This video (attached) is not a mistake. It's just the most recent and blatant example of a deliberate and dangerous reality distortion field that's been coming from the right for a long, long time. Most notably from Fox News and most recently from the Trump campaign.
It's designed to scare you into voting Republican. Because any population that's afraid is easy to manipulate and subjugate.
To anyone who still supports the Republican Party and/or Donald Trump. Your anger, heartbreak, and desperation are real. Some of your grievances are real. However, much of your information and understanding about the issues, the candidates, the causes and the solutions is dramatically warped beyond all recognition.
I implore you to reach beyond your conservative information sources and your fear and consider...
1. Most of the meta-trends show that the US and the world are actually getting better. Any numbers you can cite are likely short term blips.
2. Your manufacturing jobs are not coming back and it's not because of foreigners or trade deals. It's because the world is becoming a fundamentally more connected place with information and transportation technologies reducing the cost and complexity of international trade. And that's a good thing for everyone - ultimately (over decades) leading to less war and poverty for everyone.
3. Terrorists and immigrants are not going to kill you. Your eating habits and guns are. Statistically speaking this isn't about a bowl of skittles. It's about Olympic-sized swimming pools filled with them. Guess what? The world is dangerous and no politician is going to keep you 100% safe. Instead, we need to live our ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We need to show the world compassion and lead by example. You can NOT fight fear and anger with the same. That's the price (and the privilege) of living in a free society as part of a global community.
4. Obama and Hillary are not crazy left wing socialists. They are basically centrist policy wonks trying their best to keep a fragile world moving in roughly the right direction.
5. Being well-connected, well-informed and “part of the establishment” is not pay-to-play or corruption. It’s the result of high centrality, influence, and respect. That’s what happen when you work in a field dependent on working with people — many of which might be ‘your enemy’.
6. The way a person reacts (words and deeds) in one aspect of life will apply to all other aspects of their life. If Trump can become unhinged with a tweet, then imagine what he can do with an unwanted military maneuver from a foreign power. He has shown his character by both talking about and performing sexual assault and bullying military families and beauty pageant contestants. That's what he'll do if he becomes president. Bully and rape the country and the world.
7. This isn't just a plea for a Democratic president or for American Democracy. When America sneezes the world gets a cold. Having a rational and legitimate Republican Party is essential to the world. When Trump loses (and he must) I beg you to retake the party and return it to sanity. It's literally the fate of the world in the balance.
I could go on. But I won't.
I also doubt many republicans planning to vote for Trump are still reading my feed. So please share this with your family and friends so they see it.
And VOTE.
Cross posted to Medium:
https://medium.com/@chrissaad/trump-supporters-youre-misinformed-3107bcd47975