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Who is to blame for America's toxic environment?

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By Michael Mathes

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Who is to blame for America's toxic environment

Hillary Clinton

-8 ( +5 / -13 )

A ni-ander-thall called trump.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Americans.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

When Donald Trump became president much to the surprise (and chagrin) to the elites in the media, the Democrats, and some Republicans.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

Haaa NemuiToday  09:08 am JST

Americans.

I agree. As an American who's lived outside the US for a long time, I've found the most difficult people to have a civil discussion about politics with are my fellow Americans. Gun rights? Abortion? Race? When I go back to the US, there are only a handful of people, mostly old friends, I can discuss issues with without risk of someone getting upset.

And Trump, Bannon, etal have only increased the levels of toxicity.

I'm re-reading John Dos Passos brilliant '42nd Parallel', written in 1930, a time like so many others when the toxicity level was also very high. I've read one of the many reasons so many Americans have so little empathy and compassion for their fellow humans is they don't read enough good fiction. Those who do, according to neuroscientists, are better able to identify with others, especially others deemed 'different'. One reason among many for us not getting along.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

I believe there are many factors but in the end we have to take responsibility for ourselves, our own actions and speech.

A nation is a collection of individuals. In America it seems too many are making poor choices to yield to hate, anger, feelings of superiority etc. Sad.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

@PTownsend - It isn't that I think Americans are particularly toxic people at all though. Politically speaking the people in my country are toxic as well. One could almost say that about the people of any country. It's just that the way the question in the title of the article is phrased, that was the most honest answer I could give. Americans have allowed America to be what it is. Other countries have a lot of the same issues and often handle them very differently... not necessarily better or worse, just differently. Nothing and nobody is responsible except the citizens of that country.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

"Obama's attorney general Eric Holder this month urged more forceful opposition to Republicans, saying "when they go low, we kick 'em."

Keep it classy, Holder.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

Keep it classy, Holder.

Agreed. That's like something Trump would say.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

The media

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

@PTownsend - I also think right wing hypocrisy is part of it. It's quite clear from consecutive posts by one reader here.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Americans overwhelmingly blame Donald Trump.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Blame is easy. The democrats or specifically the left wingers, progressive, liberals follow socialism which requires division, violence, intolerance, fakery and propaganda. It's a simple matter of a small group of liberals in the Democrat party want socialist tyranny, to remove freedom, collect all powervand resources for themselves and everyone else be subjugated to them. Everyone else is on the side of freedom and like any free person, will object to their freedom being taken away. So it's not hard to blame the democrats because taking away freedom is always wrong and the methods the democrats use to take that freedom is equally as wrong as the goal of socialism

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

Serrano, pls reaf Holder's whole paragraph in thst speech. Especially the next sentence. Then come back and tell us if you need to edit your post

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Internet and one sided media spreading the hate. Things started getting really crazy since the start of the internet. The internet, too often, doesn't show the full story of many things that have happened. Stop believing everything you see on the net!!

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

I've said this before, the problem is that the American psyche is too selfish. They place the individual over the state at such an extreme that the state suffers. These people trash the word socialism, as if living in a large group of people isn't beneficial to that large group. Look at the whole gun thing. It's entirely clear that getting rid of guns is extremely beneficial to society - look at every other non-gun society on this planet. But if you get rid of guns, that means an individual may not be able to protect themselves. And hence, guns galore, because Americans are too selfish to put their people above their own individual fears.

Personally I don't think it's fixable. You can't breed selfishness out of a people in less than 2-3 generations, and it's not even like Americans realize that this selfishness is a problem. We are watching the fall of the American Empire in real time.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

A prime example of the inanity of the American people is blaming the problem on the messenger (the media) instead of the message.

Admitting that there is a problem would require admitting their own selfishness. So like all good Americans, they freak out about the symptom, instead of dealing with the problem.

The annoying thing is when their stupidity bleeds out beyond their borders, and they expect the rest of us to behave as selfish and anti-societally as they do.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

"Americans overwhelmingly blame Donald Trump."

That must be why Trump's approval is steady at 44.5.

@change

“No, no,” Holder says. “When they go low, we kick 'em. That’s what this new Democratic Party is about."

Several minutes later, Holder clarifies that he’s not advocating anything illicit.

"When I say we, you know, ‘We kick ‘em,’ I don’t mean we do anything inappropriate. We don’t do anything illegal,” Holder said. “But we got to be tough, and we have to fight for the very things that [civil rights leaders] John Lewis, Martin Luther King, Whitney Young – you know, all those folks gave to us.”

No, I don't need to edit my post. Martin Luther King can't undo what he said.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

No, I don't need to edit my post. Martin Luther King can't undo what he said.

Hmm, so you think that no one can ever clarify what they've said, and it always has to be the original interpretation which can never be anything other than what it was thought to be. That's very radical leftist of you. When did you join that group?

2 ( +3 / -1 )

StrangerlandToday  10:06 am JST

A prime example of the inanity of the American people is blaming the problem on the messenger (the media) instead of the message.

Strangerland although I agree with most of what you posted, I don't think the media is just a mere messenger, since they are amplifying the message by several folds.

They could and should dumbdown the message not amplify it but won't since it results to less viewers resulting to less money.

Like you said selfishness.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Wow.

"Who is to blame for America's toxic environment?"

And then a picture of Trump.

Nope, the media is not unbalanced, or trying to lead people-

It is completely agenda free... /sarc.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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