Lord of the Flies

[eavesdropper]

[quote=Allan from Fallbrook] I’d opine that the news business of the present is probably far different from that of the past, especially given the rapid encroachment of social media and the internet. The Drudge Report was certainly something of a game-changer during the CLinton Administration and I believe we’re seeing a return of the more sharp-elbowed and less objective days of the distant past……
There was an interesting series of articles following the Breivik attacks in Norway, many of which asked if the present attitudes towards Islam contributed to, or even facilitated the attack…..
I believe the days of truly objective and, more importantly, non-partisan journalship are behind us, and all of us, intentionally or not, now feed our confirmation bias by finding those sources that support and advance our “beliefs”.[/quote]

This is definitely true, although I believe that the Internet “news sources” (such as Drudge), for the most part, were largely created to counter the mainstream media’s reporting of events, whether or not that reporting was accurate. I wasn’t following Drudge back in the 90s, but I’ll ask you: Was Matt Drudge responsible for keeping the Monica story going for as long as it did, or was it simply a case of the MSM attempting to keep ahead (aka, keep up with) of what was being reported on Drudge?

While I realize there are serious economic considerations, I’m disgusted by the MSM’s abdication of its responsibility to report the news in an objective way. While some of the general news stories are written in an objective manner, they are so concerned with being called “liberal” that they go to ridiculous lengths to prevent that from happening (and it doesn’t work!). Also, the news is surrounded by so many opinion pieces, and the comments of readers, that it’s difficult to discern objectivity. In addition, I find the starring roles being assumed by reporters and columnists on TV news and pundits shows, that I can’t trust anything that they write.

The whole Norway thing, with the endless speculation….no, declarations……of an Islamic perpetrator, was pretty disturbing. This was an across-the-board action on the part of all forms of media. Although I have to admit to some amusement when reading a thread on FreeRepublic.com: 150 posts of ever-escalating hate directed at the Muslim perpetrators, interspersed with declarations of the brave among them of what they would do/ what the US should do to ALL Muslims, including US citizens…..UP TO THE POINT when someone wrote in that it was a blond-haired blue-eyed native of Norway who represented a Christian militant group who had been responsible. The board immediately fell silent. It was like those old SNL Roseanne Roseannadanna skits: “Oh!….Never mind.”

As for the feeding of our confirmation bias, I think simply recognizing that we do that is a significant accomplishment. Once I realized a couple years back that I was doing it, I made an effort to stay off websites that had opinions most closely aligned with mine, and went out of my way to research those that didn’t. It can be very difficult to read some of this stuff sometimes. But I find that I’m getting a much better overall picture of what’s going on. And I also have a more accurate picture of what’s happening at the grass-roots level.

[temeculaguy]

I love the societal decay arguments. Can someone point out to me which decade was the one where societal order, justice and happiness reigned supreme? Just so I can have some context to compare it today and thus see how things have decayed. Which days were the good old days?

Society changes, some riots and looting overseas or even here at home are not enough for me to determine that society is decaying at the same inevitable rate as my 43 year old body, which is another topic entirely.

I remember hearing that during the Hurricane Katrina looting that society has decayed. Excuse me but I’ll trade you that looting for some 1950’s racial hangings for voting or dating out of your race. Maybe some church burnings if you’d prefer, maybe acceptable domestic violence, same general geographic region. Our decayed society is in the middle of a war with Muslim countries and here at home, maybe a slur here and there, maybe a rare act of vandalism might occur. But I seem to recall in the idyllic days of yesteryear we put Japanese people in camps for nothing other than being Japanese and nobody said much, I doubt that would fly today in our “decayed” society.

