Thank you for the thoughtful reply.

Indeed things have changed so much over the years. One example is many have assumed for years I am Republican, yet I can remember a time years ago when many Democrats had harder stances considered conservative than I hold now.

I dropped my news consumption when I got to high school

I too had to drop watching the news some years ago. Depending on which pulpit one subscribes to it lives up to its name of television programming, almost always designed to stir anger against the "other side" who almost never had a direct hand in what caused the problem to begin with.

It can seem overwhelming if you allow the experts to dictate what is perceived as the truth. Made all the easier because there are indeed scoundrels taping all of us as they seek to implement more discord between us all.

The only tool I can discern that can possibly disarm what is being done is for us to stop looking for battle with everyone else and cultivate our commonalities like a finely tended garden. No politician (paid actor/actress) is going to save us, they are the paid front for what is oppressing all of us. It is up to us to challenge them based on our common agreements and not allow them to control the dialogue on issues meant to divide and rob us of our well being.

I forget his name at the moment, but I shared videos sometime back of a man who was turning common grass areas in his neighborhood into gardens so there would be free food that wasn't grown with poisons for the community there. Now that's a great example of a commonality we all share. The desire to eat good food without being extorted for it not being poisoned.