There is a mind-set that you have to be in one political
camp or another. You have to be right or left wing. Most people are neither but
in many cases the politicians, policy makers and people who have real influence
on society are. Quite often the worst offenders are the political activists
both online and in the real world.
If your right wing you have to have a go at ‘liberal
democracy and ‘woolly minded liberals’ [Their words, not mine]
If your left wing you have to arrogantly look down your
nose at anyone that doesn't believe in a bloated state and public sector.
This mind-set even tries to dictate which newspapers you
should read.
If your right wing you have to despise the guardian and
dismiss everything that’s in it as PC, Britain hating, claptrap, and that these
people can’t get out of bed in the morning because of a lack of a backbone.
Likewise if your left wing you have to sneer constantly
at anyone that reads the daily mail. Dismissing them all as nutters, racists
and closet Nazis!
Well here’s a question. What if you read both papers
online [and many others]several times a week [I wouldn't buy them because I don’t want to help
them peddle some of their rubbish, plus I quite often have to Google a DM story to see
if its true, recent or even relevant]
So does what I read make me a lefty, pc, woolly liberal, Britain
hating, patriotic Nazi, racist, bigot?
Wow what would one
of them look like?
For some reason to be a ‘socially conscious nice human being’
you have to attack papers such as the DM as often as possible. If you don’t
well obviously you’re a right wing nut-job.
Similarly the Guardian; according to the right wing ‘Is read
by lentil eating, humus smelling goat breeders who drive Citroen 2CVs and live
in their own hair’.
So ‘my argument is this. How on earth can you get a
realistic perspective on life if your information comes from one socio-political
base?
No newspaper is totally bad. If you only ever read the
daily mail ‘god help you’.
It must be hard to get out of your bed in the morning
because of all the Muslim terrorists, African rapists and Romanian muggers hiding
behind your bins. That’s assuming you have a bin because of all the unemployed
scroungers and refugee’s that may have stolen it!
Likewise’ If you read nothing but the Guardian. Again ‘god help you’. You must believe that Britain
is responsible for all the worlds’ ills and terrorists are just misunderstood
freedom fighters and there’s a government conspiracy behind everything.
Sometimes the very reason a newspaper runs a story is to
prop up its political bias. But if the story is true it doesn't matter who
publishes it. It’s still true.
Left or right wing should be a false dichotomy if you are a freethinker. I no longer have any time for political parties and just campaign and restrict my activism to single issues that are (I believe) self evidently being dealt with incorrectly or not at all. Overpopulation, 400ppm (climate change), corporations are not people (citizens united case), religion is folly (secularism allows this but keeps it out of state activities) etc. My best recent discovery is Richard D Wolff (rdwolff com) have a listen to his podcast if you want. But in the end I will think for myself and not toe the party line or kowtow to any supposed "authority". Science, skepticism, and freethought for the win.
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