The world is a better place today, by almost every measure with one exception, religious people are losing ground and will continue to do so. White male Christians who want everyone else to live like they want them to are not getting their way (I say this as a white male, formerly Christian). Gone are the days when church and state, or even church and society are as one. For some that is troubling. Not far in the future, policy, laws and societal norms will have nothing to with churches. I’m not even what most would consider a liberal, but call me kooky for thinking that I recall something about this when the formation of this country is taught. Gays will one day marry, people will divorce when they are unhappy, adults will have sex with each other for no other reason than it is fun. People of different races and backgrounds will do as they please, live the lives they want and with those they want to. They will attend the schools they want, have the careers they want and nothing will be unattainable, nothing off limits based on race, creed or color (where have I read that before? and do not for a minute say it used to be better, because that is bullshit, the good old days, weren’t always that good). Ask a woman who was an adult in the 1940’s or 1950’s how great it was to choose to be a housewife, a teacher or a nurse, but not much else. What a grand society it was for them. Maybe they were better mothers, but was it better, for them? For the first time since this crazy notion of freedom was proposed more than 200 years ago, we’re actually getting close to the original plan, where individuals choose their path, not other people. If that is decay, bring it on!

[temeculaguy]

I love the societal decay arguments. Can someone point out to me which decade was the one where societal order, justice and happiness reigned supreme? Just so I can have some context to compare it today and thus see how things have decayed. Which days were the good old days?

Society changes, some riots and looting overseas or even here at home are not enough for me to determine that society is decaying at the same inevitable rate as my 43 year old body, which is another topic entirely.

I remember hearing that during the Hurricane Katrina looting that society has decayed. Excuse me but I’ll trade you that looting for some 1950’s racial hangings for voting or dating out of your race. Maybe some church burnings if you’d prefer, maybe acceptable domestic violence, same general geographic region. Our decayed society is in the middle of a war with Muslim countries and here at home, maybe a slur here and there, maybe a rare act of vandalism might occur. But I seem to recall in the idyllic days of yesteryear we put Japanese people in camps for nothing other than being Japanese and nobody said much, I doubt that would fly today in our “decayed” society.

The world is a better place today, by almost every measure with one exception, religious people are losing ground and will continue to do so. White male Christians who want everyone else to live like they want them to are not getting their way (I say this as a white male, formerly Christian). Gone are the days when church and state, or even church and society are as one. For some that is troubling. Not far in the future, policy, laws and societal norms will have nothing to with churches. I’m not even what most would consider a liberal, but call me kooky for thinking that I recall something about this when the formation of this country is taught. Gays will one day marry, people will divorce when they are unhappy, adults will have sex with each other for no other reason than it is fun. People of different races and backgrounds will do as they please, live the lives they want and with those they want to. They will attend the schools they want, have the careers they want and nothing will be unattainable, nothing off limits based on race, creed or color (where have I read that before? and do not for a minute say it used to be better, because that is bullshit, the good old days, weren’t always that good). Ask a woman who was an adult in the 1940’s or 1950’s how great it was to choose to be a housewife, a teacher or a nurse, but not much else. What a grand society it was for them. Maybe they were better mothers, but was it better, for them? For the first time since this crazy notion of freedom was proposed more than 200 years ago, we’re actually getting close to the original plan, where individuals choose their path, not other people. If that is decay, bring it on!

[temeculaguy]

I love the societal decay arguments. Can someone point out to me which decade was the one where societal order, justice and happiness reigned supreme? Just so I can have some context to compare it today and thus see how things have decayed. Which days were the good old days?

Society changes, some riots and looting overseas or even here at home are not enough for me to determine that society is decaying at the same inevitable rate as my 43 year old body, which is another topic entirely.

I remember hearing that during the Hurricane Katrina looting that society has decayed. Excuse me but I’ll trade you that looting for some 1950’s racial hangings for voting or dating out of your race. Maybe some church burnings if you’d prefer, maybe acceptable domestic violence, same general geographic region. Our decayed society is in the middle of a war with Muslim countries and here at home, maybe a slur here and there, maybe a rare act of vandalism might occur. But I seem to recall in the idyllic days of yesteryear we put Japanese people in camps for nothing other than being Japanese and nobody said much, I doubt that would fly today in our “decayed” society.

