{"id":137484,"date":"2016-03-22T12:36:49","date_gmt":"2016-03-22T18:36:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=137484"},"modified":"2016-03-23T09:14:17","modified_gmt":"2016-03-23T15:14:17","slug":"social-media-wars-and-fistfights-dont-build-a-better-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2016\/03\/social-media-wars-and-fistfights-dont-build-a-better-society\/","title":{"rendered":"Social media wars and fistfights don\u2019t build a better society"},"content":{"rendered":"

COMMENTARY:\u00a0<\/strong>America\u2019s anger and division came to a boiling point in Chicago recently when fights broke out<\/a> at a cancelled Donald Trump rally. Fortunately no one was killed. But if we keep this up, I fear it\u2019s only a matter of time.<\/p>\n

\"Heath

Heath Haussamen<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s been quite challenging in recent months to moderate NMPolitics.net\u2019s social media discussions. We\u2019ve slogged through anger, vitriol, and even some violent speech while seeking productive spaces for conversation.<\/p>\n

Venom often consumes social media. The anonymity allowed in some forums encourages hateful speech<\/a>. Even when moderated, many online forums still have a weakness \u2013 it\u2019s easy to think of people as Facebook profiles instead of humans. The result is often much different than when people talk face-to-face over a cup of coffee.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t allow name-calling<\/a> during NMPolitics.net\u2019s discussions. Criticism must be respectful. That\u2019s an attempt to foster bridge-building conversations<\/a>. Many New Mexicans have responded positively and called NMPolitics.net a bright spot online.<\/p>\n

Still, keeping discourse respectful and productive is a daily struggle. Trump<\/a> and most of the other<\/a> presidential<\/a> candidates<\/a> have engaged in degrading speech<\/a> that I don\u2019t allow in NMPolitics.net\u2019s forums. How can we focus on addressing society\u2019s ills when even they steer the debate toward insults?<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, America\u2019s efforts to raise people out of poverty have stalled<\/a>. Police are disproportionately shooting people of color<\/a>. The middle class is shrinking<\/a> as people lose wealth. Death rates are rising<\/a> at an alarming rate for middle-class, white Americans.<\/p>\n

Our problems are even worse in New Mexico, which ranks near the bottom<\/a> on too many lists.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s really difficult to find common ground when well-funded super PACs, some news organizations, and many politicians play up our divisions for their own gain. When we willingly go along, we accept a broken and divided America \u2013 and they profit.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t accept that future.<\/p>\n

Our founding fathers challenged us to work together to build a better society for all. It\u2019s messy. Our system is far from perfect, and us flawed human beings are tasked with improving it.<\/p>\n

I believe we can do it. A spirited Facebook discussion<\/a> recently led state Rep. Conrad James, R-Albuquerque, and Del Hansen, a retired educator from Las Cruces, to meet for coffee. They found agreement on James\u2019 proposal to allow part-time, adjunct teachers in grades 7-12, which died in the last legislative session<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI walked away from the meeting with a completely different appreciation for the legislation than I had expected,\u201d Hansen told me. \u201c\u2026What is obvious in this life lesson is that our citizen legislators are real people, doing an often thankless job, and who just might harbor a different opinion than we. And that\u2019s OK.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sometimes, Hansen told me, we have to \u201cdig below the surface\u201d to find \u201cthe best possible answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The message of the 2016 election is that people from across the ideological spectrum are fed up with the direction of our society and the dysfunction and paralysis of our government.<\/p>\n

We have the power to do something about it.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re not doing the hard work of creating a functional government when we fight wars of words on Facebook and throw punches at presidential rallies. As long as disenfranchised people keep battling each other, America will continue moving toward an oligarchical society that serves the wealthy while squeezing the rest of us into suffering.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re capable of engaging with a spirit of wisdom and compassion that builds understanding. Let\u2019s reject the politics that keep us divided and marginalized.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As long as disenfranchised people keep battling each other, America will continue moving toward an oligarchical society that serves the wealthy while squeezing the rest of us into suffering.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55852,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192,10],"tags":[708,226,250],"class_list":["post-137484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-haussamen-columns","tag-2016-election","tag-presidential-race","tag-social-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137484"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}