If you are an adult and you are being told or encouraged to not listen to someone, or told to avoid certain newspapers or TV news shows; that you can only believe “us”; you are being manipulated. Many avoid listening to anyone else with a different opinion for many reasons, but this is self-inflicted ignorance. Don’t let others dumb you down and don’t keep yourself in the dark. If you find yourself depending on only one newspaper or internet site in this day in age, you are then nothing more than a pawn being used for someone else’s agenda. Right now we have a president who is constantly slamming the mainstream media, calling it all “fake news”. We have some news commentators on the right saying the same thing. It has evolved into treating our intelligence departments the same way – if don’t like what they say, then it must not be true.
I can tell you this: Almost all reporters hate to get the story wrong, to make a mistake, or especially to have to retract an article and apologize. Almost all FBI and law enforcement officers feel the same way- they want to get their facts right and they want to do their job. All these people are trying to do their jobs and be proud of their work. The bad apples usually get weeded out eventually, and there are some bad apples in these professions just like every other profession. Of course, actions and reports are made that are not exactly 100% fair or down the middle, which is hard to do because we all have our knowledge and experiences and opinions.
When I was in business selling embroidery machines I was pretty confident I had the best one to sell. I encouraged potential customers who had doubts to check out the competition, I knew most would come back, and I was right. If you are confident in your beliefs, then you shouldn’t have a problem listening to the other side. If you watch certain news shows and they seldom bring on guests from the other side, or when they do they don’t give them much of a chance to talk, you are being manipulated. I know some conservative people that are proud when they say they don’t watch or read any mainstream media, like they are insulating themselves from the devil or something. Some religious people have been convinced the other side is evil and should be avoided. There are really good people on both sides. If you are told differently then you have your head buried in the sand. Maybe it’s a comfort to you, to keep yourself in the dark. But right now too many people are running to their corner and not even trying to meet in the middle. Our politicians are doing that and this needs to change or our country will suffer even more. I encourage everyone to take a look at what is being said on the other side, even if it doesn’t change your opinions at all. At least you will have a better idea of why your friends and family members think the way they do. Keep your mind and heart open, we all have a lot to learn and comprehend.