Overcoming political divisions in a partisan world

Sep 25, 2020

Welcome to Finance and Fury, the Furious Friday edition.

This episode is a little different – it is some of my commentary about the political division that is starting to emerge – especially in America – but also how to avoid it in your own lives and also prosper through it

1. Populations being divided It is a natural part of any cycle – and in a pretty natural occurrence in the world at large – there is nothing new to people thinking differently – but to what degree and the degree to which this gets played out in society in a physical manifestation does differ
   1. Covered cycles in the Fourth Turning episode as well as the K-wave theory episodes – and the political spectrum of society works in similar cycles – its almost like it is interwoven between the seems of each generational turning – going back to the 1920-30 – things were pretty crazy – then calmed down – before picking back up
   2. Started to see the emergence of everything in modern society being politicised - from race, sex, economics – even a virus
2. Very useful from a politician’s point of view as it is a natural progression for them to pander to a base – as the population becomes more divided – you shore up more of your voting base – picking sides if you will
   1. So politicians have nothing to actually incentivise them to focus on a reduction in the escalation of the tensions in the population – if anything – many would prefer to increase tensions – especially in the US where voting is not mandatory – you need to energize your base to get out and vote for you – nothing will energize someone like an us versus them mentality –
      1. But we see a lot of what happens in the US - so this mentality spreads here as well
   2. Look at the basic psychology of any cult – or cult like group – the first major step is painting a picture of an enemy – whether it be real or imagined – a group soon falls apart without this core aspect – hence division is important – for a cult it means that people will remain within the group and be afraid of those outside the group
3. But does it actually help us as a population?
   1. If anything – and what is fairly evident – it polarises us – divided us – and pits neighbour against neighbour – so in sort it doesn’t
   2. When everything that people pay attention to is politicised – or everything reported on in the media is politicised – is it any wonder that there is political division and hence division in the population – whether it is by design or just an acceleration of a political cycle doesn’t matter – it has the same outcome – that groups of the population are at one another’s throats
   3. Yuri Bezmenov – talks about subversion – KGB defector – the easiest way to destroy a country is not through military force – you let the country destroy itself – political subversion takes a generation or two – but through making people divided in a nation – through removing any long-term goals and focusing on one social issue after another – can easily have a country implode
4. Hence someone’s political leanings and with – their outlook on life can create a further division - especially in a society which is meant to pride itself on differences – such as multi-culturalism which would naturally bring with it differences
   1. I don’t know how many people have seen the irony here – the fact that we can all look different - but don’t you dare think anything different from one another otherwise you are the enemy – complete inversion
   2. The idea that if someone has a different idea about how something should be done is an enemy to the point that violence is the best response is ludicrous
5. But all of this stems from a deeper root – if there is anything emotional running through society which can be used for political gain – it will be
   1. Emotions are a very strong tool to control people – as you don’t need to actually do anything to control them on an ongoing basis
   2. You just instil an emotion and then train the response – pavlovian style – in a classical conditioning sense
   3. We are visual creatures – monkey see monkey do – if we see others acting in one way – we are influenced by this behaviour – especially in mobs – or what we see on a screen

I view politics today as the wings of a bird – whether it be the left or right wing – they are still part of the same bird –

1. This analogy flows through to the entity known as the Government – think of the government as the bird
2. And it either uses its wings to flap one direction or the other – this is a major issue of the two party system – create an us versus them mentality – without realising that no matter which wing we flock to – the bird is still flying higher – whilst our car windows get their splatter
3. Further divides in goals and outcomes that society can agree upon –
   1. Especially when everything being focused on is in the short term
4. One thing that China has going for it at the Government level – 100 year plans – can afford to do this as they know that the same party is likely to still be in power – hence why they have been able to economically beat most nations –
   1. Not saying this is a good thing – as any government that has absolute control is an awful system
   2. But when western Governments and societies are become more totalitarian in nature – if you have one with a plan compared to one without – well the one without will likely fall behind the former
   3. But a government with a plan can be a dangerous thing – depending on how much power it has –
5. If the people have the power and a plan for betterment – and the government helps the people form their own goals and plans at the individual level and follow through on these through allowing the equality of opportunity – society can flourish and grow
   1. But in the name of being progressive – people are tearing down communities at the moment – rioting and destroying the communities that they live in – based upon the perception that there is a lack of opportunity
   2. But when society is divided by the politicians that are meant to rule – we end up eating ourselves - like the ouroboros – snake eating its own tail
   3. But like the ouroboros - it represents the cyclical nature of the environment – and over time – like any cycle - the division between society occurs in trends –
6. Think about todays compared to the 1930s in most parts of the world – politically – things were pretty similar –
   1. Political ideologies stemming into violence on the streets
7. In Australia we have been fairly immune to most of the political violence when compared to what those in the US are facing
8. But the danger is being so wound up in politics that affects your outlook on society – that is your perception in reality can be changed – when compared to any fact or dialectic discourse – if individuals are based on the emotional representation on what the media is portraying – it can warp perceptions –
   1. The danger is treating perception as reality – which is what actually occurs for most people - to the point where reality is warped in order to make it comply with their pseudo-reality that they see through a TV or phone screen – rather than their own two eyes in their daily lives
      1. That is where our brains have the impossible task of distinguishing between what we see in person or on a screen – and with the ability to either manipulate what is seen through a screen – or show every occurrence of an event so our availability heuristics kick in and we think it is much more likely to occur in our daily lives – the perception takes over
      2. Hence this partisanship untethers the mind from objective reality – partisanship enslaves the rational mind, forcing it to create an alternative reality to justify one’s actions – be it shouting down someone as to not hear an opposing view or knocking them out to avoid those uncomfortable truths

• This partisan reality is so powerful it blocks out anything that contradicts or disconfirms the alternative reality.

