I once heard a comment from some talking head political muckity muck that
the difference since 2016 is that Donald Trump demonstrated that the
extremes are more motivated to vote, and since then our politicians have
been speaking to those groups. What they're saying may not match what they
do because some of them are simply opportunists rather than true
believers. Ted Cruz would be one example (among many). Look at
his positions before the 2016 election, and then look at things he says
now. I don't think he's gotten more extreme, I just think he's saying
things that he thinks a reliable voting block will like.
I've also gotten a bit cynical about the whole thing. Thinking back, I can
remember people talking about zillions of people crossing our southern
border all the way back to my childhood (1980's). It's a great campaign
issue that really motivates some voters, but if they actually did something
to address it they would no longer have that great campaign issue so
therefore they never will. Also, how many of those migrant farm hands take
their pay and go back to Mexico at the end of the season? They can earn
some dollars at less than minimum wage in the USA and then take those back
to Mexico where they go farther due to lower living expenses. I know we've
had an influx of refugees and asylum seekers in recent years, but I also
suspect that a lot of the millions of border crossers every year are the
same people over and over again. If we really had millions of people
coming every year since I was a kid then Mexico would be empty by now.
-Adam
On Mon, Oct 7, 2024 at 8:55 AM Bill Prince <part15...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I call it the barbell curve. Not much happening in the middle; all the
> action at the ends. Inverse of the bell curve.
>
> --
> bp
> part15sbs{at}gmail{dot}com
>
>
> On Sun, Oct 6, 2024 at 8:13 PM Forrest Christian (List Account) <
> li...@packetflux.com> wrote:
>
>> In social media, "the algorithm" is tuned to encourage engagement, and
>> nothing encourages engagement like extreme viewpoints. The middle part of
>> that bell curve is way too boring, so it doesn't get amplified like the
>> edges.
>>
>> Mainstream media tends to exploit this as well.
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Oct 6, 2024, 3:59 PM Robert <i...@avantwireless.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I like to call it the bell curve problem.. The edges of the bell curve
>>> where the extreme are getting way too much influence in today's world...
>>>
>>> On 10/6/24 1:22 PM, Forrest Christian (List Account) wrote:
>>>
>>> Each side seems to collect a certain number of the "unique" people. The
>>> right seems to collect the conspiracy theory non-critical thinkers. The
>>> left seems to collect the rediculous to the extreme social justice warrior
>>> types. And both sides collect few other groups with extreme viewpoints.
>>>
>>> Then, each side claims that the other side solely consists of those
>>> extreme views. Both sides say "ain't no way we want those nut jobs in
>>> power". Which is 100% correct... if you include both side's nut jobs into
>>> the statement.
>>>
>>> On Sun, Oct 6, 2024, 12:16 PM <ch...@go-mtc.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I am happy being a deplorable “junk” person I guess. Not given to
>>>> conspiracy theories. So sad to learn that I don’t have critical thinking
>>>> skills. Who knew?
>>>>
>>>> *From:* Darin Steffl
>>>> *Sent:* Saturday, October 5, 2024 11:10 PM
>>>> *To:* AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group
>>>> *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] intersection of technical and political
>>>>
>>>> It makes sense that people who believe lies and conspiracies are more
>>>> likely to be scammed than people who have critical thinking skills. Truth
>>>> Social is filled with junk posts by junk people so if I were a scammer, I'd
>>>> focus all my time there too.
>>>>
>>>> On Sat, Oct 5, 2024 at 10:00 PM Bill Prince <part15...@gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> No comment (and that should say it all).
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> bp
>>>>> part15sbs{at}gmail{dot}com
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Sat, Oct 5, 2024 at 12:00 PM Ken Hohhof <khoh...@kwom.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> We try to avoid discussing politics here, and yes, no good can come
>>>>>> from that.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> But it was inevitable that technical and politics would intersect. I
>>>>>> didn’t expect to see it on Gizmodo though.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> If you have elderly relatives or friends who hang out on Truth
>>>>>> Social, give them the usual public service announcement to watch out for
>>>>>> scams. Apparently Truth Social is viewed as a target rich environment
>>>>>> for
>>>>>> scammers.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> https://gizmodo.com/truth-social-users-are-losing-ridiculous-sums-of-money-to-scams-2000506604
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> AF mailing list
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>>>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Darin Steffl
>>>> Minnesota WiFi
>>>> www.mnwifi.com
>>>> 507-634-WiFi
>>>> Like us on Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/minnesotawifi>
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
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