General Discussion

I had an elderly family member who one day, out of the blue, said something the the effect of:

"If Biden gets elected you better get a shotgun because the African-Americans are going to come and take out homes."

He used a different word than "African-Americans" though...

After the initial shock and disgust at hearing that, I puzzled over understanding where this was coming from. I mean, the guy obviously had racist, bigot views - but it wasn't just that he thought his race was superior to others. He really was in fear of this happening. And somehow Biden being elected was going to be the triggering factor.

He spent most of his day sat watching the TV, watching Fox News and other similar media. He was being told day in and day out that he was under attack from immigrants, and gangs, and thugs, and protestors, and liberals, etc. He was being told that his rights were being taken away and he was going to be a second class citizen unless he defended those rights himself. He was being told by Trump that all these evil people are coming for you and I (Trump) am the only thing protecting you from them, so you better get me elected or you will lose everything.

Don't get me wrong - I am in no way trying to defend this guy or justify his views - but he was far more of a symptom of the problem as opposed to be the cause. Unfortunately, it is a system where the feedback from people like him just push himself and others deeper and deeper into this dark hole. That was his actual understanding of reality. That was how he saw the world.

It is so much easier to get people on your side by pointing out who to hate and who is the enemy rather than trying to unite them around any beneficial cause. And when you give people someone to hate and fear, they focus on that group rather than paying any attention to what you are really doing and getting away with.