1. Seeing the emergence of political murder – wont see the media reporting on this – but in the US there have been occurrences where a disagreement quickly moves to murder – or even someone wearing a trump hat - because in the individuals mind – they have created a reality in which anyone showing a sign of the triggers to their perception of reality – if they have their own firm convictions – killing someone else is acting in self-defence and in fact, they have to kill their opponents for the good of society – as they must be a Nazi – even with no evidence

9. The emotional level of drive – the division between groups – nothing can be achieved in this manner –
   1. And as the saying goes – when words fail – the only recourse left is violence
   2. This is a shame – in a civil society – words and the freedom of speech is the most important facets –
   3. However when words are now seen as hate – when a logical argument or individual opinion can be quickly shot down with cries of sexist, racist, misogynist, or any platitude – the logical debate no longer exists –
   4. Sunlight is the best disinfectant – in society to be able to say anything and then be corrected based around the dialectic in a public forum of debate – that has been how society as a whole has been able to progress through its thinking
      1. But when the minority has the strongest voice and the silent majority just wants to avoid the ire of the vocal minority – the public discourse of what is seen starts to close – hence perceptions change
   5. And as overtons window starts to close – the very topic of discussing police brutality is too much – it has to exist and if you don’t think it does – you need to be brutalised in return -
   6. At the moment – in Aus – plenty of videos going around especially from Melbourne that depict police brutality – they are doing their jobs – financial incentives are in play – they don’t wont to be fired and lose their incomes from not carrying these tasks out – so this cycle continues -
   7. But that is another trap – further division – as it is fear on both sides –
      1. Either fear that the stasi will come and kick your door down
      2. Fear by those carrying this out – that the population will turn on them – such as enforcement agencies such as the police
   8. Fear – it is a powerful tool – especially the fear of death – but people forget that beyond self inflicted deaths such as obesity – governments have been responsible for hundreds of millions of deaths in the past 100 years – but yet the cries for governments to take additional controls to solve our mortality issues grows even more

I try to look at the facts and evidence of the situation – I’m not perfect – can easily get things wrong – but I try to not base anything on a partisan or emotional response – through an us versus them mentality

1. But once fear has a grip on someone’s mind – any amount of evidence is hard to get them to change their minds
   1. Hence – if emotion is the root of the argument – and emotional arguments is no way to base a decision for the whole of society –
   2. Mainly due to emotions being a very powerful way to persuade – hence they can easily be manipulated and controlled – Especially without people knowing it
2. fear and with it anger can be used as a major tool in politics – I have been swept up into it in the past – fearing another party will come into power drives a motivation to vote – or being angry at events playing out – hence why the majority of political ads are negative to the opposition – we all know the type – ‘this party wants to do this, they must be stopped’
   1. Why I no longer support an induvial party – to avoid getting wrapped up into this –
   2. Sure I have a preference – but that is based around policy – but this being said – it is taking the best of the worst – most policies I don’t agree with – but it is a sum of the good versus the bad – more or less a pros and cons list
3. You need to put yourself in a position outside of fear or anger - Doesn’t mean I don’t vote – vote for who I think is best suited – but I no longer put my hopes in politics – I put my hopes in my community, my family and myself
   1. the emotional division created by the modern political environment and energy this drain – not good – we only have so much time and energy that can be given
   2. This doesn’t mean to not pay attention – being informed is important – but this can be a trap – as if your political information is coming from the media – this is a warping of perception
      1. Just not to get wrapped up in either fear or anger – paying attention to those emotions is important – know that you are experiencing them is the first step to controlling them
   3. but at the same time – some peoples lives are completely devoted to one political ideology
   4. to move above this – I try to aim my life in a direction where it doesn’t matter – to become self-sufficient – to be financially independent as well as independent in life – with sources of power, food and water
   5. If I was on welfare and needed the Government – would matter more – I would be out there in the streets shouting the government needs more power to fight the wealthy and provide additional welfare to myself
4. Aim to have your life outside of politics – I view politics as reality TV now – about as scripted and as trashy
   1. The way the media covers it now seems the exact same as any episode of any trash TV – very little facts and cherry picked/edited to the point of purveying the point of view that they want – not the actual information
   2. But this creates a situation with limited real information to base reality upon – and most of what people consume on TV is not reality – but our brains have a very hard time distinguishing this – so even a false reality becomes real in our subconscious
   3. TV – Social media and the news – compare what you see here to your day to day lives –
   4. Pay more attention to the day to day – not what you see on a screen – if you are feeling overwhelmed – switch the screens off
5. The major question we face in this current turning of the cycle is whether it is possible to maintain a civil society with an abundance of political division and the increased number of people embracing an alternative reality – based around the perception being fed to them through a screen –
   1. We’re being overrun by simulacrum - image or representation of something
   2. But once you realise this – you can start moving above it – and moving back to what is important in your own lives – focusing energy on your own community – helping your family, friends, neighbours and walking away from the system itself – as your build towards your own independence – building financial independence and being above the political division

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