Yvonne Smith, I didn't feel offended at all...but to group people on account of the language they speak is equivalent to lack of knowledge and in USA there is a tendency to generalize. Trust me, the only thing in common about the Latin Americans is Columbus RE-discovering the New World, the Spanish colonization / stealing. See, people in Singapore, Thailand, New Zealand....speaks English. but they are not British.
I get that, but I don't think it's gaslighting. I don't like the fact that some Americans are hyphenated, while others are not, but that's not gaslighting either. Gaslighting is an important topic.
Ken Anderson, Well, since "Hispanic" was used on this thread I took the opportunity to explain its meaning. Nothing else.
Gaslighting is a little more complex than just being told lies. It's being told lies by someone you think you can trust.
Well I have to say that made a lot of sence and I now know what gaslighting means.Geeze I'm glad my life is small.I will also say that Caucasian in itself is a minority or at least that's what it seems to look like when I go out to the grocery store or gym.
Information comes from various sources with various biases. To pierce through the obfuscation, we really have to read and research extensively. Take information like the way academics write a formal paper. In today's world, with all the lies and spin going on, unless we engage that level of scrutiny of information, anything could be truth. But lies and spin pretty quickly become revealed if we get in there with that academic methodology. Today's politicians frequently say the exact opposite of what they said just a couple of years before. But we generally, don't catch these things because our lives are not solely fixed on analyzing the news. One sign of scammers is that they do not reference experts. They just reference people with an opinion. If someone has worked at the US State Department for 20 years, on issues regarding Japan, speaks fluent Japanese, has spent years in Japan and has extensive degrees in Japanese history and politics...that person certainly knows a lot more than people without that experience. And yes, that kind of person can lie also...but at least they do actually know what is going on and their odds of transmitting accurate information are much more likely. One of the signs of scammers is that they always say, "I alone know what the truth is." Anyone who says that is suspect. And anyone who demonizes people with an opposite point of view as horrible or evil, is also suspect. People who deal with the truth recognize that people of various opinions can offer valuable comment on an issue. People who say one side or the other is always wrong, or always right...they are dealing in propaganda, not the truth. Any time someone offers an extreme position...that means the verification of that position requires extreme proof. And that means, that the more extreme a position is, the more unlikely that it is true.
Well said. I would add one more bit to that. I am always suspicious of those who are so eager to get in front of a camera and microphone, someone who is doggedly pushing a narrative, a singular point of view. The “look at me” infection is not restricted just to young YouTube/TikTok/Instagram/OnlyFans stars.
"the more extreme a position is, the more unlikely that it is true." Generally this is right, but extraordinary times make for extraordinary truths. Witness all the 'crazy' conspiracy theories that are being shown as fact when we would like to continue to believe as most others do. I'm not suggesting that we should believe a thing just because it is outside the mainstream view. Rather, we should just continue to use our own best judgment. That's often hard and we feel like we're standing alone.where when our own conclusions aren't the sames as others.
That sounds reasonable, but it depends on who is setting the bar. Leftists have spent decades framing the debate so that what used to be mainstream conservative a few decades ago is considered to be on the far-right wacko extreme by their followers, and people who watch MSNBC or CNN.
Ken is making sense. Way back when I thought of myself as a progressive leftist. My values have shifted a bit as they should with any thinking person, but it's the political landscape that has moved under me, to the point that I align more with conservatives. Go figgur.
from Wikipedia: List of American federal politicians convicted of crimes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_federal_politicians_convicted_of_crimes +++ They are all corrupt, on both sides of the aisle. With a few exceptions. It's hardly just one side. I'm from New Jersey. I personally heard a state rep soliciting a bribe from a contractor. In North Jersey, I would guess that 75% of the politicians are in bed with the Mafia, to one degree or another. It is just that bad. Not saying that they are in on the murders, they just take bribes to throw contracts one way or another...things like that. People talk about issues. This issue, that issue. Almost all of what is going on in the halls of power, are deals to make money. Actual political issues that affect actual lives, mean just about nothing to these people. It's all just money. In the Bible, even Isaiah said so, directly: "Your leaders are rebels, the companions of thieves. All of them love bribes and demand payoffs, but they refuse to defend the cause of orphans or fight for the rights of widows." -- Isaiah 1:23 And that is really the way it is. Some politician says that he wants you to join him in the fight to make America strong. But what he is really doing is trying to make some weapons deal, so that he can get a huge kickback from the weapons manufacturer! And the public thinks he is a great guy, who is for a strong defense. In actuality, he is just a guy looking for the biggest kickback he can find. That is most of the kind of thing that goes on in Congress...and also in state and local government. There used to be a group of retired generals and admirals, who fought against this military corruption...because it was interfering with the actual defense needs of the country. I think the group was called Center for Defense Information. I think it closed after the founder, an admiral, finally passed away.