At the end of a segment about Bill Maher, CBS’s 60 Minutes played the end of one of Mr. Maher’s shows. I don’t get his show because it is on HBO. The replay was “You say you are cynical about politics, don’t flatter yourself. Cynical comes from when you know too much. You, on the other hand, haven’t bothered to learn anything.” How true. That is the basis for “siloing.”

            People today tend to allow themselves to have only one viewpoint because they get all their knowledge from one source or one group of sources centered on that point. That behavior allows people to be gullible to the one-sided speeches and broadcasts designed to enforce an opinion however ill-conceived and false. Carried to extreme is how the Oath Keepers and other militias are founded and grow. They believe in their ideals and reject any ideas or knowledge disagreeing with their philosophy.

            Social media and many of the TV channels are just hucksters pushing ideas they may or may not agree with but it is what their scripts and contracts require. That is what being in a silo means – one train of thought with no possibility of a siding to get somewhere else.

            As Bill Maher said, most people only see one side of an issue and jump to a misguided conclusion. The Hamas/Israel war is one. People are rightly concerned about the people of Gaza being starved and their homes and businesses being destroyed by bombs we gave Israel. What they don’t say and the media don’t often tell is about all the protesting against its administration and Benjamin Netanyahu. He only stays in office because of the war and the far right ultra-conservatives who put him in office instead of jail. As long as the war goes on he is safe.