Prior to 2020, there was already a great divide politically, particularly within the United States. It has all been ampliphied in 2020 with the election and with the reactions to the coronavirus.
You can see the divide almost everywhere. You can see it by the vote totals in the election. You can see it on Facebook, although I believe the anti Trump forces tend to be more vocal.
Now you can see it with the way people are living their lives. Some are trying to live their life while doing their best to ignore society around them. In other words, they try to do the things they were doing prior to March 2020. Others do what they are told (by the people they listen to and trust) and mostly stay at home. If they venture out, they will mask up and do their best to avoid any gatherings.
One of the controversies (for anyone paying attention) to the presidential election surrounds mail-in ballots. While it is odd that so many of the swing states seemed to stop counting or stop reporting votes in the middle of the night after the voting ended, it does make sense that the mail-in ballots went heavily for Biden.
Many of the Trump supporters certainly didn’t want to use mail-in ballots because of the potential for fraud. But more than that, Trump voters were less afraid to go vote in person on Election Day. Biden supporters – or more accurately, anti Trump supporters – were far more likely to vote by mail.
This makes perfect sense because the anti Trump people tend to be more terrified of the virus. But why is this so?
I believe it can be summed up easily. The anti Trump people listen to and believe everything that the establishment media tells them to believe. The Trump people, for obvious reasons, don’t trust most anything coming from the establishment media. So when the media tells you how horrible and dangerous the virus is and that you must obey your orders, the anti Trump people are more likely to obey.
Of course, it isn’t 100% clean like this. I don’t trust the establishment media at all. When it comes to important things, I tend to believe the opposite of what they say. Most libertarians should be in this camp, although I know a few people who identify as libertarians who somehow believe virtually everything they’re told by the corporate media. Still, even within the libertarian camp, those who don’t trust the media at all tend to be more sympathetic to Trump, even if they would not call themselves Trump supporters.
Do as I Say, Not as I Do
The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, has gotten a little attention lately. As he is imposing hard restrictions (particularly partial lockdowns) on the people of California, he was caught going to a dinner party. He also apparently lied, saying it was held outside, and then pictures were released showing it was clearly inside.
Newsom said he was within guidelines, but he sort of apologized for not setting a good example.
Wouldn’t this just destroy any credibility he had with the people of California? Are they even aware that this happened, or are they protected from this news in their bubble? I have to imagine that with social media (despite attempts at censoring) and local new outlets, most Californians would have to know this happened. They would also have to know about Nancy Pelosi visiting a hair salon inside without a mask or her having to cancel a dinner she was going to host for incoming representatives.
Why would the people of California continue to listen to these people? Why would they continue to obey their orders?
There is certainly some outrage over the hypocrisy of these people. But the hypocrisy is not what bothers me the most, and that isn’t what should bother the people of California the most. They should be most bothered that they are being lied to.
Obviously, Newsom, Pelosi, and others issuing these edicts or recommendations to lock down do not believe what they are saying in terms of the virus. Gavin Newsom was not worried for this life by going to lunch with a group of people outside of his family. Nancy Pelosi, who is 80 years old, isn’t worried about dying of the coronavirus when she is walking in a hair salon without a mask.
Yet, these people will easily ruin your life. They will shut down your business. They will force you out of your “non-essential” job. They will tell you not to see your family for Thanksgiving. They will tell you that your kids can’t play sports and see their friends. They will willingly wreck the lives of millions of people all based on a lie. They don’t believe they are helping anyone. Otherwise, their actions would not show us breaking their own rules.
Two Worlds of Media
I am fond of the idea of panarchy, where people get to choose their own government. Maybe we should have a world where people get to choose their own media, and this can be their own reality.
A few days after the election was over, the corporate media called the whole thing for Biden. They just started calling him President-Elect Biden, even though the vote counting hadn’t finished, Trump hadn’t conceded anything, and there were many allegations of election fraud. The media just mostly ignored Trump and reported on the situation as they saw it.
There has been a little bit of forced coverage lately, but still not much. Of course, any coverage there is assures us that this was the most secure election in history. (How could anyone possibly know that?)
I was wondering if we could just separate and live in our own realities. There is actually widespread agreement when it comes to government education, Social Security, massive deficit spending, etc. These are things that most Trump supporters and most anti Trump people agree on in terms of the big picture. So all of that can continue on (unfortunately).
What if the establishment media just tells all of its listeners that Biden is officially president? On January 20, 2021, they can show his inauguration. He will do it in an inside and controlled environment. There won’t be any people except a few family members and a Supreme Court justice to swear him in, all in the name of staying safe from the coronavirus.
Biden will be the president for the establishment media followers. Meanwhile, the alternative media reports that Trump has successfully proven election fraud and Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, and Wisconsin have all gone red. Trump has been reelected and stays in the White House.
For Biden, his handlers purchase a piece of property near his home in Delaware. They make a look-alike Oval Office. They might have to get a few white columns with a green lawn for some outside photographs. Biden can report to his people from the Oval Office or the lawn. He can even name his cabinet.
Biden could even meet with a few foreign leaders. Trump will just say that he is ramping up his America-first policy and doesn’t need to meet with these people. Trump can go to North Korea for diplomatic relations, but this will only be covered by alternative media sources.
It will be like The Truman Show. The Trump supporters just need to keep their mouths shut about it if they accidentally watch NBC Nightly News.
If you’ve ever seen The Truman Show, the character played by Jim Carrey finds his way out at the end. He realizes that he is living in a false reality. I can just picture a Joe Biden supporter accidentally finding a website and realizing he’s living a false reality. “I had a few of my conservative friends try to tell me something about the media lying a few years ago, but I didn’t believe them.”
Ok. So I am obviously joking about this whole thing of living in two different worlds. But when you think about it, we are not that far from that reality now. There are two different worlds. There are two different sets of people who don’t just believe different things. They believe the opposite of each other in many cases.
We are already somewhat in that world in terms of the coronavirus. There is one side that sees the whole thing as a sham. At best, they see the coronavirus as a bad flu season. Then there’s the other side that sees it as a pandemic that is wrecking our society. But it isn’t a pandemic of a virus that’s wrecking our society. It is the fear brought on by the establishment media.
Mark Twain reportedly said that it is easier to fool someone than to convince him that he has been fooled. I can think of no better time than 2020 to illustrate this point. Of course, in order to illustrate this point, you have to convince someone that they have been duped.
There are two worlds. There are those who believe everything they are told by the establishment media, and there are those who believe almost nothing they are told by the establishment media.