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Serious Thumper
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JLC wrote on 02/10/18 at 15:16:55:I have not been active on the TT as I view it as an exercise in futility. The posters on the right of the political spectrum will never be convinced by those on the left, and vice versa. Remains all the insults and the deepening divisions between the two clans.
That being said, I need to vent! What I object to are the fake news in many emails and Facebook postings I keep seeing from friends and acquaintances, usually aimed at personalities on the left. Not surprising as most of my friends are from a gun club (I am a match director there), and a vintage car club with few, if any, liberals as members.
Today on a distant relative Facebook page, I saw a posting, claiming Adam Schiff’s sister was married to the son of George Soros. The site claiming so is a well know proponent of conspiracies. One tiny problem: Adam Schiff does not have a sister.
I was also recently sent the photo of a young man in his twenties, sporting a Nazi uniform. The caption claimed that was George Soros, and that he worked for Himmler during the second world war. A quick search on the net will show that Soros was born in a Jewish family, and that he was only 9 years old when the war started, 14 when it ended. He is not the man in the uniform.
My point is what happened to critical thinking? Are people now so ready to accept whatever news fit their world view that they will not fact check?
Nice to see you post JLC.
I concur with Bot's answer. 
If I may add my 2¢...
I don't see a lot of critical thinking in either of the "clans". (I define those clans as hardcore left & right wing fundamentalists. They only see their own vantage point and anything else makes no difference.)
However, I do see a lot more of it in the moderates and independents/undecided. There's a huge part of the democratic party that has had their fill of the likes of hillary. Likewise, there's probably just as many republicans scratching their heads on what our president is doing to lead their party (which isn't much). Although from my personal experience, those that lean to the right tend to be a bit more hypocritical these days.
As I've said from the start - we live in a new world - the likes of which none of us has ever seen before. Information is literally at everyone's fingertips and, sad as it is, sometimes all you have to be is loud, not truthful. The gullible are drawn to it like moths to a flame. The smart ones question it.
A perfect example-
Regarding the photo you mentioned about soros, I saw it on my facebook feed and immediately questioned it. However, it was one of my right leaning friends that posted it with the tagline - "this is interesting". He posted it with no hesitation and just believed it because it fits his viewpoints. That shows me how you got to your question in the first place.
With all that being said, I think the tides are turning. Even though it's easier to put out fake news, it's just as easy to debunk it.
I remember not so long ago where this all got its start. More than once throughout the 2008 campaign and shortly after Obama's election, fox news' favorite question setup to a liberal would be "..some people are saying..." This is a great tactic to immediately put someone (not totally prepared) on the defense. For whatever reason, it was rarely thrown back at the host of the show - "what people?", or "who actually said that?". Up until then, those tactics were only found on likes of jerry springer or maury.
But now as you look at the media landscape, it's undergoing an evolutionary change. Everyone can fact check. Everyone can prove or disprove for themselves. The truth is much easier to find. Although it allows some to continue to live in their cave, for those who truly want to learn, it brings them the real truth.
Critical thinking dies when those who know that real truth, stay silent.
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