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Fear is America’s top-selling consumer product

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Re: Fear is America’s top-selling consumer product

#111

Post by QAPereo »

humanrebar wrote: post #107
QAPereo wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think people crave fear, they crave stimulation. Joy is much harder to manufacture than dread, and dread makes people act in a predictable, often-profitable manner. In other words, people don't want to be bored more than anything else, and the rest is just about the most stimulating things on offer.

I think that's reductionist. People also want reasons for things. They don't want complex reasons for high rent, terrorism, racial injustice, mass murder, low employment, stagnant wages, the lack of community support, etc. They want clarity. And "it's complicated" doesn't satisfy emotionally. So we take a half truth (to be generous) and make it the whole truth. Someone is to blame. Therefore they must be powerful eno…

Where is the clarity in mass media.

Re: Fear is America’s top-selling consumer product

#112

Post by komali2 »

vacri wrote: post #86
banned1 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. CNN has gone the way of MSNBC (i.e. liberal, one-sided, pretty much echo-chamber). HN is the same way when it relates to political news (i.e. liberal, one-sided, pretty much echo-chamber). Fox News is, well, Fox News. NPR is, well, for the most part, the Fox News of the left. So on and so forth. In a world of two echo chambers (The Right-wingers and The Left-wingers), it's up to you to make up your mind.…

> HN is the same way when it relates to political news (i.e. liberal, one-sided, pretty much echo-chamber) HN is one of those places where everyone thinks that there are plenty of "the other side" here. There are plenty of fiscal and social conservatives on this site. Probably the only sector of the conservative world that isn't well-represented here are war hawks.

I dunno, what about super nationalist white supremacists? Don't really find them here either.

Re: Fear is America’s top-selling consumer product

#113

Post by ryandrake »

rndmize wrote: post #80
banned1 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. CNN has gone the way of MSNBC (i.e. liberal, one-sided, pretty much echo-chamber). HN is the same way when it relates to political news (i.e. liberal, one-sided, pretty much echo-chamber). Fox News is, well, Fox News. NPR is, well, for the most part, the Fox News of the left. So on and so forth. In a world of two echo chambers (The Right-wingers and The Left-wingers), it's up to you to make up your mind.…

I don't understand this perspective. When CNN gets a story wrong, the right creates a huge storm and people get fired. When the right gets a story wrong (Breitbart still pushing the hard anti-climate change line, Hannity with the Seth Rich conspiracy, the entire birther movement, Pizzagate, and on and on and on )... nothing happens. Nothing. It took Milo saying "maybe pedophelia isn't that bad" before there was enoug…

But they are! At least that's how it is perceived by the other side, and that's how you understand that perspective.

For a large number of people, truth is in the eye of the beholder. If a story confirms your preconceived biases, the journalist got it right and is telling the truth. If it opposes your beliefs, it's factually wrong. Truth is like relativity: There is no aether, no privileged reference frame.

When one believes, for example, with all of their soul and being, that climate change isn't happening, or that vaccines are good for you, then any reporting on the "facts" is ridiculous conspiracy, no matter how measurable it is. It's those greedy ivory tower elite, at it again! Reports about the falseness of climate change and the dangers of vaccinations are the lone voice of truth shining through.

You could write a report that you believe has zero bias. All observable facts. It will be seen as ridiculous, biased conspiracy by some people out there.

Re: Fear is America’s top-selling consumer product

#114

Post by refurb »

rndmize wrote: post #80
banned1 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. CNN has gone the way of MSNBC (i.e. liberal, one-sided, pretty much echo-chamber). HN is the same way when it relates to political news (i.e. liberal, one-sided, pretty much echo-chamber). Fox News is, well, Fox News. NPR is, well, for the most part, the Fox News of the left. So on and so forth. In a world of two echo chambers (The Right-wingers and The Left-wingers), it's up to you to make up your mind.…

I don't understand this perspective. When CNN gets a story wrong, the right creates a huge storm and people get fired. When the right gets a story wrong (Breitbart still pushing the hard anti-climate change line, Hannity with the Seth Rich conspiracy, the entire birther movement, Pizzagate, and on and on and on )... nothing happens. Nothing. It took Milo saying "maybe pedophelia isn't that bad" before there was enoug…

... nothing happens

That because of expectations. Everyone knows Breitbart is hard right. Even conservatives will admit that. Even Breitbart will admit that.

CNN like to position itself as the news. You know, the straight shit. When they go off the rails people get pissed because they don't expect CNN to do that.

