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Conservative Men, Can We Talk?
We might have more in common than we think
Psst. Over here
It’s me, the spiky-haired liberal woman with the “SNFLAK” license plate (SNOWFLAKE: get it? See, not all of us libs take ourselves too seriously). Before you roll your eyes and turn away, let’s acknowledge one thing we have in common: you and I both get a daily drenching from the firehose that is media.
And those messages — especially the ones from social media, a personalized, targeted stream with the force of a psychological power washer — tell you and me very different things. Or, the same things but from opposite angles.
The one thing they agree on is that, ideologically, you and I are natural enemies.
This ability to steer us into separate cages, from which we can be poked and goaded into ever-rising levels of resentment and directed to vent our spleen on one another — that’s a valuable skill.
It works beautifully for media conglomerates and political campaigns, which is why they invest so much in it. Reaching into our pockets or manipulating our votes is much easier when we’re frightened, angry, and distracted.
But it’s not so great for you and me, is it?
