Fake News?

    Our information sources are in some measure controlled,
    and factual news is hard to find, perhaps to the detriment of
    our culture.  Thoughts?  How did it happen?  Where do the
    lies originate?

There's fake news, and there's propaganda.  The only difference, if perhaps there is any, is where the lie originates.

Sinclair Broadcast Group owns more than 190 local TV stations across the country now. ... Sinclair tells their news anchors to denounce 'Fake News' in a scripted commentary.  It's hilariously funny except when you consider the impact the corporation has.  They can impact public opinion, and they do.

We have a troubling history of misrepresentation by government officials that has cost the lives of many Americans and countless others.

Curious what similar difficulties our republic might face today?  

How America's largest local TV owner turned its news anchors into soldiers in Trump's war on the media: https://t.co/iLVtKRQycL pic.twitter.com/dMdSGellH3

— Deadspin (@Deadspin) March 31, 2018

... and world peace!

Okay, it's a funny movie, but we probably agree with the punchline.

If you sit down and talk with them, Reps and Dems are deeply concerned about today and tomorrow and the challenges we face on the way to ... peace, safety, security, and a meaningful life.

We want a safe place where our children can play, where we can work and earn a living, where everyone has a chance.  We want our community to watch out for our kids and to help them along.  We want to be treated fairly, and to be heard.  We want freedom to think and speak and to learn, and we want to choose the direction for our lives.

For the short-term, we might (individually or collectively) pursue some advantage for ourself despite the cost to others, a perhaps less noble goal.  That particular perspective leads to competition, of course, which wouldn't be bad except some get left behind and die.  And that competition, if unfettered by moral constraint, leads to classism, racism, nationalism, anger, hatred, jealousy, greed, and the suffering and death of innocents.  That's today, not some sad reference to past horrors.

We've been told to pray for for all those in authority, so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.  We're also warned rather pointedly ... "They crown kings, but without asking me. They set up princes but don’t let me in on it. Instead, they worship that which they built from their wealth, and it will be their ruin."

Can we move forward together?  It's perhaps worth remembering that we're not adversaries and that we're reaching for the same goal.  I wish it were an easier task for us all.

A Nation ... Oddly Polarized

Americans understand that social inequality and discrimination are still a problem. More than half of Americans believe that to be true, and formal research supports their belief. 

Now note the differences between political parties.  

Less than 1 in 3 Republicans but almost 8 in 10 Democrats say discrimination is a significant problem. That's what political polarization looks like. What part is based on information?  Results are similar across party platform subject lines, and people of faith and conscience have a problem. 

When the racial discrimination question was first asked in 1994, the partisan difference was 13 points. By 2009, it was only somewhat larger (19 points). But today (2017), the gap in opinions between Republicans and Democrats about racial discrimination has increased to 50 points.

Regarding Islam, the details of which are unfamiliar to most, we find that no factual analysis underlies our strong opinions.  Other issues are positioned similarly by the parties. 

Now, 27% of Democrats and 36% of Republicans see the opposing party as a threat to national well-being, and biased media outlets fan the flame.

Perhaps the most troubling, the Pew Research Center (2014) found that this partisan trend is exaggerated at the polls; specifically, the more extreme an individual's political position, the more likely they are to vote. Now project the effect of that on candidates and governance over time ....

Recent studies conclude our political polarization is largely fear-based.  Today, we have the highest levels of straight-ticket voting since the American National Election Studies first began reporting in 1952.  The trend indicates we are voting against the opposition party rather than for individual candidates based on issues and information.  If, as the studies suggest, our partisanship is based on fear of (animosity toward) the other party, what risks and options do we have ahead of us.
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How bad is this problem? In “The Strengthening of Partisan Affect,” Shanto Iyengar and Masha Krupenkin, political scientists at Stanford, note that

We find that as animosity toward the opposing party has intensified, it has taken on a new role as the prime motivator in partisans’ political lives.

Iyengar and Krupenkin argue that

the impact of feelings toward the out-party on both vote choice and the decision to participate has increased since 2000; today it is out-group animus rather than in-group favoritism that drives political behavior.

Along parallel lines, Alan Abramowitz and Steven Webster, political scientists at Emory University, argue that

one of the most important trends in American politics over the past several decades has been the rise of negative partisanship in the electorate.

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Understanding the country is a citizen's task.