I must be terribly bored sometimes. I get most of my news from news that I have ‘liked’ on Facebook. I don’t read them all but do sometimes. And then I make the mistake of reading the comments. Some of the subjects that I read about are pretty inflammatory. So, the comments can draw people from very differing backgrounds and views. If these comments are intelligent and informative, I enjoy them. When they resort to name calling I get very suspicious. I figure these people are probably paid hacks.
For example, although I do not own a gun, I’m pretty much pro gun. I figure that the USA is a gun culture and there is no getting away from that. I’ve worked at gun shows and spent time talking to people in parts of the USofA and Canada where people own a lot of guns. By and large the people I have met are intelligent and well spoken. All of them friendly and giving. So, when I see many of the comments just name calling some anti-gun person, I suspect that these people are there just to make the pro gun faction look bad. Works for both sides. Happens the other way as well. Or when the winner of the recent Miss America pageant is attacked viciously on the internet. I would be very surprised if the majority of people making these nasty comments are not paid to stir up trouble. It could very easily be a handful of people trying to create friction. Create distractions and upset. That make more sense to me than that many stupid, ignorant people.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about here…the recent winner of Miss America is of (East) Indian heritage and was attacked for be a Muslim and whatever goes with that. Really, who cares but the silly thing is that she is from India and a Hindu not a Muslim. A lot of Americans may not know the difference but I’m sure that someone started the whole name calling thing just to create conflict where there was none.
I have met a lot of people. I talk to a lot of people. I get in communication with many people. I find out about them. And most are really, really decent. They have their problems and ups and downs but all feel bad when they do something wrong and most, by far, are willing to see another point of view.