6 ms·

This is being downvoted (as well as your own comment) is because american culture war between red and blue tribes continues unabated, and Buzzfeed, to quote FDR

This is being downvoted (as well as your own comment) is because american culture war between red and blue tribes continues unabated, and Buzzfeed, to quote FDR himself, "may be a son of a bitch, but he's our son of a bitch". And it sucks to lose someone on your side.

threeseed 8y ago
I downvoted it because attacking unnamed sources makes no sense as it is the foundation of modern day journalism. Not everyone is willing to go on the record. It has nothing to do with tribalism or left/right politics. And everything to do with defending journalism in all its forms.
- arduanika 8y ago
  > modern day journalism How's that working out for you?
fzeroracer 8y ago
It's being downvoted (along with your comment) because not only is it explicitly against HN guidelines but it's also heavily mischaracterizing journalism and how it's performed. Criticize Buzzfeed all you want, but protecting sources from political retribution is a core foundation of proper journalism and many unnamed sources have taken down large groups and institutions.
- jteppinette 8y ago
  I bet those unnamed sources had evidence though.
pstuart 8y ago
> american culture war between red and blue tribes continues unabated Not unabated, but at an accelerated pace. Social media has now been weaponized and we are approaching civil war levels of hostility. I think it's not an even split. The right is being conditioned to hate the left to a degree that is terrifying. Check out the propaganda that the NRA puts out. It is "Divide and Conquer 101" The majority of the liberal commentary I register is more puzzlement, sadness, and fear (guns, guns, guns, baby!). I would love to have dialog across the aisle but it seems impossible now. I can acknowledge plenty of "liberal failures" but that is a one way street.
- joejerryronnie 8y ago
  I don’t know, I see plenty of far left commentary that spews aggression and intolerance.
  - pstuart 8y ago
    There's going to be outliers, and there's also the fact that social media is gamed now. For any of that commentary that is actually genuine, I'd be curious about the context. Intolerance of intolerance is different than intolerance itself. And aggression in what form? The "far left" is a distinct minority, and tends to be focused on corruption and inequality, not about killing Christians or how white people are ruining this country (save for the topic of the genocide used to clear the way). This divisiveness is intentionally cultivated both domestically and abroad -- it's been reported that Russia created opposing protests to encourage direct conflict: https://www.texastribune.org/2017/11/01/russian-facebook-page-organized-protest-texas-different-russian-page-l/ https://www.texastribune.org/2017/11/01/russian-facebook-pag...
- Solar19 8y ago
  My experience is different. As a social scientist, I've never seen hatred like leftist hatred. I'm exposed to the academic left, which is seething with hatred and intolerance. As far as the mainstream, non-academic left, boy they sure hate Trump – and anyone who supports him. And before Trump, leftists already had a pretty intense hatred of Republicans/conservatives, and libertarians to the extent they know about them. America is extremely partisan, and the two major camps tend to strongly dislike each other, sometimes popping out as real hatred. Research shows that conservatives tend to know more about leftist positions than leftists know about conservative positions, so that suggests that leftists may be operating with more emotion and less information. (And when I use the word "hate", I mean hate as defined in common dictionaries. The left has infamously co-opted the word to refer to any negative appraisal or feeling about a person or group of persons experienced or expressed by a non-lefist. I'm sticking to hate as extreme animus.)
  - pstuart 8y ago

threeseed 8y ago

I downvoted it because attacking unnamed sources makes no sense as it is the foundation of modern day journalism. Not everyone is willing to go on the record. It has nothing to do with tribalism or left/right politics. And everything to do with defending journalism in all its forms.

arduanika 8y ago
> modern day journalism How's that working out for you?

fzeroracer 8y ago

It's being downvoted (along with your comment) because not only is it explicitly against HN guidelines but it's also heavily mischaracterizing journalism and how it's performed. Criticize Buzzfeed all you want, but protecting sources from political retribution is a core foundation of proper journalism and many unnamed sources have taken down large groups and institutions.

jteppinette 8y ago
I bet those unnamed sources had evidence though.

pstuart 8y ago

> american culture war between red and blue tribes continues unabated Not unabated, but at an accelerated pace. Social media has now been weaponized and we are approaching civil war levels of hostility. I think it's not an even split. The right is being conditioned to hate the left to a degree that is terrifying. Check out the propaganda that the NRA puts out. It is "Divide and Conquer 101" The majority of the liberal commentary I register is more puzzlement, sadness, and fear (guns, guns, guns, baby!). I would love to have dialog across the aisle but it seems impossible now. I can acknowledge plenty of "liberal failures" but that is a one way street.

joejerryronnie 8y ago
I don’t know, I see plenty of far left commentary that spews aggression and intolerance.
- pstuart 8y ago
  There's going to be outliers, and there's also the fact that social media is gamed now. For any of that commentary that is actually genuine, I'd be curious about the context. Intolerance of intolerance is different than intolerance itself. And aggression in what form? The "far left" is a distinct minority, and tends to be focused on corruption and inequality, not about killing Christians or how white people are ruining this country (save for the topic of the genocide used to clear the way). This divisiveness is intentionally cultivated both domestically and abroad -- it's been reported that Russia created opposing protests to encourage direct conflict: https://www.texastribune.org/2017/11/01/russian-facebook-page-organized-protest-texas-different-russian-page-l/ https://www.texastribune.org/2017/11/01/russian-facebook-pag...
Solar19 8y ago
My experience is different. As a social scientist, I've never seen hatred like leftist hatred. I'm exposed to the academic left, which is seething with hatred and intolerance. As far as the mainstream, non-academic left, boy they sure hate Trump – and anyone who supports him. And before Trump, leftists already had a pretty intense hatred of Republicans/conservatives, and libertarians to the extent they know about them. America is extremely partisan, and the two major camps tend to strongly dislike each other, sometimes popping out as real hatred. Research shows that conservatives tend to know more about leftist positions than leftists know about conservative positions, so that suggests that leftists may be operating with more emotion and less information. (And when I use the word "hate", I mean hate as defined in common dictionaries. The left has infamously co-opted the word to refer to any negative appraisal or feeling about a person or group of persons experienced or expressed by a non-lefist. I'm sticking to hate as extreme animus.)
- pstuart 8y ago