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The past couple of weeks have been unsettling. It certainly seems protests against those in power have been justified. What do you think?

(06-18-2020 10:37 PM)ODUDJ96 Wrote:  The past couple of weeks have been unsettling. It certainly seems protests against those in power have been justified. What do you think?

I think that social media and the media in general are causing real problems for civil discourse, politics, and civility in general. There are a handful (relatively) of very loud voices that drown out any attempt to have a national discussion about anything, and they have our elected representatives running scared and trying to stay out of the spotlight rather than sitting down, working together, and trying to find real solutions to real problems. I have no idea how we get out of this loop, because social media is not going anywhere, and regulation would likely just make the problem worse.

The problem, this time, is that it is not a groundswell of support that is driving change. It is an outsized effect from a few voices. I will use one example that I have seen polling on, and I hate to use it because it will paint me into an untenable ideological corner for some (Which frankly is part of the problem). So let me preface by saying, that I am not using this example as an attempt to discredit the fact that there is need for some reform in policing.

The example: If you live on social media you probably feel like defunding the police is a fairly popular position. The fact is that it is a nearly universally unpopular position. Over 80% are opposed to it. A large majority of every single demographic and political affiliation is opposed to it, and yet there is a national conversation around it which drowns out any discussion about solutions that would be more effective and much more popular.