It’s true. I can’t believe this happened, but in my Facebook feed today were two posts in a row, one by an ultra-conservative friend and one by an ultra-liberal friend. Both of the posts were about the really awful power outages that people who live here in Texas endured last week, some of whom are still dealing with it. Here’s the first one:
And here is the second one:
This is exactly what’s driving me crazy these days. Each side has found a way to blame the other for the issue. Neither article talks about anything anyone is doing to remedy the infrastructure issues or get help to people here. They just want to increase polarization.
It’s no wonder why I’m so uncomfortable with how people isolate themselves in their own echo chambers of slanted information. I think I know stuff, then I go over to some Facebook group and discover there’s a whole world of other news and a whole lot of people who say they hate me (I actually said something in the group once, just to see what would happen, and the piranhas pounced).
I remember getting a chuckle out of the endless parade of “Thanks, Obama” posts that came up whenever anything went wrong when he was President. The stuff some of these people blame on Biden has me scratching my head, though. And I truly enjoyed them going on and on about how Ted Cruz going to Mexico was JUST FINE, heck, they’d have gone too, if they had money.
I happen to know there are Facebook pages with some pretty biased links aimed more toward people like myself, but I know enough to see when things are getting way over-partisan, mean-spirited, and unhelpful.
We all need to make sure we keep our eyes and ears open, so we at least have a clue as to where our neighbors, friends, and family members are coming from. And yes, I know I repeat this a lot.
The Hermits' Rest 
I hope it’s okay to comment again! 😉 From a European perspective, I was SO BAFFLED that Cruz’ trip to Cancun was deemed “totally okay” by some people – who then went off on AOC who raised over $3 million to HELP THE PEOPLE. All the while, people were dying from the cold, didn’t have water, electricity, spent the night in their cars. I saw someone online advising other to PUT UP A TENT IN THE HOUSE for extra insulation.
And the same time, I have seen the twitter posts of some people who had a go at others who demanded help from the government, because “we don’t want handouts”, and I have had an inkling, that these folks were NOT the first ones who helped their fellow Americans.
We do learn about the American Dream and the high value of individuality in school, but how can you stand by and watch other people suffer and die and say “this is okay, this is what we as a nation stand for”. As if kindness and compassion were personal flaws you have to overcome.
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Yep, all the things that baffle you also baffle me. I think I’d explode if I lived with so many conflicting ideas in my head.
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yes we do, and isn’t that a darned shame? it used to be people had what I’d call common sense. They’d get their news from several different sources then make up their own minds about whatever the issue was. not anymore. They go off spouting sound bites instead of facts then cuss out who ever doesn’t agree. it’s maddening. and lord forbid we have a different political opinion than “the other side”…we become persona non grata instantaneously. I’ve learned to never trust anything on facebook, except news of births or marriages…but the rest is just more smoke than I need to deal with anymore.
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