The world is a better place today, by almost every measure with one exception, religious people are losing ground and will continue to do so. White male Christians who want everyone else to live like they want them to are not getting their way (I say this as a white male, formerly Christian). Gone are the days when church and state, or even church and society are as one. For some that is troubling. Not far in the future, policy, laws and societal norms will have nothing to with churches. I’m not even what most would consider a liberal, but call me kooky for thinking that I recall something about this when the formation of this country is taught. Gays will one day marry, people will divorce when they are unhappy, adults will have sex with each other for no other reason than it is fun. People of different races and backgrounds will do as they please, live the lives they want and with those they want to. They will attend the schools they want, have the careers they want and nothing will be unattainable, nothing off limits based on race, creed or color (where have I read that before? and do not for a minute say it used to be better, because that is bullshit, the good old days, weren’t always that good). Ask a woman who was an adult in the 1940’s or 1950’s how great it was to choose to be a housewife, a teacher or a nurse, but not much else. What a grand society it was for them. Maybe they were better mothers, but was it better, for them? For the first time since this crazy notion of freedom was proposed more than 200 years ago, we’re actually getting close to the original plan, where individuals choose their path, not other people. If that is decay, bring it on!

[temeculaguy]

I love the societal decay arguments. Can someone point out to me which decade was the one where societal order, justice and happiness reigned supreme? Just so I can have some context to compare it today and thus see how things have decayed. Which days were the good old days?

Society changes, some riots and looting overseas or even here at home are not enough for me to determine that society is decaying at the same inevitable rate as my 43 year old body, which is another topic entirely.

I remember hearing that during the Hurricane Katrina looting that society has decayed. Excuse me but I’ll trade you that looting for some 1950’s racial hangings for voting or dating out of your race. Maybe some church burnings if you’d prefer, maybe acceptable domestic violence, same general geographic region. Our decayed society is in the middle of a war with Muslim countries and here at home, maybe a slur here and there, maybe a rare act of vandalism might occur. But I seem to recall in the idyllic days of yesteryear we put Japanese people in camps for nothing other than being Japanese and nobody said much, I doubt that would fly today in our “decayed” society.

The world is a better place today, by almost every measure with one exception, religious people are losing ground and will continue to do so. White male Christians who want everyone else to live like they want them to are not getting their way (I say this as a white male, formerly Christian). Gone are the days when church and state, or even church and society are as one. For some that is troubling. Not far in the future, policy, laws and societal norms will have nothing to with churches. I’m not even what most would consider a liberal, but call me kooky for thinking that I recall something about this when the formation of this country is taught. Gays will one day marry, people will divorce when they are unhappy, adults will have sex with each other for no other reason than it is fun. People of different races and backgrounds will do as they please, live the lives they want and with those they want to. They will attend the schools they want, have the careers they want and nothing will be unattainable, nothing off limits based on race, creed or color (where have I read that before? and do not for a minute say it used to be better, because that is bullshit, the good old days, weren’t always that good). Ask a woman who was an adult in the 1940’s or 1950’s how great it was to choose to be a housewife, a teacher or a nurse, but not much else. What a grand society it was for them. Maybe they were better mothers, but was it better, for them? For the first time since this crazy notion of freedom was proposed more than 200 years ago, we’re actually getting close to the original plan, where individuals choose their path, not other people. If that is decay, bring it on!

[temeculaguy]

I love the societal decay arguments. Can someone point out to me which decade was the one where societal order, justice and happiness reigned supreme? Just so I can have some context to compare it today and thus see how things have decayed. Which days were the good old days?

Society changes, some riots and looting overseas or even here at home are not enough for me to determine that society is decaying at the same inevitable rate as my 43 year old body, which is another topic entirely.

