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Comment by xorgar831 | Hacker News Reader

This is what demagogues do, they raley and gain power through uniting groups of people over fear. The extreme political tactics by the GOP lead to the scenario we have today, and Trump is building off of what the GOP laid the groundwork for over the past 40-50 years.

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lot of accusations but maybe there are reasons that half the country believes in what he's saying? we've had more terrorist attacks, more foreign policy disasters, and more cultural and racial unrest in the past few years than in modern times yet you shut down the conversation by attributing it to "fear" as if people don't have a right to be fearful... nice

I don't mean to troll here, but I've never gotten anyone to give evidence of these claims. I'm an open-minded person, and evidence speaks loudly to me to change my mind. I fear that there are many who won't allow evidence to change their mind unless their feelings are acknowledged and compensated for first, and I think that's a difficult circumstance to manage and get past, because often that acknowledgement is seen as an endorsement.

I've tried to find evidence supporting these claims on my own, only to discover that there have been fewer terrorist attacks in the last, say, 16 years than in the years before, and better economic standing for minorities in the same period versus before then. I've been able to find a slow but consistent improvement to the overall quality of life of Americans by any objective measure I could discern. It's still subjectively and objectively bad for some groups, but even there, I can only find evidence of a slow but consistent improvement over time.

What am I missing? If I and others can understand that, maybe we can make a difference.

I too look for evidence and I have to be careful not to put emotions in front of rationale but one thing that strikes me about the rise of isis and the ensuing terrorist attacks from Europe to California is the media coverage. I honestly feel like the same media that is actively trying to destroy Donald Trump also can't get enough of him. Do you remember when all of those journalists were having their heads cut off? Or the many bombings and attacks after? The media created the term "ISIS" and blanketed 24 hour news cycles with it. The same has happened for the police shootings. You may be able to say that based on the numbers things are looking up, but if you turn on the TV the past few years you wouldn't know that. I also think that is why many Trump supporters are sick of the "media". They've been spoon-fed a teaspoon of fear a day and now that they chose their candidate whom they feel will lead them to higher-ground and that same media tells them they're racist/bigot/stupid for supporting him, they no longer trust media outright.

There are no more than in past decades, and if it really was the case then you'd take a stay calm and approach vs trying to panic an entire country.

> "This is what demagogues do, they raley and gain power through uniting groups of people over fear."

Which candidate are you referring to? Both major candidates are aiming to pick up votes by spreading fear of the other candidate. I'd argue that's pretty much their strongest argument at this point.

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