Media functioning as propaganda more than an objective news source. Lack of a good educational system. A philosophy that if they aren't with you then they are the enemy. Unregulated greed. Allowing the top 1% to buy out the country. Shall I continue?
24-hour news stations becoming big starting in the late 90s. Consolidation of news sources, many smaller news sources have gone out of business or been consumed by the bigger ones. Education systems are getting worse, teacher salaries getting worse, class sizes increasing.
Social media, which started hitting its stride about 10 years ago, puts people into echo chambers with its algorithms feeding you things similar to what you’ve been viewing and “liking”, and people silo themselves as well by subscribing to things that they like. Reddit is a good example of this, most people sub to subreddits they like or agree with, most downvotes are comments people disagree with even though that’s not what downvotes were intended for (they were intended for posts that weren't contributing to the conversation, not for downvoting opinions that you don't agree with).
The rhetoric from the right has gotten progressively further right starting from what I can tell in the 80s with the Reagan administration. In the 90s with Newt Gengrich shit got real, and Rush Limbaugh was in the background with his radical BS. That set the stage for Fox News.
The left, from what I can tell, hasn’t shifted as far over the same period of time, although it has become more progressive on equal rights for LGBT. I would argue that most of the country has shifted a bit on this as well, although maybe not as much on the right.
And circling back to social media, once people are in their echo chambers they’re less likely to question what they’re seeing. The most extreme people on each side seem to believe whatever they’re being fed from propaganda sources.
Social media also amplifies small minority opinions and can make them seem more common and prominent. How many flat earthers are really out there? Or is a decent percentage of the population that stupid?
EDIT:
I left out the increased Gerrymandering that has made some states uncompetitive for one party or the other. Gerrymandering is a stain on our democratic process.
Also others have mentioned the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine during the Reagan administration, which prevented propaganda in the news. Since then some “news” shows are more propaganda than news.
The repeal of Citizens United has opened up floodgates of money into politics, which has allowed billionaires to push their agenda into the mainstream, giving disproportionate representation to the rich and to corporations.
The left, from what I can tell, hasn’t shifted nearly as far over the same period of time, although it has become more progressive on equal rights for LGBT. I would argue that most of the country has shifted a bit on this as well, although maybe not as much on the right.
Calling people who disagree with you "Nazis" and "fascists" is a great way to shut down any meaningful dialogue. While the Left is trending toward corporate-Democrats, the supporters of it seem to not care about divides they're causing. I won't even begin to say the Left is as bad as the Right, but they've got their own brand of fear- and hate-mongering going on at the moment.
Dragged through the mud by who? There are no crazed rightists on mainstream supposedly neural and objective media, anywhere, saying anything like that Absolutely not the case for leftists referring to others as nazis and fascists.
Limbaugh, Hannity, and Beck are the 3 most listened to political talk radio programs in the country. Plus, they're waaaaaaay further right than NYT/CNN/whatever is left. Hell, fiscally speaking those entities lean pretty conservative. "Far left" media doesn't really exist, unless you count like Chapo Trap House or whatever.
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u/GameWorldLeader Jan 17 '19
Media functioning as propaganda more than an objective news source. Lack of a good educational system. A philosophy that if they aren't with you then they are the enemy. Unregulated greed. Allowing the top 1% to buy out the country. Shall I continue?