Confessions on Living in a Political Echo Chamber

I was a first generation immigrant to the US in 1980.  In that year our  family of 4 underage kids, not counting the wife and I, migrated to No. California, in the scenic city of San Francisco.  We would stay in a small flat rented by my mother-in-law located close to downtown San Francisco.

We would spend a good part of 30 years living in the same area, aptly named the San Francisco Bay Area, a cluster of burgeoning cities and towns closely hugging the bay and the ocean,  that totally would have over 8 million residents.  Aside from the astounding views and climate, it was also a very affluent area.  Not surprisingly costs of living were very high, notably with regard to real estate and consumer prices.

Employment opportunities were mostly in the tourist trade and industry, though going further south was Silicon Valley which would soon burst into the world stage as the hotspot for IT and the computer industry and where tech jobs were plentiful.  It was ground zero for the tech  boom of the 90's.

With our limited initial options, we decided to stake our future in that former environment, the wife finding employment in the local banking industry and I worked in the premier hotel in the city.  Overall, our family life was not bad, though we constantly had to juggle our jobs with the many demands for the care needed for our young impressionable kids. 

And on my part, I wasted no time undertaking my needed familiarization with the environment we found ourselves in, from the economic, to the social and political, which we all found to be quite different from the ones we came from.

And on the political front, I singlehandedly tried to learn as much as I could, at ease with the knowledge that the kind of government and politics were not much different from the one in the old homeland.  So I soaked in as much as I could or was fed me – from books, newspapers and magazines, and media like radio and TV.  And of course, from first-hand exposure to political activities in our daily living and working lives.  For me personally, it was a quite liberating experience witnessing first hand governance in a first world milieu.

What was not easily discernible to me then was that subtly or unwittingly I was being indoctrinated to one particular ideology which so characterized the Bay Area. No doubt it was definitely very liberal, and at the same time, libertine.

All these stayed under the surface until such time when I decided to shift from private employment to government.   From that change one invariably realized the rigid community that one had thrusted himself into, where political dissent was not countenanced and everybody was expected to toe a certain ideological spiel that had to be followed strictly.  Obey or you have no place to go.  And this I found among my contemporaries, people who were mostly members of minority groups.  The year was 2000, when the Bush-Gore election fiasco exploded.

To cut the story short, one then realized that the entire bay area, which is a very significant part of the entire state, had transmogrified into one political voice, enforced by very committed ideologues who tolerated no dissent. It truly became one bailiwick for  liberal  ideas, much like its counterpart LA in the southern part.  What used to be a 50-50 state in ideology during the time of Reagan and earlier became a Democratic bastion ruled by its overlords.  So committed to liberal ideals and politicians that in many recent  elections, the other party stayed away from campaigning, or even putting up opposing candidates,  save in some political enclaves that were not yet converted.

Media became  its most committed and vociferous acolyte in the dogged pursuit of unchallenged influence and paramount power, endlessly promoting ways and means to advance the ideology.  And truly reflective of the politics in the area, San Francisco even became a one newspaper town, and the more popular radio talk-shows were of the liberal bent. 

In this echo chamber only one voice and command resonates and listeners or viewers were invariably sucked in to the maelstrom, me included. Initially it felt good, being aligned with the rest and finding affirmation in what one has come to believe as truths.  But we know that in such a stifling environment so much of the goodness of the rule of democracy and freedoms are threatened and relegated to minor roles.  And replaced with authoritarianism and in a real way, of a despotic rule of the few who control the levers of power and influence. 

Continuing to subsist there simply means being subtly held in those beliefs.  After all, most ideas from whichever sides, including extreme liberal ideas were meant for the amelioration of the common good.  At least, that was how it was always phrased in official declarations. 

One desiring alternative voices will have to dig deep and far to find them, as scarce as finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

And this I had to do to begin my enlightenment or simply broadening my views  in politics.  One then learned to be discerning and discriminating in sources of news and information, media outlets, etc.  Media had become very partisan and could not be relied because while certain facts were withheld from dissemination, others were massaged to adhere to certain narratives promoting  the liberal ideologies.

And it was  a very liberating feeling to be able to think freely from a distance, examining other ideologies and being informed with sufficiently diverse  knowledge to make informed decisions.

It does take a lot of determination and effort  to be able to do this, more challenging than to be simply part of a faceless crowd chanting the same slogans which is definitely an easier path  to tread. 

A motto borrowed from one Jesuit school lectures us that, Veritas Liberat Vos.

The truth shall set you free.

  

Trump One: Epilogue?

  

In the end the solitary outlier stood lonely amidst a desolate landscape, abandoned by many of his supposed allies.  And more wantonly condemned not only by his political adversaries, but also mocked in the harshest terms possible even by those who were nestled comfortably in their well-appointed and heated abodes, people who would not be caught voicing out any mild expletive against their loved ones.  Or we doubt raised voices and action in support of the hapless plight of their neighbors.  Avowed Christians and other religionists who would be wont to kneel before their gods pleading in the humblest of terms and modes for forgiveness of their own shortcomings and misdeeds. How so ironic, indeed.

But I do believe that the outlier continues to inhabit the higher ground, promising to guarantee a peaceful transition after the last nail to his pleadings has been driven through.  This to the utter dismay and consternation of his many detractors, and they are countless, who had wanted to witness violent physical harm done on him.  They would have adored that.  But no such luck.  Because now like it or not, after all the possible legal remedies opened to Trump have been explored and exploited, he has expressed his desire to follow through with the peaceful process.  As he had previously intended and expressed.  He continues to be adamant and will not accept the verdict, but he will submit himself to the peaceful process.

But was it all for naught?  From this point of view, not in the least.  Because of his efforts the following unseemly topics of conversation have been brought to the forefront, ugly and damning.  Whether for good or naught, will depend largely on the coming months and years.  BTW, count on him to continue being in the public limelight.  So to those who continue to be bothered by his presence, he will continue to be a thorn on the side. Include here the millions who will continue to be on his side, no matter how hard the powers that be try to silence them.

Now we know and we doubt any right-thinking person denies it, that electoral fraud has been a long-time housemate in the complicated electoral system.  The question simply is how big?  Given the known widespread extent, the very intuitive advanced technologies and schemes used, the unlimited resources deployed to engage and harness such nefarious plans, the many ways used by big tech to sway and censor opinions, that may be one formidable task. 

But this we are sure. Now we know about Dominion and Smartmatic electronic systems that have been in used in other parts of the world for clandestine purposes.  Now we know about how extensive and influential dark money has been deployed to manipulate elections, appealing and catering to man's innate love of money and greed.  Now we have timelessly seen and heard the very dark underbellies of US media and the affluent elites, in their biased partisanship inside their one big collective bubble.  Now we know that the US as a country is heading toward a very powerful big-government status, lorded over with one voice coming from a coterie of the high and powerful - media, big tech, Wall Street, academia, and yes, the Democratic Party.

Watch it as it is unfolding right now in your closest neighborhoods. Start with the most recent Georgia run-off Senate elections where many were surprised that the state suddenly turned blue.  Not when the same machinery and resources deployed during the last elections were similarly applied.  Now that power has control of both houses and the executive department. And if the projected plan to "pack " the Supreme Court finds reality, the levers of the three (3) levels of government will clearly be in the hands of that juggernaut. 

As they are wont to say when they want to change long-held and enduring standards and practices, we need to bring these novel things into our conversation.  So now, let the conversations begin.