Exiting the Echo Chamber

I’m going to take a break from Facebook.

I’m tired of getting into online arguments with people I don’t know and don’t care to know. I can’t deal with the hand-wringing and the fear mongering and the snide comments that so many of my Facebook friends make about The Other Side. And yes, I realize I do it, too. A lot of those side comments were posted by me. I also realize that nothing good ever came of it. The number of likes was pointless.

I’m also tired of political groups that started off with the intention of mobilizing angry, disappointed voters into action but are now mired in self defeating attempts at diversity and fairness and providing a safe space where no one is offended.

Our country just elected a greedy, corrupt, misogynist/liar/cheater/racist/sexual predator/bully as president, and we’re worried about offending each other and hurting each other’s feelings?

My feelings are already hurt and I’m as offended as I can possibly get. And I’m starting to think The Other Side may have had a point about political correctness.

My husband and I just got back from a weekend trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We drove up US 17 through Onslow, Jones, Craven, Beaufort and Tyrell Counties, often on a two lane road through small towns with no more than a Hardee’s, a funeral home, a Dollar General and a Free Will Baptist Church. Every single one displayed a number of Trump-Pence signs.

I can’t say I’m angry at these small town North Carolinians. Donald Trump spoke to them in a way that Hillary Clinton did not, and a smarty-pants college educated woman from Ohio telling them they’re racist and evil isn’t going to make them even a tiny bit sorry about how they voted. They've got damn near nothing and Trump promised them a piece of the pie. Who am I to tell them they made the wrong choice?

I came home feeling very sad that our country is so bitterly divided, even among the people I thought were the good guys. And yet, we all still have to live together and try to make things work. I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to reconcile our differences or what terrible things may result from those differences.

Anyway, for me, Facebook has become a left wing echo chamber, where stories with a liberal slant are repeated louder and louder until we work ourselves into a frenzy. But we never actually do anything, let along get anything of value accomplished.

A few weeks ago, I said that if Trump were elected I’d spend more time playing the piano, drinking herbal tea, maybe taking up yoga and most importantly, volunteering to make my corner of the world a better place. Posting vitriol on Facebook will not help me accomplish that goal.

I won’t disappear completely. I have a book coming out, and Facebook is still the only game in town. But I’m giving up on getting in on political rants.

Now for a nice cup of tea.

Judy Nichols is the author of several mysteries available on Amazon.