If writing about politics for a living has taught me anything, it is exactly that: It's a living so remember to take time off -- otherwise you will drive yourself crazy.
But because it's the Iowa caucuses in what is sure to be one of the most insane election years we'll ever see, too many people have been plugged into the political discussion for too long.
Case in point:
Is the Deep State activating HAARP to disrupt the Iowa Caucus?
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) January 12, 2024
We all know @NikkiHaley has a lot of friends in the defense industry and Military industrial complex. She’s losing in Iowa, and now Iowa is set to get hit with a ONCE IN A DECADE blizzard as Donald Trump is set to… pic.twitter.com/K9YKbwZ2Oh
Yes, you read that correctly. Laura Loomer insinuated that Nikki Haley convinced someone at the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) to manipulate the weather in Iowa to cause a snowstorm right on the day of the Iowa caucuses to depress turnout and somehow make Haley the winner.
I've heard of demonizing your opponent, but this is just Saturday morning cartoon villainy. It goes so far beyond demonization that it just becomes funny, much like the Trump Derangement Syndrome we've been subjected to ever since the guy came down that golden escalator in 2015.
Related: Joe Scarborough Embarrasses Himself Trashing Trump
But as with every bit of absurdity the modern world has thrown at us, there is still an underlying problem at the root of it.
Namely, people have forgotten how to decompress from online politics. With a toxic combination of algorithms and the ability to block unwanted opinions, people are stuck in an echo chamber.
I wrote before that Hanlon's Razor, which is "never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by stupidity," is viewed as naive in online political discourse.
Nobody in office can ever make a mistake or accidentally say the wrong thing. No, every single spoken statement is taken as gospel but in reverse: Everything is intentional, and everything is evil, and if you don't think so you are complicit (or stupid).
For Our VIPS: Politics: Where Hanlon's Razor Doesn't Exist
While this is still somewhat believable when talking about the words and actions of people, saying the weather itself is somehow being manipulated to sabotage an election, all with a straight face, should require one to go back on it later and think to yourself, "Did I really just say that? Gosh, I need a vacation."
Of course, not everyone who talks politics online is this way, as some are just trolls or are putting on an act to get attention (and probably money), but the fact that people listen without thinking critically is where we get polarization.
The simplest explanation or solution may be best, but explaining it in the crudest way possible doesn't always win people over. Nuance or complexity isn't always sophistry or an attempt to undermine the argument, and not everyone who takes issue with your side or your argument is an enemy.
I know this might be preaching to the choir to an extent, but this is the beauty of the comments sections. Sure, you may see plenty of hot takes that should've kept cooking, but plenty of reasonable people appear too. You don't always have to engage. Just see what other people think. (As for engaging, there's a certain bit of wisdom I've kept about arguing on the internet. I won't repeat it because it's rudely worded, but that's just me.)
So whatever happens in the primary, and then the general election, from here on out, assuming the best, just remember to take a break from following it every once in a while, or your political opinions will be indistinguishable from satire.
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