DANGEROUS FALSE NARRATIVES

When I was a little girl I remember reading about the Great Depression. I read the Grapes of Wrath. That was the first time I’d heard about poverty. I learned that before that men jumped out of windows because the stock market crashed and I thought “why in the world?’.

Did you know that men did not leap from windows on Black Monday? I didn’t until about 5 years ago. I spent a good chunk of my life believing that false narrative.

These days when something happens and adrenaline fueled reports are whizzing by faster than falling stars I have to sit back and breathe. Give the journalists a few days to contradict each other. And try to weed through the information. What happened? Where? And why?

Right now we have people in our country who are being fed false narratives, dangerous false narratives. There are groups of people who sincerely believe if they don’t act then nothing will change. Unfortunately, their action is hate driven and their energy is spent hurting good people.

How do we unravel these dangerous false narratives? What did they come to believe with so much passion they are willing to give up their own life and take so many of their “enemies” with them?

We can and should work on providing better mental health for those that need it. But most countries have worse mental health issues and they aren’t experiencing our problems with mass shooters.

We can and should work on gun access laws. But had they not had guns they would have plowed into crowds or poisoned food.

When you grow up believing you are superior and everyone else is trash. If you grow up neglected and your only friends believe they are superior to everyone else. When you have nobody you admire to break that narrative then you become hard wired to that narrative. When you become an adult and you hear speeches with the words “them vs us” from powerful people you will fit that into your false narrative. No amount of arguing will convince them that their entire life has been spent on a false narrative. They will turn all their hurts into that hate driven narrative.

WE have a problem and it’s an US vs THEM mentality. We are good they are bad.

I’ve seen sports fans get so riled up for their team US vs THEM that they will literally spew intense hatred for the opposing fans. I’ve seen old men yell at small children wearing opposing team jerseys.

How does someone begin to hate a whole group of people???? Dangerous false narratives.

That’s the problem we must solve. [image error]