If you want to better understand how we got to this level of division in America, how we create scapegoats to blame, how we make politically motivated – poor long-term decisions, how we are unable to solve problems large and small, you need look no further than the posts and comments on Twitter, Facebook, etc.
There you will find misinformation and outright false information widely spread and accepted, along with naive pandering “solutions.”
My favorite point of view is that we can have so much more “free” from government.
Why is it so hard to think through an issue and look for the facts?
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
“My favorite point of view is that we can have so much more “free” from government.”
Or…
“My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.”
Comme ci, comme ça
My opinion is that as the world becomes more complicated, we need more government, not less, and it is definitely not “free”, the question then becomes, who pays?*
Even if we could agree on where we need to go, we may never agree on how to get there.
Reagan wants to maximize taxes by –cutting– taxes for the rich? Grover wants to minimize taxes, period?
We are not totally screwed, yet, but I’m afraid I won’t live long enough to see how we get out of this conundrum.
*The rich, of course. As Willie Sutton says, that’s where the money is.
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Who pays is clear as it is in European and Scandinavian countries EVERYBODY pays.
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It wasn’t always that way.
Dick
Richard D Quinn Blogging at Quinnscommentary.net and HumbleDollar.com @quinnscomments
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I can’t be “United” with someone who constantly lies and spends tax money profligately. I can’t be “United” with someone who doesn’t mind pushing this country toward nuclear war. More Perfect Union is a goal and long way to go.
A lot of people ignore the constitution and Declaration of Independence as a bunch of old school stuff. Until that changes, there is no harmony.
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I know that main stream media was always bias but they have failed to follow good journalism practices in the digital age. They almost never provide the Who, What, When, Where, and Why and often filled their stories with opinions instead of facts or opposing points of view. If any opinion that is not aligned with their view, they called it misinformation without proving proof. Also, quoting Twitter and Instagram is just lazy. Readers should apply some critical thinking and judge for themselves about news stories but it is real hard to get facts.
Another issue is distrust of our governmental agencies. I thought it was bad before covid, but covid shined a light on the problem. Clearly the FBI, DOJ, CDC, ATF, and FDA are all corrupt to some level. The lies that are coming out of the White House today are just so easy to verify as lies by replaying the same story only a month earlier. The lies are worse than they ever have been before. There were lies before now too, it is nothing new. I just can believe that people believe them and TV shows repeat them so often while other shows and news outlets from around the world play the opposing clips and laugh at us. So, in the end, can you trust the facts issued from the government?
I think the biggest problem is that “we the people” are not fighting back. We should be demanding answers and to be heard. The politicians and the media are changing definitions of words and we the people are just accepting it. From “what is a women” to “peaceful demonstrations” that result in the burning down neighborhoods. Parents speaking at school board meetings are not “terrorist” and there is no way that our boarders are secured. Inflation is real and gas prices went up before the war in Europe started.
I know that this has been going on since this country’s founding, but for me, I became aware of just how bad government misinformation or concealing the true was a few years after 9/11. It has only grown worse. Colleges seem like they back the government positions. They will even silence their own professors if they have to do it. It makes me wonder how much money are they getting from the government in grants?
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The problem is we have ignored the key words, “UNITED” and “MORE PERFECT UNION”
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