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How has the US become so divided?

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Grouse Grand Master

Grouse

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One of my friends told me about a powerful lesson in her daughter's high school class recently. They're learning about the Salem Witch Trials, and their teacher told them they were going to play a game.
 
"I'm going to come around and whisper to each of you whether you're a witch or a regular person. Your goal is to build the largest group possible that does NOT have a witch in it. At the end, any group found to include a witch gets a failing grade."
 
The teens dove into grilling each other. One fairly large group formed, but most of the students broke into small, exclusive groups, turning away anyone they thought gave off even a hint of guilt.
 
"Okay," the teacher said. "You've got your groups. Time to find out which ones fail. All witches, please raise your hands."
No one raised a hand.
 
The kids were confused and told the teacher he'd messed up the game. "Did I? Was anyone in Salem an actual witch? Or did everyone just believe what they'd been told?"
 
And that is how you teach kids how easy it is to divide a community.
 
Shunning, scapegoating and dividing destroys far more than they protect. This is how the US has become so divided.  Individuals and groups the elites want to control are vilified.
 
Do not allow the political elite to divide us. We must remain united against those who would do so.
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ApexerER Mentor

ApexerER

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1 hour ago, Grouse said:
One of my friends told me about a powerful lesson in her daughter's high school class recently. They're learning about the Salem Witch Trials, and their teacher told them they were going to play a game.
 
"I'm going to come around and whisper to each of you whether you're a witch or a regular person. Your goal is to build the largest group possible that does NOT have a witch in it. At the end, any group found to include a witch gets a failing grade."
 
The teens dove into grilling each other. One fairly large group formed, but most of the students broke into small, exclusive groups, turning away anyone they thought gave off even a hint of guilt.
 
"Okay," the teacher said. "You've got your groups. Time to find out which ones fail. All witches, please raise your hands."
No one raised a hand.
 
The kids were confused and told the teacher he'd messed up the game. "Did I? Was anyone in Salem an actual witch? Or did everyone just believe what they'd been told?"
 
And that is how you teach kids how easy it is to divide a community.
 
Shunning, scapegoating and dividing destroys far more than they protect. This is how the US has become so divided.  Individuals and groups the elites want to control are vilified.
 
Do not allow the political elite to divide us. We must remain united against those who would do so.

That is a great post Grouse. I'm going to mention exactly this to a couple of my daughters teachers....

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G-Man Veteran

G-Man

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It simply comes down to some people are submissive and others are not. People grow up and are told what to do and when. And it carries over to their adult lives, they need that comfort in their lives. 

Others chose to walk the proverbial path less traveled. Unfortunately the path is harder to find in a need to fit in and comply world. These people have had enough of the fences and concrete put in their path and have stepped up their fight response.

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virgil Rising Star

virgil

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46 minutes ago, Northcountryman said:

If what you say is true, then why not just say so, rather than deing derisive AND DIVISIVE yourself? 

Don't know why you're so offended on Grouse's behalf.  If you find the endless barrage of grievances unifying, good for you.  I guess if we all agreed with his points of view, we could consider ourselves unified, and you would be happy.

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Northcountryman Veteran

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Not offended at all, just calling it the way I see it, same as you are. You're contradicting yourself- you said that you "liked his post alot", so, even if you disagree with his political positions-and the majority of his posts - why cant you just say that?

I fail to see the utility in your derisive response is all I'm saying. I disagree politically with nearly everything that GC, VH and Leftfield post, but when they post something that I like, I acknowledge it with the "like" icon.  If you mean what you originally said, I'm suggesting that perhaps you could have done the same.

 

In summary, I think  You're missing the point being that your derisive reply further validated his original premise.

 

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virgil Rising Star

virgil

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You're missing the point of my original post.  The messenger didn't match the message- that was my point.  If you want to view that as a 'derisive?' statement, ok.  If the meme had been posted by someone who wasn't forever flooding the site with rants and grievances at all hours of the day and night, it would've been a simple 'like'.    

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Grouse Grand Master

Grouse

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To say "flooding the site" is hyperbolic and hysterical.  It's a matter of you taking offense at posts you just hate.  You don't seem to understand those rants and grievances are directed at people who keep us divided. Those people support vilification of their opposition and resort to witch hunts to obstruct their opponents opinions and work.  Some people seem to take offense when I point these things out.  They are the one's who keep us divided, not me.

People who constantly attack the messenger while constantly avoiding an intelligent refutation of the subject matter, are not trying to solve an issue and move towards unity, they are trying to push an agenda by silencing opposing views and misdirecting the conversation. 

I however, am aware of that, so it doesn't intimidate me.

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Northcountryman Veteran

Northcountryman

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2 hours ago, virgil said:

You're missing the point of my original post.  The messenger didn't match the message- that was my point.  If you want to view that as a 'derisive?' statement, ok.  If the meme had been posted by someone who wasn't forever flooding the site with rants and grievances at all hours of the day and night, it would've been a simple 'like'.    

According to you anyway- I disagree. I think you should take a look at your own post history before you judge others.  I understand what youre saying; Grouse is VERY conservative , for sure, but in my view , he has polished his delivery and has gotten much better at staying on message. 

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Grouse Grand Master

Grouse

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40 minutes ago, left field said:

image.thumb.png.3691a1853b334fa54630bdafb9ae9f1c.png

Lefty, you failed to notice only one of those posts is mine, they all just got a reply from me that day, and one day in May doesn't make your case.  But I will give you an A for effort seeing how much work you had to do to find that one day.

Weren't you one of the people who encouraged all of the Trump witch hunts?

 

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