file this under "how to lose friends and alienate people".
but i don't care.
i get so tired of one sided articles being pushed as truth. too many people on my friends list need to go to journalism 101 and learn how to figure out if something is a legitimate news outlet or simply rhetoric, whose main purpose is to stir emotions and get you crazed.
inflammatory articles. put out by "news" agencies. yep. i put quotes around that. because real news reports fact with no opinion. they let you look at something and use your brain to assess it for value.
it doesn't stop at political ramblings by left or right wing nuts (they do exist on BOTH sides, by the way). it's the articles that are quickly dispelled if you look any.where.else.
i call them incendiary articles, because they start fires. they prey on your emotion, stir you to action-post this on facebook!!! tell your friends!!!! a great wrong is occurring!!!! and you do, because, well, the internet told you to! the internet doesn't lie!
yes. yes it does. it lies all the time.
it's called manipulation. "make us famous! here is a story, made to make you fear the very thing you love. we came up with it. no one else is reporting it! (because it's not true!) but we are breaking this story and you should love us now! look how we protect you from fears you never even had."
so here is how you don't fall victim for their traps. start using that thing that is in your head. i hear that it is meant for forming individual thoughts.
listen to me when i say this, things are very rarely as they are presented. there is always another side to the story. always.
i think, if you have siblings, you probably can understand this more than anyone. remember when you were a kid, and your sibling would pick and pick and pick. and then you would get sick of it, and you would snap and yell, or scream or throw something, or (gasp) hit them? and who got in trouble? you. because you were the one who got caught. your sister or brother were crying foul, and mom, bless her tired, overstimulated heart, believed them. you. go to your room. (ugh. bless my tired, overstimulated heart. i do this all the time.....)
but....but.....but......that's not the whole story!
exactly.
i heard once, there are 3 sides to every story, your side, their side and the truth. so, if your favorite shock jock provides you a story to make your blood boil, and "their side" provides the explanation, you can assume that the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
i write this, because i have a headache from all the eye rolling. please friends. i love you. i just want what is best for you. don't stress yourself out over the lies that are out there to draw you in. use your giant, working brain! it is amazing!
plus also, i hear that if you think about things a lot, you live longer. yep. i made that up. but it feels good, right? let's go with it.
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