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Most Americans Think Facebook and Twitter Censor Their Political Views (bloomberg.com)
According to a new Pew Research Center study, 72 percent of those polled (from a sample of 4,594 adults) think it's likely companies such as Facebook and Twitter actively censor political views that they consider objectionable. The study finds that Americans don't trust those companies to be impartial when it comes to partisan politics. Bloomberg reports: Republicans, more than their Democratic counterparts, displayed concern over perceived political bias. Eighty-five percent of Republicans and those who labeled themselves conservative independents said it's likely that social media platforms censor political speech. And 64 percent of Republicans think technology companies support the views of liberals over conservatives. The majority of Democrats, meanwhile, think it's likely that social media platforms censor political viewpoints, coming in at 62 percent. But only about a quarter of Democrats worry that these companies support the views of conservatives over liberals.
I hate the thought that we may look back fondly one day soon on an earlier era where most businesses welcomed all customers, regardless of their political beliefs.
From Quote Investigator:
So continuing the game of hypothetical questions, if you were a Jewish person who had lost friends and family to the Nazi death camps and you were working back in the kitchen of a Jewish delicatessen and Hitler walked in and placed an order - what would you do? Would you be like "Here Mr. Hitler, sir, I cooked up your order as best I could - even though I don't agree with your political beliefs. I do so hope you like it!"
In a certain sense, the problem is not political beliefs, per se, it is the actions that result from those beliefs. If Hitler had merely believed that Jews should be exterminated then that might be something one could overlook in the name of polite civility. But Hitler actually did quite a bit to cause Jewish people to be sent to death camps which is much harder to excuse.
And here's the thing. Trump and his associates and his supporters are actually doing things that are cause horrific and unnecessary suffering for people in certain vulnerable populations - poor American children who need healthcare, people from foreign countries trying escape violence and persecution, etc. When Kirstjen Nielsen decides to go eat at a Mexican restaurant, that's only slightly less extreme than Joseph Goebbels fronting up to a Jewish delicatessen.
I mean, here are these people who have done these incredibly cruel and sadistic things to people in certain vulnerable populations - but then somehow it doesn't occur to them that people in these vulnerable populations might be upset about it and not like them? I suppose someone like Kirstjen Nielsen must see herself as a decent person. Wow, talk about living in a bubble!
If you're going go to great effort to do cruel and sadistic things to people then at least have the decency to accept that they're not going to like you.
One of the reasons I quit facebook a few years ago was that I was getting too much political propaganda in my feeds through friends sharing every crack-pot theory. It was definitely not biased towards a liberal view point.
The fringes on both ends of the spectrum are virtually the same, basically militant in their approach. I'm more concerned with the mainstream conservatives willing to sell out their values simply to support the candidate with the R next to his name. Anyone thinking Trump is religious is a fool.
"Action without philosophy is a lethal weapon; philosophy without action is worthless."
Part of the problem is politics has gone beyond policy, but to identity.
If you are the tough guy then you should be a republican.
If you are an intellectual then you are a democrat.
If your religious then you are a republican.
If your an atheist then you are a democrat.
It isn’t about policy anymore it is personal. It is about the other side trying to stop your way of life and your values.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Social media reinforces homogeneity. Part of it is the echo chamber effect, partly because it is so easy to find people based on your opinions and interests.
When you are 'forced' to interact with neighbours, colleagues etc. even with location and social strata providing some conformity, there's still a greater need to accomodate differences of opinion and even belief. At the same time, being accepted and knowing that you 'belong' even if you don't have exactly the same beliefs and opinions means that there's less pressure to conform.
Finding and knowing your role in a community is a powerful drive. Communication technology has taken our drive to belong and exaggerated it into something unhealthy.
Compromise is no longer as necessary. People are unpractised at it and it takes work to overcome our 'us and them' drive. Easier to simply find a place of like minded people and not deal with 'other'. Lather, rinse, repeat.
If it's possible for illegals to obtain what passes for welfare benefits in the US, then perhaps the US benefits system needs to be fixed. In other countries I've lived in, you're required to show proof that you're a citizen or legal resident before the social assistance people will even talk to you for help with anything other than maybe a one-way ticket home (and you'll be expected to pay them back for it).
You conveniently ignore the fact that many of those folks from Central/South America are trying to escape pretty desperate circumstances--dictatorships, guerrilla warfare, gang violence. In addition, you fail to acknowledge that those conditions can very often be traced back to US policies that encouraged and in some cases *installed* right-wing dictatorships in those countries and the US War On Drugs. Not to mention the fact that local economies were often ruined by US-based multinational corporations backed by US power. Some search terms to get you started: Allende, Somoza, United Fruit Co.
No disrespect intended to your relatives who went into Auschwitz and never came out again, but I think you're sounding a whole lot like "I know nothing of the relevant history but I'll spout off anyway", as well as a little like "I've got mine".
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
Apparently, you did not read about the guy who attempted to assassinate the Republican Congressional baseball team. And you're right, leftists don't hint at violence as much as right wingers...of course that is because they outright call for violence. No hinting in Peter Fonda's tweets.
Thanks for reminding everyone that a republican literally got his entire cock & balls shot off and is still forced to shill for the NRA.