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In December 2016, at a rally in North Carolina, a 12-year-old girl looked at then candidate Donald Trump, “I’m scared,” she said. “What are you going to do to protect this country?”
“You know what, darling?” Trump replied. “You’re not going to be scared anymore. They’re going to be scared.”
Throughout his campaign, Donald Trump played off the rising fear of the American public. His “us vs. them” rhetoric eroded people’s trust in facts, numbers, nuance, government and the news media and augmented the already fragile line of truth. Despite all negatives one can say about Trump, this tactic was clearly successful. He was right to know Americans were afraid and that they would vote accordingly.
But there is a remarkable dissonance between what seems to be and what is. According to Harvard professor, Steven Pinker, “Violence has been in decline over long stretches of time and we may be living in the most peaceful time in our species’ existence.”
In most of the world, the rate of homicide has been sinking. The Great American Crime Decline of the […]
I read your news letter daily and value it, but please tell me you are not unaware of your own distorted propagation of fear over solution or hope articles through this platform.
Jason —
I am very aware of my biases. Why do you think I go to such lengths to separate my personal comments from the report I am presenting? I tell you up front what they are. I don’t think anyone who regularly reads SR has any doubt about my biases. I favor that which fosters wellbeing. My publication is entirely centered on that. What fosters wellbeing, and what degrades it.
Here’s the thing, and I believe it’s somewhat true on Schwartz Report: ‘Be scared’, ‘you don’t have a chance’, ‘you’re toast’ is being pumped thru the media and it’s increasingly difficult to find articles that speak of solutions, groups, etc that do the opposite. Fear is salacious, heart pounding, etc etc.AND it sells. Few if any are talking about the movement that began in Standing Rock which hasn’t stopped! And that’s just one example. In my lifetime, I’ve never seen so many joining together to take life affirming action.
Two or three years ago, there was a piece (not first page) in the NY Times that said the articles that were shared the most were the one that were hopeful, positive news, etc. It’s not just about hope for me. It’s about seeing, being empowered by a state of grace that comes with life affirming thoughts and actions – that connect me with others. That energy takes the sharp edges off of fear. It gets me out of bed in the morning, and it has me reaching out to others.
A footnote to my comment. It seems to me that there are so many more people each day who are actively joining to block T. Stopping the healthcare repeal was an amazing demonstration of that. True, there are still many battles to be engaged in, and the victories are often less than what one hopes for. But knowing that there are people acting is empowering. That their dedication to positive change is being strengthened by the opposition. Highlighting that determination, that gathering of hearts and minds is definitely empowering as it shows us that the powerful human spirit that holds strong to a vision of possibilities that embody compassion and deny that while we may be down and struggling, we’re not defeated.