one sentence: "Liberals live in a bubble." Relatively speaking, this is bullshit. Of course there are self-serving narratives and truthiness on all sides of this debate, but it's not as if we didn't know that already. A bubble implies that there's a barrier to understanding. The left's barrier is significantly thinner. The problem wasn't our bubble, it was the rights. The conservative bubble was well fed and re-enforced for years (there's a reason why Googling "Hillary Clinton" and "corrupt" gets you quick results, but it has nothing to do with the validity of the claim). During Obama's presidency the anti-liberal narrative was scaled up, outsourced and targeted. But during this election cycle, the problem became epidemic. In this case the term viral defines both the speed at which misinformation spread and the nearly fatal impact it (has) had on the body politic. Conspiracy theorists, the unholy alliance of Nazi-KKK (fuck this Alt-right bullshit), apolitical capitalists, and even liberal-minded programmers trying to prove a point (and make that $$$), fed this beast. It got to the point where even Google and Facebook either couldn't tell the difference or didn't care to (the jury's still out and the two are not mutually exclusive). Now, if they couldn't tell, then media consumers already in the bubble had little to no chance. Their water suddenly became extra watery, practically orgasmic in its water qualities. The right's phobias and insecurities were magnified, confirmed, and fetishized in the totem that is Donald Fucking Trump. So, I will freely admit that the DNC made damaging, strategic errors, including playing dirty with Bernie (he still wouldn't have won, so it was an unforced error). That's true and can be discussed separately. However, when going up against the Great White Whale that is the bloated conservative narrative, there simply hasn't been invented a harpoon capable of penetrating that blubbery hide. I'm a story teller and liberal (officially registered independent). I'll certainly continue having conversations about how to change minds and hearts. I believe art can do that. I believe stories that we tell can affect change by subverting the place of the other and providing succor to the toxic masculinity that is such a part of our culture (including sub-cultures. It's a huge problem for African American communities). I believe there can be integration of ideas and peoples. This conversation has already started and will continue. However, stories and political activism are not silver bullets. This cannot be done without mass media markets going on a strict no-bullshit diet. In other words, the internet has to grow up. (New paragraph, so as not to mix metaphors) Clean the water.
2 Comments
Flux
11/27/2016 05:31:54 pm
"In other words, the Internet has to grow up." Disagree. We have to grow up. The Internet is us. No tolerance for BS in our own ranks. No wild claims. Just truth, or well-marked speculation. And please, everyone read and know the Constitution.
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Cam
11/27/2016 07:41:58 pm
Hi Mr. S! :-)
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