My own parents, alas, are Republicans who frequent Fox News and voted for Trump. They aren't cruel people - they really have a great capacity for compassion. I'

My own parents, alas, are Republicans who frequent Fox News and voted for Trump. They aren't cruel people - they really have a great capacity for compassion. I've spend a lot of time pondering this contradiction. Here's what I've concluded: fear warps people. When someone ingests a constant stream of fear-pandering from their news sources and their peers, it totally shifts their perception of what's likely or unlikely, which means are worth the ends and which aren't, who to trust and who to distrust. My parents wouldn't feel good about a story like this, but they'd probably see it as an unfortunate but "uncommon" collateral damage of the law and order policies that are "keeping us safe". I think they genuinely believe there are hordes of gang members pressed against the border fences, looking for any chance to cross over and ravage the land, with only the occasional woman or child mixed in. But nobody is immune to fear. Different groups just find different things to be afraid of. I and many others on this site have had our worldviews stretched by fear of censorship, surveillance, corporate conquest, China. Even if a fact is true, any fear attached to it will compromise a person's ability to reason. Mindfulness is more important than ever in these times of internet-amplified sensationalism.