“My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.” – Dalai Lama
I was reading the comment section of my local television stations website this morning about the latest attack in the Brussels Airport and subway station. This is the place where anonymous citizens can post their “thoughts” about the topic at hand. The story was young and developing so I expected mostly comments in the tone of “in our thoughts and prays” figuring it’s still too early for the crazies to have rolled out of bed and start their steam-roll of spewing the hate and vile I have come to expect from stories like this….I was wrong.
I realize that the loudest and most vocal individuals are typically in the minority. They like to post outlandish comments whether they truly believe them or not, basically they like to hear themselves speak and stir the pot. But lately I have noticed a whole new level rhetoric, a new level of hatred, a new level of hyperbole and this hate is directed at a multitude of individuals, races, groups and religions. Honestly, it scares me. It scares me that some people, Americans, have become so thoughtless and callus. I get a real sense of anger and rage boiling within a certain segment of our society, and sadly, it seems these are the same people propelling Donald Trump to the top of the leader board.
I don’t know where we are headed. I worry that it’s not only ISIS we need to be concerned about but also the next Timothy McVeigh clone. The divide between the haves and have not’s has grown dramatically over the last 10 years in this country and those types of chasms have been the spark of past revolutions all over the world. I guess what surprises me most is the king of the haves, the poster child for having it all appears to be the voice rallying the troops.
So many seem lost and angry, I hope they, we, will find our way. We have much to gain and so much to lose.
Ends and Beginnings 
We had similar subject matter today. I think it’s not only anger that fuels Trump’s popularity; I think it’s also ignorance. Those who I personally know and who intend to vote for Trump don’t seem to realize what they’d be in for.
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Wonderful observation!
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With people getting caught up in anger and ignorance, it will only be a cycle of violence where the innocents will be harm…and those two factors might very well be electing our next President.
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Agree love, agree.
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The anger is real. Whether the targets of that anger are deserving or not (mostly not, I think), the anger isn’t going anywhere. I feel like a jerk linking my own blog, but I wrote about it here (https://goo.gl/QT6rkR), and it’s basically how I think it’ll play out. All of us can go back and forth on how well-informed or ignorant Trump supporters are, but the genesis of their ire is obvious, and they’re not going to forget it.
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“The genesis of their ire” is obvious only to those that invented it to sale advertising on their television and radio shows and sell books. I don’t doubt for a minute that their anger is real, the problem is six-pack Joe and Josephine don’t have a fucking clue who it is they are angry at other than “the man” “the establishment” “the system” “the liberals”. Hitler generated that same anger and discontent among the German people 80 years ago. That didn’t play out well in the end.
Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment.
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““The genesis of their ire” is obvious only to those that invented it to sale advertising on their television and radio shows and sell books.”
I meant more that if you look at what Trump supporters are saying, a big reason they support him is because they hate bought-and-paid-for politicians (or the idea of it, anyway). They think Washington and the media have been lying to them for a long time, and that neither are interested in their well-being. All of which is true. Then there’s the other, much uglier stuff—the racism, the xenophobia, the violence, the nationalism. And that’s a byproduct of what you said, the people selling books and TV ads, etc. And I’ll bet those salesmen never thought they’d wind up being the target of the anger they’ve helped to stoke.
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I think what we have is the coming of age of those twenty year old idol worshipers of the Gospel of Reagan, (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Ron).
Like Christians, these now 50 and 60 year-old’s have been waiting patiently for the second coming and Trump seems to be as close as they can get (Hollywood, bad actor, not sure either was conceived by virgin birth though).
I don’t play the Washington and the media are lying to us game. Both are too convenient of a scapegoat. People hear what they want to hear, people understand what they want to understand. I am, at the end of the day an optimist but “United we stand, divided we fall” is, in my opinion, where we are headed. My hope is cooler heads will prevail this go round but I agree with you the anger of this certain segment and might I add generation, is not being addressed and seemingly is not going to simply go away until they are satisfied with the answers or simply die of old age.
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And the fear is real too: https://endsandbeginningsblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/23/make-americans-scared/
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Me too, a whole new level, and the anger is not in them, it is in us, and it is disturbing. Fear fuels their anger, and the fear is being fueled by reality tele and news…. but I see it in daily interchanges with people and it is disturbing. Hard to not want to add fuel to the fire. BTW, you know me as zenkatwrites. Nice blog.
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Thank you Kate. My hope and pray is that calmer minds will prevail. All this anger needs some perspective.
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It seems all to incredible and unrealistic that DT could have such a huge following as he does… I kept thinking and hoping it was all part of a giant plan to funnel voters to vote for his former buddy, Hillary… That he would drop out of the race when it looked like she was a shoe-in and he would lambaste his followers for being so easily led down a path of national destruction! That he’s not gleeful that he can manipulate people and control them like puppets.
Now I’m not sure that he doesn’t truly have eyes on the Oval Office. I’m not a citizen so I can’t vote, I can only hope that he scares enough people to vote a better candidate in. Personally, I’d vote for Bernie!
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Americans are a sleep and I keep hoping they are going to wake up. Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts.
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I couldn’t agree with you more. I am always saying to people that if you want to know what the people in your community REALLY think, just read the responses of any news story. It never ceases to amaze me just how evil people can be, who ARE these people? Like you, it scares the hell out of me.
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Yes, very scary. Thank you for reading and taking the time to share your thoughts.
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Well said. I wonder if people would be so angry and hostile in person? Perhaps the anonymity of the internet brings out the worst in the commenters? Like an excess of alcohol? Okay, so maybe I’m just trying to convince myself people really aren’t that mean or hateful.
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Shelley, I try to convince myself of the same thing. I do worry though that there is a segment of our society that feels so disenfranchised with the rest of the world because…..name your reason, not making enough money, not getting the respect they think they are due….lashing out anonymously gives them power and control. But what happens when that isn’t enough? Thanks for reading and taking the time to share your thoughts.
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Many millions, maybe a majority, support Trump and Brexit – not just McVeagh clones. Maybe they are saying we want our governments to be conservative and protective of what we have got; we don’t want to be open and inclusive; we want fewer civil liberties and less attention to minorities.
Your viewpoints may be a minority – demonising those who differ is not the answer.
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Then let’s just divide the country in half, build a wall right down the middle because tangibly that is what we are doing. The point of your comment was “demonising those who differ is not the answer” isn’t that what Trump has done to blacks, hispanics, muslims, women…..
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