Taking a look back, the past two years have been pretty significant in how much I’ve learned about politics and the history of its role in the United States. Through taking AP government senior year of high school I’ve been more inclined and in tune with the political world around me and how it affects my everyday life. More recently, I’ve been spending most of my mornings reading The Washington Post or The New York times at the dinner table to catch up on daily news. One of the biggest topics that has caught my attention is the ideology of right-wing conservatives.
The past few weeks have been eventful to say the least. Most of the gaze has been guided towards the capital as we look at the recovery of the attack and the turning of a new leaf as Joe Biden as our new president. However I intend to try and unpack and give my point of view on why the attack on the capital even occurred. As more information is being found and being released I am brought under the assumption that much of this aggressive rhetoric has been fed by Trump himself, Conservative groups, much of which were a part of the capital attack, and ring wing media.
With so much bias in the media, what people want to believe it’s hard to write on an issue that can cause serious opposition. But I feel, from history and peers around me, that The New York Times is a neutral news source that does not take into account bias. The very thing that is ripping our country apart right now. The very thing that caused this capital attack we saw. As I’ve read over the articles to catch a glimpse at a fuller picture of the incentives that drove these “radicalist” to such extreme ends as to try and storm the capital, the biggest underlying event was the right-wing media and what they announce to the public. Glenn Beck, a radio show host stated on his radio show directed towards republican conservatives said “it is time to fight”. Glenn said this believing that votes had been counted illegally and that Biden cheated his way to presidency. Beck stated this anarcial opinion after Trump himself, the president at the time, stated that the election had been rigged.
However, no evidence suggests that illegal votes had been registered nor did Biden win using foul play. This is yet another example of how the use of the media has corrupted and almost “brainwashed” certain americans into believing such radical beliefs and unconstitutional behaviors.
These behaviors can be traced back to conspiracy theories and fake news surrounding both parties of the government. However The New York Times along with accounts from interviewees from the right-wing suggests that Trump’s hard right-wing supporters consume these theories as actual reality leading them to have such drastic and biased opinions. Many of these right wing groups include the Proud Boys, Neo-Nazis, and the Three Percenters.
This closed minded and simple thinking is what I think is the leading issue in the polarization of our american nation. This goes for both parties as it seems we are in a perpetual war for values and rights we do not agree upon. We stay fighting to get our point across to the other side but it’s of no use as the other side just backlashes in disapproval. We need to change our thinking if we want to become a stronger nation as a whole.
It’s always difficult to relate to someone who you share “nothing” in value with, but it’s my understanding as a student that no matter the case, people can find reason if they just talk sensibly. The United States is in such a polarized state that we are doing more harm than good to ourselves. I have friends who’ve known each other since middle school who have turned on each other for having such separate political values. It’s in our best interest to try and put aside our differences and to focus on what we share in order to rebuild and unite after the attack on the capital and with a new president in office.
Conflict will only weigh us down. It’s up to us, as a whole nation, to try and come together and create ideals that work for both sides that do not invigorate such malpractice as to create right-wing militia groups that believe violence is the answer.
I believe that these certain groups should be terminated from society. It’s my understanding that these groups are a huge threat to domestic violence and are no better than radical anarchists groups. These groups are dangerous and are fueled on federal theories. They put the community in danger and do nothing better than invigorate the ongoing fire of polarization.
It should be those who put our public safety in jeopardy that are handled first. They are sometimes the reason people do not stand up or are afraid to speak their mind. The rest is up to us. We need to be able to identify common places and practices to understand that we aren’t that different from one another. Joe Biden stated this in his inauguration address and I’m going to end my blog with his words
To overcome these challenges — to restore the soul and to secure the future of America — requires more than words.
It requires that most elusive of things in a democracy:
Unity.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/07/us/names-of-rioters-capitol.html
https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/20/politics/joe-biden-speech-transcript/index.html
I am a big fan of PSU students being able to sign up for a free NY Times account. Coming from conservative parents, I never had a subscription until I came here because the Wall Street Journal rules in my house. The whole Capitol Attack will go down as an utter disgrace for this country and I only hope that we will not see such an event again in our lifetimes. I see the Capitol Building as an almost sacred aspect of American democracy so the fact that people could break in and trash it really impacted how I feel about the strength and health of American institutions. There is no place in our society for violent hate groups.
I think finding the root cause for the Capitol attack is something that’s very important for the democracy. I completely agree that those who incited violence should face the appropriate consequences; however, I would also argue that there’s a fine line between the stopping these radical groups and censorship/silencing the opinions of a large population. Unity is certainly something that’s needed for a country to be successful, but disagreement and polarization on issues isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it ideally leads to compromises and more moderate policy decisions. Regardless, I think this blog is really interesting and I’m looking forward to reading the next one.
For someone who is not politically on the right it is becoming more and more difficult to understand what they are thinking. It used to be just conservative issues such as being against abortion and for limited government, which whether you agreed with these arguments or not, they were at least understandable. Now its turned into utter insanity such as believing school shootings are fake or everything about Qanon. I am not sure where America goes in the future with now a decent percent of its population becoming complete lunatics.