By Tony Huppert
The local coffee shops, which are full of educated advisors, have been addressing the current affairs of the U.S., including the upcoming presidential election.
The negative opinions outweigh the positive by a large margin with no margin for error. The positive-minded people are afraid to mention any positive news for fear of being verbally attacked by the more negative-minded people.
My only question is, “Why is it worse now than in the past”? Is it that we hear about everything immediately, or is it we have more time to evaluate the current affairs and the constant repeating of the day’s negative news on our electronic devices?
You can’t help but wonder how, in decades past, the media was able to be in Iraq before the invasion, and the media was able to be in the house of Elián González—a child from Cuba, who spent months with his Florida relatives while at the center of an international custody dispute in 1999—to take pictures of him being gathered with his belongings to be sent back to Cuba. Then and now, negative news has more followers than positive news—which means negative news leads to more revenue for the media companies. Only now, we consume it non-stop in 24-hour news cycles on our electronic devices.
Election Season Fatigue
Based on my personal observation after 46 years of election participation as well as 46 years in retail listening to customers, it appears that every four years the negative attitudes of U.S. citizens peak as we approach election season. And it’s no mystery why that happens. It is virtually impossible to listen to all the election negativity on top of all the other negative world news without taking on a negative attitude yourself. Unlike wrestlers and politicians that are all ‘buddy buddy’ after the fight, the American citizens ‘do’ take it personally and ‘do’ hold a grudge long after the election season has ended.
How political candidates can make the statement, “the country is divided,” and wonder why, when they are the ones creating and emphasizing this divide for political gain, amazes me.
Just remember, “Maggots feed off of dead minds.”
Tony Huppert is a Wisconsin businessman of more than 40 years, and CEO of Team Oil Inc., the family-owned and operated Team Oil Travel Center in Spring Valley, Wis.
