In regards to the "random people" scenario, I have found that people who harbour such feelings will almost never make them public in a public forum even if they feel comfortable telling close friends or acquaintances. I have found that this has somewhat changed over the past few years where more and more people are somewhat saying "meh" and openly voicing any anything-phobic thoughts.
I certainly think you're right about the fact that this can partly be attributed to the fact that more and more people have more efficient ways of posting these sorts of comments/articles but there also seems like there's something more to it. There seems to be some fundamental social change in the US that has emboldened people to feel comfortable to spew rhetoric publicly. It's almost like a legalized form of hate under the guise of free speech laws in ways that have never happened before.
I think there is also a bit of backlash to government programs that tried to mandate equality and fairness, but many served to just be bureaucratic money sinks. Unfortunately in some peoples minds, the inefficiencies of these systems, and the outright deception by some politicians in support of these programs to further their own aims, get blamed on the recipients of these systems. It is not fair, but I think it is a natural product of people that don't analyze the situation fully.
Lets take immigration for example, there are politicians in the system that are in total support for the current situation, because it creates a market for less than minimum wage workers for companies, some of which contribute to and lobby political offices. As such, it creates a financial system that encourages bureaucracy that is intended to look like something is being done about it, when in fact the intent is to maintain the current status as long as possible. Unfortunately in this situation, people just looking to make a life for themselves and doing what anyone else would do in their situation, are left to bare the brunt of the outrage, a situation said politicians are more than please with. There is a lot of scapegoating going on in the US right now, which I fear could be leading to a dangerous situation.
Well I have tried this actually on numerous occasions; people are willing to tell a lot, especially when stimulated into emotion. This goes for online as well; if you stimulate people, like for instance; i'm from the Netherlands and there is this whole Joran van der Sloot crap going on in the US. In forums here, you often see people saying 'no matter what, he needs a fair trial', which is followed by 100s of 1000s of messages, posted by people with their real name, that he should 'hang', 'be shot', 'shanked in prison', 'tortured', 'have no fair trial as he doesn't deserve it' etc. If (some, but that's unfortunately most) people are passionate enough about something, they'll say/do anything.
So I still think you live in a slightly skewed world if you don't encounter that when you randomly approach people. I do think it has been like that for a long time (10 years ago I walked into a bar in Germany, the guys at the bar were openly and loudly talking about wanting Hitler back as the foreigner problem has to be dealt with; these people have internet in their hand now through smartphones) though, only now you see it popping up on the internet.
Comments
In regards to the "random people" scenario, I have found that people who harbour such feelings will almost never make them public in a public forum even if they feel comfortable telling close friends or acquaintances. I have found that this has somewhat changed over the past few years where more and more people are somewhat saying "meh" and openly voicing any anything-phobic thoughts.
I certainly think you're right about the fact that this can partly be attributed to the fact that more and more people have more efficient ways of posting these sorts of comments/articles but there also seems like there's something more to it. There seems to be some fundamental social change in the US that has emboldened people to feel comfortable to spew rhetoric publicly. It's almost like a legalized form of hate under the guise of free speech laws in ways that have never happened before.
I think there is also a bit of backlash to government programs that tried to mandate equality and fairness, but many served to just be bureaucratic money sinks. Unfortunately in some peoples minds, the inefficiencies of these systems, and the outright deception by some politicians in support of these programs to further their own aims, get blamed on the recipients of these systems. It is not fair, but I think it is a natural product of people that don't analyze the situation fully.
Lets take immigration for example, there are politicians in the system that are in total support for the current situation, because it creates a market for less than minimum wage workers for companies, some of which contribute to and lobby political offices. As such, it creates a financial system that encourages bureaucracy that is intended to look like something is being done about it, when in fact the intent is to maintain the current status as long as possible. Unfortunately in this situation, people just looking to make a life for themselves and doing what anyone else would do in their situation, are left to bare the brunt of the outrage, a situation said politicians are more than please with. There is a lot of scapegoating going on in the US right now, which I fear could be leading to a dangerous situation.
Well I have tried this actually on numerous occasions; people are willing to tell a lot, especially when stimulated into emotion. This goes for online as well; if you stimulate people, like for instance; i'm from the Netherlands and there is this whole Joran van der Sloot crap going on in the US. In forums here, you often see people saying 'no matter what, he needs a fair trial', which is followed by 100s of 1000s of messages, posted by people with their real name, that he should 'hang', 'be shot', 'shanked in prison', 'tortured', 'have no fair trial as he doesn't deserve it' etc. If (some, but that's unfortunately most) people are passionate enough about something, they'll say/do anything.
So I still think you live in a slightly skewed world if you don't encounter that when you randomly approach people. I do think it has been like that for a long time (10 years ago I walked into a bar in Germany, the guys at the bar were openly and loudly talking about wanting Hitler back as the foreigner problem has to be dealt with; these people have internet in their hand now through smartphones) though, only now you see it popping up on the internet.