We’re Being Played

Our emotions are manipulated by persuasion & propaganda
The explosion of emotions triggered by the recent presidential election caught many off guard. Across the country, friendships have been lost, family members estranged, and hostility has boiled over in many communities.
In our consumer culture we’re sold lots of things. Two weeks ago it might have been jeans and a TV, but last week it was fear. And Loathing. People were sold fear and loathing, and now it is ruining friendships, making people miserable, and driving the country apart.
I’m not going to spend a lot of time on the ‘why’ of this story. The ‘why’ is a mix of competing interests including simple commerce (fear sells), political gain, and creating divisiveness within the population for other purposes.
So, what’s going on?
Sadly, in many cases, I think people have simply been manipulated in traumatic fashion and we’re now dealing with the emotional and social repercussions.
What do I mean by that?
In response to another comment on this site from a teacher whose students were expressing severe emotional distress over the Trump win, contributor Dave Fairtex offered these insights (emphasis mine):

This post was published at PeakProsperity on November 18, 2016.