Jon Stewart, former host of The Daily Show, while speaking recently to Charlie Rose about the election of Donald Trump, makes some very interesting comments: For those on the right who have friends who voted for Clinton, and those on the left who have friends who voted for Trump, or even those who have no friends, doesn't what Jon Stewart is saying ring true? Thoughts?
There are a lot of "respectable people" who voted for Trump. They weren't all undereducated hillbillies, etc. College-educated White Women in PA (for example). Of course, the overwhelming majority of the "respectable people" who voted for Trump (most likely providing his razor thin margins in PA, MI and WI) are REGRETTING it now. It seemed like a good idea at the time (much like that last shot of whiskey before going behind the wheel). BUT, the vast majority of "respectable people" (who voted for Trump) are RUEING the day.
Back in the day there was a sense that your racist uncle was a well-intentioned, weird guy with some old fashioned views. Today such people are viewed as covert Hitler agitators. I think we've forgot (or lost) one of the core necessary preconditions for a thriving culture: that we assume the vast majority of people around us are fundamentally good people, even if we strongly disagree with them. _________________________________ We have become neurotically obsessed with a few categories of groups: race, gender, economic class, under the well intentioned premise that even pointing out minor distinctions between these groups is going to lead to some sort of Holocaust 2.0 In our frantic scramble to sterilise the nation of racism and sexism, to avoid othering such people, we've othered each other politically. Stewart is SPOT ON when he points out how we've done this to each other. We've simply replaced race with politics. John Oliver is a pathetic excuse for a host compared to Jon Stewart, who is intelligent, sees through the partisan BS on both sides even if he clearly lives on the left. He was one of the few personalities I found mostly even handed. A bit like Shep Smith on Fox in that respect. I doubt I'll ever watch the Daily Show again.
Of course it is true. My sister in law's family are Trump voters. My wife's aunt and uncle are Trump voters. Are they very good people? Of course they are. So are 99.9% of Clinton voters. We just have a very different viewpoint of what is needed to improve the country. Yet, that doesn't prevent the usual 3-4 threads per day on this forum that uses the actions of a few to paint the whole of the other side as the devil. And that's exactly what the ruling elite wants: Divide and conquer. As long as the electorate fights among themselves over stupidities, they are unlikely to take action to really change the system. This strategy has worked for centuries and it is working now, until eventually it doesn't. My feeling is that conditions for the average Joe will have to become a lot worse until they will unite, no matter conservative or liberal, and do something about it.
That's the very important truth that we somehow lose track of: that no matter how strongly we disagree with them, people are fundamentally good and decent, and are operating in what they believe to be best way forward for the country. Demonizing and lumping people together based on their politics, who they voted for, or the position they hold on one or more specific issues, that leads to a really corrosive situation like the one we currently find ourselves in. It is bad for the country as a whole, and if left to fester unchallenged, will become dangerous in the extreme. And yes, John Oliver doesn't hold a candle to Jon Stewart. Yes. But many seem unwilling or unable to acknowledge the fact that the popularity of candidates like Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders is rooted firmly in a desire of the electorate to see some of the fundamental workings of government changed, as you describe. Neither Trump nor Sanders fall into what most would consider "traditional" Republican or Democratic candidacies, respectively. In supporting these candidates, the electorate seems to be indicating a desire to see the status quo changed. The days of traditional party politics (which is to say, establishment politics) holding sway are, I believe, numbered. It is time we begin to take a cold, hard look at our political system: what we are doing, and why we are doing it. That has begun in earnest. It remains to be seen how far the Trump administration will get, but I doubt even the most ardent opponent to Trump's agenda would refer to what he is attempting to do as "business as usual"...
It takes additional time for Leftist to process something this logical, right now they are conflicted as to accepting his relevance or throwing their once Daily Show host under the has been bus and discrediting his comments, lets watch close, shall we
