Seems to me that Rush, the FOX crew and Trump did NOT inject hatred into our society and they

[LanternWaste]

12. I think that we all of us posses the same six types of basic emotion

But through deontic ethics, civic jurisprudence, and cause-and-effect (i.e, consequence of action), we learn throughout our lives to (in effect) "listen to the better angels of our nature..."

Limbaugh, hate-radio (and I suppose, cable news-- which I'm not at all familiar with for the past ten or fifteen years) may not have invented it, but have perfected the ability to rationalize, justify and to an extent, normalize many of the worst aspects of the post-industrial human race.

They have engendered the sentiment that rage and greed are not simply righteous, but a civic obligation. That the debasement of a person for no reason other than a disagreement of political opinions is more than enough to label our neighbors as 'enemies'

They have peddled a pablum of easy-to-digest responses which results in self-validation, a series of excuses for not being a millionaire, and watching our neighbors burn.

And so many people have bought that bill of goods because both mental ease and moral convenience are viscerally satisfying. Discipline (both mental and moral) however, is as difficult to understand as is it to achieve. Hence, it becomes suspect at best, book-burning material at worst.


(This opinion that I've held for 20 years is directly influenced by the book 'Ethics: History, Theory, and Contemporary Issues', by Steven Cahn & Peter Markie')