I happened to watch a few minutes of Fox News the other day.
I have known about them for a while, of course. Including that Fox News viewers tend to know less about the world, and have more inaccurate factual information, than those who take in any other news source.
I was still struck by how toxic it seemed. Divisive. Angry. Humorless.
I know there is a grain of truth to their views, as there is to any view. And that the groups I tend to identify with – progressives, liberals, greens, integralists – don’t have all the answers.
And yet, I am amazed that anyone would want to take this in. It seems that it would make for a quite unhappy mindset. But perhaps many who watch it already see the world this way, so it feels familiar and comforting – in an odd way.
It’s perfectly possible to hold conservative views and still be sane, rational, and even reasonable. (Although in the US, that tends to be the type of conservatives that are less vocal and less visible these days.) I have to remind myself of that after this glimpse into the world of Fox News.
I don’t mind people with conservative views. I know there are very good evolutionary reasons why some are more liberal, and some more conservative. We need both groups to survive as a species.
And I also tend to prefer a more sane approach to politics, no matter the political orientation.
It did seem quite insane to me. Or rather, I felt a bit insane while watching it, so I projected that onto Fox News.
P.S. I happen to temporarily rent a room (because of relocation) in the house of someone who watches Fox News from 7am to 11pm. It’s amazing to me that someone would want to take in the toxicity to that degree. At the same time, I realize it may seem familiar, and may reinforce existing views, so it may seem comforting. While also, most likely, also reinforcing distress, anger, fear, and more. (His world view does seem quite fear ridden, especially in his view on society and politics. From my perspective, being a Northern European, it’s also quite distorted and misinformed.)
………..
………..
………..
Initial notes….
– happened to watch a few minutes of fox news
– struck by how toxic it seemed – bitter, angry
– know there is a grain of truth to it, as there is to any view
– and that progressives/liberals don’t have all the answers (the groups i identify with more)
– and still, amazed that people would watch something that divisive and toxic…..
– happened to catch glimpses of history program, was surprised until I realized the aim is to show that the american revolution & civil war were both caused by Big Government (!), through taxes etc.
………..
Initial draft…..
I happened to see a few minutes of Fox News yesterday, and it was a surreal experience. (I rarely if ever watch TV, so maybe that’s part of it.)
What struck me first was how toxic it seemed, independent of content. I wonder what it does to people if they are exposed to this regularly.
The second thing that struck me was how bizarre the actual content was. Women and black people are at a disadvantage because big government keeps them down? If you are a Christian or white man in the US, you have no rights anymore? The US is in the biggest crisis in decades because of Obama?
I obviously have my own views and bias, and I know that there is validity in other views, but this