Dare I say that the majority of United States citizens hold common conservative values. This is not to say there aren’t differences of opinion on various topics and issues confronting our nation; it’s just that the lack of objectivity and variety of the voices in the news media give us a less than realistic view of how a majority of Americans think, and what they hold dear. An honest and more varied media voice would better represent the thoughts of our many countrymen.
Currently, if you turn on the TV and listen to the news, you will hear the same political and social dogma from all sides, save perhaps Fox News. Do those results mean that all but one out of some ten or twelve Americans fall in line with liberal views on welfare, immigration, abortion, violence, human rights, the role and scope of government, and the Constitution? Does that ratio represent the constituency of the country? Of course not, but you sure can’t tell by today’s media representation.
At this point in America’s story, not only does the media echo the exact same liberal leaning sentiments from nearly all fronts, but they are crafting what they choose to report and share with us in order to skew our view of reality; to make us think our generally conservative way of thinking, so different than theirs, makes us some sort of outliers. Based on the last presidential election results, what the media tried to paint as random unusual voter patterns were actually the majority of the country. That means the narrow, slanted view pouring out of the majority of conventional media is NOT the generally accepted view of the common man in this country.
Even as little as 50 years ago, the news media was in the business of reporting facts, hunting down stories, verifying their voracity, and then – and only then – reporting those truths to the public. Should a reporter, editor, or news organization get it wrong, they were morally and agreeably obligated to report that mistake via an apology, retraction, and correction. Knowingly leaving erroneous information in the public domain was not only unprofessional, but flat out unacceptable.
As any informed American can now see, the moral compass of the reporting profession is broken. Today’s lack of candor, convenient use of “anonymous sources”, unprofessional opining, printing of unverified and uncorroborated material, and unwillingness to correct misinformation and lies is poisoning America’s relationship with its own news media. This growing lack of trust makes it easy to write off important issues and happenings; but this is not the responsible thing to do. Each one of us must take time to find out the facts, ask questions, think critically, and assess what makes sense in the midst of all this dishonesty.
Because people don’t stand by their own words, don’t say what they mean and mean what they say, it’s all too easy to write off what we hear. Except of course, when it is full of emotion, outrage, -isms,and gossip. Then, suddenly people are willing to accept anything and the truth becomes irrelevant.
A liberal is only a liberal with other people’s money. As soon as their pocketbooks get involved, they quickly become conservatives – they’re down with O.P.M. Don’t believe me, check the statistics on generous giving of leading liberals, check out their net worth, check out the value of their homes and where they live. You will quickly see that they don’t practice what they preach … they just preach. They have oodles of ideas of what to do with the little bit of money we have and try to legislate pipe dreams about what to do with the money of “the rich” … that is, other rich people, not them.
I consider myself a conservative because I believe I know best what to do with my own money, not government. I believe I am responsible for my own life, success or failure, not the nameless and faceless “them”. I don’t “deserve” things beyond basic human needs simply because I exist. If I want something, I have to work for it and make the necessary sacrifices to get it; no one owes it to me.
If I want to leave money or things for my children to enjoy – benefits of my hard work – I should be able to without fear of them being ostracized, stolen from, taxed to death, or demonized for my gifts. If I can construct a deal to legally make more money than someone else, that speaks to my ingenuity and should be rewarded, not squelched. If I break the law, I have to pay the price for it; and if I don’t think the legal system is fair, I should think twice before doing something illegal that will land me in it.
I think all people in America have a chance at success, whatever that looks like to them, regardless of their background, status, race, gender, or anything else. I believe an unskilled worker should not complain about being paid less than a skilled one. Neither should they complain about the exorbitant paycheck of someone else, but should instead either happily accept what they make, find another work situation, or go out and gain a skill to earn more.
I don’t believe the government has the answers to my everyday problems; me, my family, and my neighbors do. In fact, government wastes more money, resources, and opportunities than any entity in the history of our country. We can come together and do better individually, with small businesses, and in our neighborhoods than any government program can hope to do.
You don’t have to agree with everything I statedhere, but I bet the majority of you can get behind a lot of it. That’s because Americans are basically fair-minded, hard-working, and caring individuals. If you don’t think so, take a look around you and do an informal survey of everyday people at your job, school and neighborhood. We all want the same things: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
#notAfraidToThink #reUnifyOurCountry #mediaBias #americanValues
EmmSix 