I remember hearing that during the Hurricane Katrina looting that society has decayed. Excuse me but I’ll trade you that looting for some 1950’s racial hangings for voting or dating out of your race. Maybe some church burnings if you’d prefer, maybe acceptable domestic violence, same general geographic region. Our decayed society is in the middle of a war with Muslim countries and here at home, maybe a slur here and there, maybe a rare act of vandalism might occur. But I seem to recall in the idyllic days of yesteryear we put Japanese people in camps for nothing other than being Japanese and nobody said much, I doubt that would fly today in our “decayed” society.

The world is a better place today, by almost every measure with one exception, religious people are losing ground and will continue to do so. White male Christians who want everyone else to live like they want them to are not getting their way (I say this as a white male, formerly Christian). Gone are the days when church and state, or even church and society are as one. For some that is troubling. Not far in the future, policy, laws and societal norms will have nothing to with churches. I’m not even what most would consider a liberal, but call me kooky for thinking that I recall something about this when the formation of this country is taught. Gays will one day marry, people will divorce when they are unhappy, adults will have sex with each other for no other reason than it is fun. People of different races and backgrounds will do as they please, live the lives they want and with those they want to. They will attend the schools they want, have the careers they want and nothing will be unattainable, nothing off limits based on race, creed or color (where have I read that before? and do not for a minute say it used to be better, because that is bullshit, the good old days, weren’t always that good). Ask a woman who was an adult in the 1940’s or 1950’s how great it was to choose to be a housewife, a teacher or a nurse, but not much else. What a grand society it was for them. Maybe they were better mothers, but was it better, for them? For the first time since this crazy notion of freedom was proposed more than 200 years ago, we’re actually getting close to the original plan, where individuals choose their path, not other people. If that is decay, bring it on!

[Anonymous]

[quote]I love the societal decay arguments. Can someone point out to me which decade was the one where societal order, justice and happiness reigned supreme? Just so I can have some context to compare it today and thus see how things have decayed. Which days were the good old days?[/quote]
The 1950s of course! Just watch the films and news clips from that era and you’ll get confirmation.

Some here are old enough to remember these times. There were never any riots in our world (which consisted of the entire the elementary school in Terre Haute, Indiana.) We have first-hand confirmation that the world was so much more peaceful then.

There’s an awful lot of facts and historical “name dropping” on this thread, but there is a very basic lack of comprehension.

The biggest difference today is that we have 24/7 media that constantly needs a “breaking story” that is more sensational than the other dozen channels and internet sites.

The London riots will amount to nothing in the big picture.

(The Middle East riots are a different story…they aren’t riots, they are a revolution.)

[quote]The world is a better place today, by almost every measure with one exception, religious people are losing ground and will continue to do so. White male Christians who want everyone else to live like they want them to are not getting their way (I say this as a white male, formerly Christian).[/quote]
TG gets it. (I say this as a white male, really trying to find a way to believe, Christian.)

[quote]For the first time since this crazy notion of freedom was proposed more than 200 years ago, we’re actually getting close to the original plan, where individuals choose their path, not other people. If that is decay, bring it on![/quote]
Now that’s some genuine wisdom and insight!

(And he didn’t even need a thesaurus or a copy of Obscure Events in History to write it.)

[Anonymous]

[quote]I love the societal decay arguments. Can someone point out to me which decade was the one where societal order, justice and happiness reigned supreme? Just so I can have some context to compare it today and thus see how things have decayed. Which days were the good old days?[/quote]
The 1950s of course! Just watch the films and news clips from that era and you’ll get confirmation.

Some here are old enough to remember these times. There were never any riots in our world (which consisted of the entire the elementary school in Terre Haute, Indiana.) We have first-hand confirmation that the world was so much more peaceful then.

There’s an awful lot of facts and historical “name dropping” on this thread, but there is a very basic lack of comprehension.