Re: Fear is America’s top-selling consumer product

#115

Post by komali2 »

turnspike wrote: post #91
komali2 wrote: post #37

I'm slowly trimming away the means I acquire news, because it's all becoming so editorialized. Twitter is bombarded with bots and flamewars, reddit is a lost cause, and news.google.com is mainly driven by larger syndications that have mastered the "Big Headlines Sell" strategy. That leaves HN and my little local papers, Mountain View Voice and its ilk. Great for local stories and tech news, but I feel like I'm missin…

- The story of the world is largely a military history. For brutal facts, figures and movements and minimum pathos: http://strategypage.com - Dan Carlin's Common Sense podcast is a relatively unbiased source for US politics.

I believe I tried dan Carlin but was turned off when he made the argument that a third party vote is a wasted vote.

Re: Fear is America’s top-selling consumer product

#116

Post by banned1 »

refurb wrote: post #114
rndmize wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand this perspective. When CNN gets a story wrong, the right creates a huge storm and people get fired. When the right gets a story wrong (Breitbart still pushing the hard anti-climate change line, Hannity with the Seth Rich conspiracy, the entire birther movement, Pizzagate, and on and on and on )... nothing happens. Nothing. It took Milo saying "maybe pedophelia isn't that bad" before there was enoug…

... nothing happens That because of expectations. Everyone knows Breitbart is hard right. Even conservatives will admit that. Even Breitbart will admit that. CNN like to position itself as the news . You know, the straight shit. When they go off the rails people get pissed because they don't expect CNN to do that.

I stopped watching CNN during election night when the table was full of people who at least once said "we" when they intended to say "the Democrats".

Re: Fear is America’s top-selling consumer product

#117

Post by banned1 »

rndmize wrote: post #80
banned1 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. CNN has gone the way of MSNBC (i.e. liberal, one-sided, pretty much echo-chamber). HN is the same way when it relates to political news (i.e. liberal, one-sided, pretty much echo-chamber). Fox News is, well, Fox News. NPR is, well, for the most part, the Fox News of the left. So on and so forth. In a world of two echo chambers (The Right-wingers and The Left-wingers), it's up to you to make up your mind.…

I don't understand this perspective. When CNN gets a story wrong, the right creates a huge storm and people get fired. When the right gets a story wrong (Breitbart still pushing the hard anti-climate change line, Hannity with the Seth Rich conspiracy, the entire birther movement, Pizzagate, and on and on and on )... nothing happens. Nothing. It took Milo saying "maybe pedophelia isn't that bad" before there was enoug…

I recommend this article to you about the failure and death of journalism.

https://www.google.com/amp/nypost.com/2016/08/21/american-jo...

Re: Fear is America’s top-selling consumer product

#118

Post by komali2 »

humanrebar wrote: post #101
penpapersw wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait why is reddit a lost cause?

r/LateStageCapitalism is on the front page all the time. Its rules include "Support for capitalism--and the political parties which uphold it--is strictly prohibited". Counterbalanced views are not front paged on a regular basis. Reddit made sure idiotic pro-Trump subreddits were left off the front page. It didn't do the same for idiotic anti-Trump subreddits. r/TwoXChromosomes, also regularly appearing on the front…

I was banned from latestagecapitalism when I argued with a user that was recommending murdering business owners was a necessity to improve the world.

That sub used to just be a cynical but funny place to comment on the general degradation of morality, then it swung to extremism like seemingly every Reddit sub.

Re: Fear is America’s top-selling consumer product

#119

Post by humanrebar »

QAPereo wrote: post #111
humanrebar wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that's reductionist. People also want reasons for things. They don't want complex reasons for high rent, terrorism, racial injustice, mass murder, low employment, stagnant wages, the lack of community support, etc. They want clarity. And "it's complicated" doesn't satisfy emotionally. So we take a half truth (to be generous) and make it the whole truth. Someone is to blame. Therefore they must be powerful eno…

Where is the clarity in mass media.

I'm saying there's not always clarity in reality. Someone says, "look at this giant mess!" and people want a simple answer. Sometimes there isn't one. But people demand clarity, so some will emerge, even if it's false and even if it's fear-based.

Re: Fear is America’s top-selling consumer product

#120

Post by dTal »

humanrebar wrote: post #104
knodi wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What the hell are you talking about, just because NPR report the news that not pro Trump doesn't make them liberal or left.

If NPR is so objective, why were (are) NPR listeners so shocked that people would actually vote for Trump? I say this as someone who was also confused about this for the longest time. NPR certainly didn't help me figure things out at all.

Failure to predict the behaviour of a large group of people doesn't necessarily imply a lack of objectivity. It's possible that it's the large group that lacks objectivity.
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