In our consumer culture we're sold lots of things. Two weeks ago it might have been jeans and a TV, but last week it was fear. And Loathing. People were sold fear and loathing, and now it is ruining friendships, making people miserable, and driving the country apart.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time on the "why" of this story. The "why" is a mix of competing interests including simple commerce (fear sells), political gain, and creating divisiveness within the population for other purposes.  

So, what's going on?

Sadly, in many cases, I think people have simply been manipulated in traumatic fashion and we're now dealing with the emotional and social repercussions. 

What do I mean by that?

In response to another comment on this site from a teacher whose students were expressing severe emotional distress over the Trump win, contributor Dave Fairtex offered these insights (emphasis mine):

(…)   His students' reaction is NOT about losing an election.  It's because these people watch media, and the (Clinton-controlled) media spent the last four months working overtime to program everyone in the country that Trump is a soulless monster come to eat them and their families, roasting their babies on a spit while laughing, and so on.