The biggest difference today is that we have 24/7 media that constantly needs a “breaking story” that is more sensational than the other dozen channels and internet sites.

The London riots will amount to nothing in the big picture.

(The Middle East riots are a different story…they aren’t riots, they are a revolution.)

[quote]The world is a better place today, by almost every measure with one exception, religious people are losing ground and will continue to do so. White male Christians who want everyone else to live like they want them to are not getting their way (I say this as a white male, formerly Christian).[/quote]
TG gets it. (I say this as a white male, really trying to find a way to believe, Christian.)

[quote]For the first time since this crazy notion of freedom was proposed more than 200 years ago, we’re actually getting close to the original plan, where individuals choose their path, not other people. If that is decay, bring it on![/quote]
Now that’s some genuine wisdom and insight!

(And he didn’t even need a thesaurus or a copy of Obscure Events in History to write it.)

[Anonymous]

[quote]I love the societal decay arguments. Can someone point out to me which decade was the one where societal order, justice and happiness reigned supreme? Just so I can have some context to compare it today and thus see how things have decayed. Which days were the good old days?[/quote]
The 1950s of course! Just watch the films and news clips from that era and you’ll get confirmation.

Some here are old enough to remember these times. There were never any riots in our world (which consisted of the entire the elementary school in Terre Haute, Indiana.) We have first-hand confirmation that the world was so much more peaceful then.

There’s an awful lot of facts and historical “name dropping” on this thread, but there is a very basic lack of comprehension.

The biggest difference today is that we have 24/7 media that constantly needs a “breaking story” that is more sensational than the other dozen channels and internet sites.

The London riots will amount to nothing in the big picture.

(The Middle East riots are a different story…they aren’t riots, they are a revolution.)

[quote]The world is a better place today, by almost every measure with one exception, religious people are losing ground and will continue to do so. White male Christians who want everyone else to live like they want them to are not getting their way (I say this as a white male, formerly Christian).[/quote]
TG gets it. (I say this as a white male, really trying to find a way to believe, Christian.)

[quote]For the first time since this crazy notion of freedom was proposed more than 200 years ago, we’re actually getting close to the original plan, where individuals choose their path, not other people. If that is decay, bring it on![/quote]
Now that’s some genuine wisdom and insight!

(And he didn’t even need a thesaurus or a copy of Obscure Events in History to write it.)

[Anonymous]

[quote]I love the societal decay arguments. Can someone point out to me which decade was the one where societal order, justice and happiness reigned supreme? Just so I can have some context to compare it today and thus see how things have decayed. Which days were the good old days?[/quote]
The 1950s of course! Just watch the films and news clips from that era and you’ll get confirmation.

Some here are old enough to remember these times. There were never any riots in our world (which consisted of the entire the elementary school in Terre Haute, Indiana.) We have first-hand confirmation that the world was so much more peaceful then.

There’s an awful lot of facts and historical “name dropping” on this thread, but there is a very basic lack of comprehension.

The biggest difference today is that we have 24/7 media that constantly needs a “breaking story” that is more sensational than the other dozen channels and internet sites.

The London riots will amount to nothing in the big picture.

(The Middle East riots are a different story…they aren’t riots, they are a revolution.)

[quote]The world is a better place today, by almost every measure with one exception, religious people are losing ground and will continue to do so. White male Christians who want everyone else to live like they want them to are not getting their way (I say this as a white male, formerly Christian).[/quote]
TG gets it. (I say this as a white male, really trying to find a way to believe, Christian.)

[quote]For the first time since this crazy notion of freedom was proposed more than 200 years ago, we’re actually getting close to the original plan, where individuals choose their path, not other people. If that is decay, bring it on![/quote]
Now that’s some genuine wisdom and insight!

(And he didn’t even need a thesaurus or a copy of Obscure Events in History to write it.)

