One of the most interesting and disturbing aspects of this past year’s coverage of the campaign for President was the way the media and people quoted in it found it easy to label people based on remarks or actions. Labeling allows us to quickly react emotionally without having to think much about it and to discredit everything the labeled person says or does to dramatically limit free speech with which we disagree.
The two greatest Russian metaphysicians, George Gurdjieff and P.D. Ouspensky, theorized that emotions are much faster than thoughts and that many of us have been conditioned to react emotionally to certain images formed by labels making us more like machines whose reactions are pre-programmed.
During this election cycle we have heard many people label others based on something that person had allegedly said or done. And worse yet, we saw people labeled by extending their past actions to extremes. The examples abound.
The main, but not only, focus was Donald Trump. He said that he wanted to build a wall on our southern border to stop illegal immigration from that direction. He said some illegals were bringing drugs, crime and even rape. This was translated as him saying that all Mexicans are drug dealers and criminals. It was morphed into him being against all immigrants and that he was afraid of other cultures. He was labeled anti-immigrant, xenophobic and racist. When actually he was against illegal immigration. He married two immigrants, hired thousands and started businesses in countries all over the world. How is that being anti immigrant, racist or xenophobic?
He insulted several people. We don’t like people doing that and for good reason. He insulted a famous personality known for not mincing words. She insulted him and he insulted her. For insulting a woman he was labeled a sexist and a possible misogynist. When we heard a tape of him talking like a teenager to a entertainment T.V. host, who happened to be the first cousin of a former president and the nephew of another, with the mic still on, we were convinced. It was vulgar and immature. But it confirmed our label that he was a misogynist especially after a few women came out claiming to have experienced unwanted advances, which were then labeled sexual assaults. Misogynists hate women. That is exactly what the name means. How does what he said or did equal hatred of women? It shows the opposite - an immature attraction to women. People who hate women are very dangerous. They do not have long loving relationships with wives and daughters.
Trump called for a delay in accepting Muslims from dangerous countries until we can be sure that they will not be a threat to Americans. He was labeled as hating all 1.7 billion Muslims even though his comments addressed only a small percent of the 200 million people who represent less than 12% of the world’s Muslims. This concern about radicalized migrants also was seen as proof that he was xenophobic and racist.
He said he was against intervening in conflicts that do not have anything to do with us. Examples are Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Egypt, and Yemen. He said that the U.S. is paying too much while other NATO countries are paying too little for their defense. He was labeled a treaty breaker and unwilling to aid other countries. He was labeled isolationist.
He reprinted a poster showing that his opponent was in with Wall Street. The poster had a star with some writing on it. The star was six pointed, the same as a Jewish star and the star worn by many law enforcement officers. But the star associated with money labeled him an anti-Semite. He has a daughter who is married to an Orthodox Jew. Their children are Jewish. His daughter became Jewish. The Prime Minister of Israel supported him. And Trump is anti-Semitic?
The people hear these labels and respond with anger and fear. They take their frustrations to the streets feeling justified to respond violently to someone labeled sexist, racist, xenophobic, misogynistic and isolationist. The crowds become angry mobs spewing anger, hatred, vulgarity, and destruction while feeling self righteous and licensed to any level of abuse. The mob-like crowds felt entitled to hate the accused hater, to be intolerant of those labeled intolerant, to be vulgar about vulgarity and racist toward accused racists, seeing no irony or hypocrisy in their behavior.
The lack of truth in labeling has brought out the worst in some of our people. Labeling is the gateway drug to bigotry.
Political leaders and journalists have to be aware that they reach a wide audience and that the words they write or speak affect different parts of the population differently. Some take in the reports and balance them with other sources of information. But others with serious issues to deal with take this misinformation and overreact to it.
Now we hear that immigrants are worried and live in fear of immediate deportation from the Promised Land. Even though the president said he would close the border and end illegal immigration, it does not mean that he will immediately deport 11 million people. He has said that he wants those who are involved in criminal activity to be identified and sent packing first. Then those who have arrived recently could be repatriated. Still, we hear that even those not subject to removal are living in fear.
We hear reports that women are rushing to get birth control before Trump ends the Affordable Care Act as though that would happen immediately. If they would think rather than feel, they would realize that it would take at least a year or two to make any real changes to the ACA and even with them, they will still be able to get birth control. They are frightened without reason and it is not helpful.
Muslims living in this country are saying that they don’t feel safe now. This concern even though the issue has been accepting future refugees from countries having radical activity until they are fully vetted. It is not against all Muslims or all immigrants.
We are seeing that there is a great cost to sensational, superficial and subjective reporting. This latest wave of examples is the most exaggerated form of it.
If we are at the beginning of a revolution against the status quo, let this status be no longer quo. Let us begin to insist on fair, honest, in depth reporting free of political bias, editorializing, and sensationalizing. And let us learn to think before we react with emotion-driven violent protest.
And please don’t label me or this column something for being against labeling, but if you do, I will not label you as narrow minded or of limited intelligence.
