Yes, and not only in the USA.
In every Western country.
IN the old days, the rational man formed his opinion based on the facts that he processed. But that is all changed now. It is a new world.
Nowadays, the rational human being forms his or her opinion based on the prejudices, ideas and feelings they have; then they go looking for facts to support their opinions; using their general belief in the way things are ordered as a compass.
It is a mess, but that is the only way to go about it.
If Putin says one thing is happening in Syria; and Obama says another, who does the rational man believe?
He could choose to believe neither; or he can decide whom to believe depending on which one he deems the most trustworthy based on past interactions that he has had with this person’s image in the media.
That is one example; but it applies to almost any example in politics in almost any country in the world right now.
In fact, when you think about it, it has always been like this. One of the chief differences between our time and the past is that in the past, the common man was always the recipient of propaganda and information; now, though, he also joyfully relays it to other ordinary people not by word of mouth but through the awesome transmitter he has at his own desk, the computer—communicating to potentially millions of ordinary people who he is connected by via a web of acquaintances and acquaintances of acquaintances; all of whom, increasingly, shape themselves to think exactly the same way as he does; while those who have opposing opinions are increasingly marginalized and dehumanized in a kind of war about what actually is the real truth.
All of this points to one thing: the spool around which society is ravelled has vanished without a trace.
Written November
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