[Anonymous]

[quote]I love the societal decay arguments. Can someone point out to me which decade was the one where societal order, justice and happiness reigned supreme? Just so I can have some context to compare it today and thus see how things have decayed. Which days were the good old days?[/quote]
The 1950s of course! Just watch the films and news clips from that era and you’ll get confirmation.

Some here are old enough to remember these times. There were never any riots in our world (which consisted of the entire the elementary school in Terre Haute, Indiana.) We have first-hand confirmation that the world was so much more peaceful then.

There’s an awful lot of facts and historical “name dropping” on this thread, but there is a very basic lack of comprehension.

The biggest difference today is that we have 24/7 media that constantly needs a “breaking story” that is more sensational than the other dozen channels and internet sites.

The London riots will amount to nothing in the big picture.

(The Middle East riots are a different story…they aren’t riots, they are a revolution.)

[quote]The world is a better place today, by almost every measure with one exception, religious people are losing ground and will continue to do so. White male Christians who want everyone else to live like they want them to are not getting their way (I say this as a white male, formerly Christian).[/quote]
TG gets it. (I say this as a white male, really trying to find a way to believe, Christian.)

[quote]For the first time since this crazy notion of freedom was proposed more than 200 years ago, we’re actually getting close to the original plan, where individuals choose their path, not other people. If that is decay, bring it on![/quote]
Now that’s some genuine wisdom and insight!

(And he didn’t even need a thesaurus or a copy of Obscure Events in History to write it.)

[blahblahblah]

We don’t have as many looters or rioters here because so much of our likely rioting and looting population (young, poorly educated, underprivileged men) is imprisoned. It is interesting to note more people are imprisoned here in this “free” country than in any other country in the world. Our incarceration rate actually surpassed that of the “Evil Empire” USSR back in 1998 when we went past 7/1000 people in prison.

This graph shows our incarceration rate by year. Note the sharp turn upward right about the time Ray-gun took office. It is not going down anytime soon, and since more and more prisons are becoming for-profit, privately-owned enterprises with several powerful lobbies behind them, it will probably increase even more dramatically in the years to come.

[blahblahblah]

We don’t have as many looters or rioters here because so much of our likely rioting and looting population (young, poorly educated, underprivileged men) is imprisoned. It is interesting to note more people are imprisoned here in this “free” country than in any other country in the world. Our incarceration rate actually surpassed that of the “Evil Empire” USSR back in 1998 when we went past 7/1000 people in prison.

This graph shows our incarceration rate by year. Note the sharp turn upward right about the time Ray-gun took office. It is not going down anytime soon, and since more and more prisons are becoming for-profit, privately-owned enterprises with several powerful lobbies behind them, it will probably increase even more dramatically in the years to come.

[blahblahblah]

We don’t have as many looters or rioters here because so much of our likely rioting and looting population (young, poorly educated, underprivileged men) is imprisoned. It is interesting to note more people are imprisoned here in this “free” country than in any other country in the world. Our incarceration rate actually surpassed that of the “Evil Empire” USSR back in 1998 when we went past 7/1000 people in prison.

This graph shows our incarceration rate by year. Note the sharp turn upward right about the time Ray-gun took office. It is not going down anytime soon, and since more and more prisons are becoming for-profit, privately-owned enterprises with several powerful lobbies behind them, it will probably increase even more dramatically in the years to come.

[blahblahblah]

We don’t have as many looters or rioters here because so much of our likely rioting and looting population (young, poorly educated, underprivileged men) is imprisoned. It is interesting to note more people are imprisoned here in this “free” country than in any other country in the world. Our incarceration rate actually surpassed that of the “Evil Empire” USSR back in 1998 when we went past 7/1000 people in prison.

This graph shows our incarceration rate by year. Note the sharp turn upward right about the time Ray-gun took office. It is not going down anytime soon, and since more and more prisons are becoming for-profit, privately-owned enterprises with several powerful lobbies behind them, it will probably increase even more dramatically in the years to come.

[Author]

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