I’m an outsider (not American, don’t live in America) so I’m almost not entitled to have an opinion on the matter, but it always strikes me as fairly odd when people of one persuasion or another rail against the ‘bias’ that they perceive against them in one circumstance or another (including media coverage).
Of course people see bias against them. It’s classical confirmation bias: every time something goes their way, it’s unremarkable, but as soon as something doesn’t, it’s noticeable.
Isn’t it equally possible —nay, probable even, especially in this case— that the perceived bias is only the prevailing opinion of the majority against whom one is in a minority?
> so I’m almost not entitled to have an opinion on the matter
I'm gonna go ahead and disagree with you here. The US is such a prominent nation, that can make or break the economies other countries, depending on their political actions.
I've seen a lot of this "It's US politics, so none of your business" writing when criticizing Trump - but fact is that most countries are not perfectly de-coupled from each others. The US relies on some countries, while other countries relies on the US.
Sure, you do not have any right to vote for him, but you sure as hell are entitled to voice your opinion on him.
I most definitely do have an opinion on him, and a very negative one at that. However, I try to keep that as reserved as possible for a number of reasons, including:
- Manifesting my like or dislike of the man immediately places one side or the other of tribal warfare, and that is precisely what I’d like to see less of;
- In my experience Americans are extremely testy and sometimes downright hostile when foreigners express opinions about their governance (the whole foundational process, at least as it is taught today, was of a rejection of ties to the Old Wolrd and its old, flawed ways)... I’ve even had people berate me online for being a condescending neo-imperialistic foreigner meddling in their affairs ‘proving’ that the Democrats are traitors who sell out America’s interests to foreigners (because if foreigners prefer Democrats, it must be because they get something in return);
- I sometimes get somewhat annoyed at others when they bring up “pizza, pasta, mafia” caricatures of my own home country (Italy) so I always wonder how much of what I think I ‘know’ is simply stereotype.
For all these reasons, I prefer to be as impartial as I possibly can.
I have Italian friends on FB constantly voicing their criticisms of US government. It just strikes me as massively hypocritical when Italy's government is a complete train wreck. It's easy to criticize, it's harder to lead by example.
My instinct is to reply "Then show us how it's done with your own government. It isn't easy, is it?"
That’s precisely the kind of response I’m referring to, and it’s why I try to remain as neutral as possible.
Though if I may be blunt, faulting individuals for living under a political system that does not engender cohesive leadership isn’t really fair (which is another reason I prefer not to wade into the American political debate).
This is basically true. Liberal or conservative, everybody I talk to who can communicate ideas without injecting vitriol into every word agrees that 90% of "censorship" of conservatives is just censorship of standard low-value hateful garbage, and that genre of speech, while committed on all sides, is highly overrepresented by conservatives, which makes life hard for the majority of conservatives who are rational.
PragerU has their content taken down and/or restricted on a regular basis from big tech platforms. Their videos express generic and cliche conservative ideas and values. While many people may not agree with what they say it is a far stretch to call it "low-value hateful garbage".
It's important to note that youtube is not removing prageru videos, it was just hiding them from being suggested automatically unless you opt in to "non-restricted". There are plenty of parents that would object to their toddlers watching videos about the death penalty or abortion. "Liberal" videos about these topics were similarly restricted. All of the prageru videos are still accessible.
It is also the case that being restricted limits monetization on those videos, but advertisers don't want to be associated with those topics.
Of course people see bias against them. It’s classical confirmation bias: every time something goes their way, it’s unremarkable, but as soon as something doesn’t, it’s noticeable.
Isn’t it equally possible —nay, probable even, especially in this case— that the perceived bias is only the prevailing opinion of the majority against whom one is in a minority?