MumbleVille

Someone called me a “shill” today, because I had a different opinion about a company than his. Someone else told me I obviously had a vendetta against an author because I’d read (and disliked) a book of hers even after disliking her previous book – and, of course, because he thought she was the second coming of Jane Austen or perhaps Ayn Rand.

What’s the deal, huh? Where did this attitude of “You disagree with me, so you are either an idiot, a liar, or both!” come from? Well, I have a theory…

It’s rooted in talk radio, especially shows featuring bombastic hosts like Limbaugh and Savage, hosts whose M.O. when confronted by a differing opinion is usually to

• raise the volume on their own microphones while lowering that of the other guy
• shout baseless insults
• spin partial facts or make up “factoids” to refute the opposing argument
• disconnect if the caller can’t be goaded into hanging up

Is that the definition of narrow-minded, or what?

Apparently, it’s learned behavior: if your role models regularly treat differing opinions as a symptom of stupidity,  so will you. Just one more reason not to listen to talk radio. You learn that instead of articulating opinions, one need only ridicule the opinions of others.

So sad.