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The Martian Chronicles and the 2016 U.S. Election

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posted on Oct, 20 2016 @ 11:09 PM
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Despite all the concerns I have about the United States and the world as a whole these days, I can appreciate a few things about this year's presidential election.

I believe that many things that people (like myself) have suspected for quite some time have been brought into the sunlight. Issues with the media. The way Democratic politicians will stick together no matter what transpires (for better or worse). The way that Republican politicians have acted which more or less shows there is no "real" Republican party (for better or worse). The list goes on and on.

From a psychological standpoint though, there is one thing that I find most fascinating about what I see, read and hear lately. I think it was best represented in a chapter of Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles."

It's been YEARS since I've read this book so my overall memory of it is a little fuzzy. That notwithstanding, it's a collection of short stories (some intertwined) about man's exploration and (sort of) colonization of Mars. The book is a bit dated so picture the type of "rockets" that you would expect see on the old Twilight Zone shows as a reference.

Quick note about the book: The general (sort of) timeline is one where the Martians have all but died out prior to man arriving on the red planet.

There was a chapter in the book (the name of which escapes me at the moment) where there is an Earth man driving his vehicle on a high hillside. Coming from the opposite direction, approaches a Martian on an unfamiliar vehicle. The two stop and begin to talk and look from atop the hill into the valley below.

The man from Earth sees essentially nothing but ruins.

The Martian sees a large and festive carnival.

To no avail, the Earthling and the Martian try to convince the other that "What I see is real and what you see is wrong!

While the author was playing with the dimension of time, neither the Earthling nor the Martian can believe that the other individual CAN'T see what they ARE seeing.

This is what I find most fascinating about the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. You can take two individuals, hold a photo of either Hillary or Trump in front of them and you will get FANTASTICALLY different answers and both individuals will KNOW that THEY are right and KNOW that the OTHER PERSON is wrong.

While there are many people out there that see two flawed candidates and will chose whichever one they think will cause the least damage to an already damaged state of affairs, there are MILLIONS of people out there that refuse to believe that THEIR candidate is anything but flawless (even when facts are patiently explained to them). There are people out there who CAN NOT see that Trump has stumbled and has had COMPLETELY unforced errors. There are people out there who CAN NOT see that Hillary had a pay-to-play thing going on.

I find it fascinating. At times, when I let my mind wander too far I find it frightening too.... but mostly I find it fascinating.






edit on 20-10-2016 by eluryh22 because: (no reason given)



posted on Oct, 20 2016 @ 11:35 PM
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Good book


s/f An excellent Topic worth pondering on.

People are tired though, and i believe this is the last chance for America to shift from the frequency they've been trapped in since .... well you get it.



posted on Oct, 20 2016 @ 11:37 PM
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Yes, Hillary has a pay to play thing going on... it should be glaringly obvious by now.



posted on Oct, 20 2016 @ 11:50 PM
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I see your point.

I remember watching the mini series on PBS back in 1979.




posted on Oct, 21 2016 @ 12:39 AM
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a reply to: Onesmartdog

I have this movie. A cult classic!



posted on Oct, 21 2016 @ 03:30 PM
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There was also a really neat comic-book version of that scene done in the early-90s when a series of graphic novels titled "The Ray Bradbury Chronicles" came out.




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