Listen. It’s not just dumb voters. It’s a conservative propaganda vessel that funds any right-leaning talking points. It’s madness being poured into any willing ear, all it takes is a little fear to let them in. I want to believe that individual volition trumps this by-the-numbers propaganda, but the proof is in the pudding. Make people scared and isolated and you can make them believe whatever shit you want (at least, on a macro scale)
Totally. I know plenty of people who would be considered smart by any standard, but when you’re mainlining propaganda every hour, of every day, for multiple decades… it’ll twist a person.
Don’t trust the mainstream media they say, but these days Facebook, YouTube, instagram, etc have billions of users worldwide. Those are mainstream media.
So in a way they’re right, but they seem to think Facebook and YouTube are some hot new thing and they can be trusted because they’re not part of “the establishment” or whatever. Those of us who were around since the beginning saw the decline from cat-video-sharing-platform to propaganda outlet. Hopefully more people start realizing it.
When I think about it for a while, my thoughts always come back to “What is truth? What is a fact? Why do I think my news consumption is more factual than this person’s news consumption?”
I’m not a philosopher, and I think it’s a tricky question to answer. I’ve found myself on the Stanford Philosophy Wiki. There’s a ton of good stuff in there.
Of course, on a practical level, you’re rarely going to be debating “what is a fact?” when you’re arguing with your MAGA relations. My “normal” answer is that I try to get my news from sources that have reputations for fact-checking / rigor (AP / Reuters etc etc).
However, if you’ve spent all your time consuming Fox / Newsmax / AM Radio in the late 90s / aughts, your mental model of AP / Reuters is not my mental model. Anything outside of your right-wing bubble is to be shinned. To you, AP and Reuters do not have a reputation for rigor. They’re part of a liberal conspiracy funded by the government and George Soros to demonize conservatives / brainwash the libs.
It’s a tricky problem. I feel like we’re in an era where the Dawn of the Internet / Social media is analogous to the advent of the printing press. We just don’t know how to handle the firehose of information.
There’s a huge part of me that thinks that recommendation algorithms need to be regulated.
Honestly, where it really breaks down for me is how they constantly portray other people as villains and tell you what their beliefs are.
There is no problem with gay rapists, immigrant murderers, trans baby-eaters, etc etc. No more than any other segment of society anyway.
I was taught not to always believe what others say about… others. If you want to know where someone stands, talk to them, don’t take a 3rd party’s word for it.
Although that doesn’t apply to people who confirmed super-liars.
Something similar is playing out with DOGE finding “waste” and “fraud.” Very little in the say if of evidence, much in the way of waving around papers at a press conference / shitposting on Twitter and screeching “Woke DEI spending has been slashed.”
Tbh, I get it. I understand why it works. Most people aren’t political junkies. Most people don’t really follow the news. They’re busy just trying to get through their day.
That said, I read a good comment once- “You might not care about politics, but politics cares about you.” I only wish more people understood that. Unfortunately, our economic system works against it.
Random aside, I wish we had strong labor unions in the US. They’d be very beneficial at this time.
It’s not only true for the right. The left has its own problems with propaganda, dogmatism, and fake news. Some of it resulting directly from trying to counter the effectiveness of the right wing. Extreme polarization is the outcome and discourse becomes impossible.
Change conservative to liberal, right leaning to Democrat and you’ve just described MeidasTouch. They’re nothing but mouthpieces for the DNC. The way that people like Rogan were mouthpieces for the RNC.
You’re not wrong but any cultural shift like this is enough to cling to optimism. If/when the fast food catches up to Trump and he croaks JD Vance will be the one trying to defend these trash policies. Him (or anybody else) are not going to be as effective bullshit artists…
LOOK HOW DESPERATE I AM FOR GOOD NEWS. LET ME HAVE THIS!!!
Meh. Dumb voters will just flock to the next trigger topic.
Listen. It’s not just dumb voters. It’s a conservative propaganda vessel that funds any right-leaning talking points. It’s madness being poured into any willing ear, all it takes is a little fear to let them in. I want to believe that individual volition trumps this by-the-numbers propaganda, but the proof is in the pudding. Make people scared and isolated and you can make them believe whatever shit you want (at least, on a macro scale)
Totally. I know plenty of people who would be considered smart by any standard, but when you’re mainlining propaganda every hour, of every day, for multiple decades… it’ll twist a person.
And it’s everywhere!
Don’t trust the mainstream media they say, but these days Facebook, YouTube, instagram, etc have billions of users worldwide. Those are mainstream media.
So in a way they’re right, but they seem to think Facebook and YouTube are some hot new thing and they can be trusted because they’re not part of “the establishment” or whatever. Those of us who were around since the beginning saw the decline from cat-video-sharing-platform to propaganda outlet. Hopefully more people start realizing it.
100%.
When I think about it for a while, my thoughts always come back to “What is truth? What is a fact? Why do I think my news consumption is more factual than this person’s news consumption?”
I’m not a philosopher, and I think it’s a tricky question to answer. I’ve found myself on the Stanford Philosophy Wiki. There’s a ton of good stuff in there.
Of course, on a practical level, you’re rarely going to be debating “what is a fact?” when you’re arguing with your MAGA relations. My “normal” answer is that I try to get my news from sources that have reputations for fact-checking / rigor (AP / Reuters etc etc).
However, if you’ve spent all your time consuming Fox / Newsmax / AM Radio in the late 90s / aughts, your mental model of AP / Reuters is not my mental model. Anything outside of your right-wing bubble is to be shinned. To you, AP and Reuters do not have a reputation for rigor. They’re part of a liberal conspiracy funded by the government and George Soros to demonize conservatives / brainwash the libs.
It’s a tricky problem. I feel like we’re in an era where the Dawn of the Internet / Social media is analogous to the advent of the printing press. We just don’t know how to handle the firehose of information.
There’s a huge part of me that thinks that recommendation algorithms need to be regulated.
Honestly, where it really breaks down for me is how they constantly portray other people as villains and tell you what their beliefs are.
There is no problem with gay rapists, immigrant murderers, trans baby-eaters, etc etc. No more than any other segment of society anyway.
I was taught not to always believe what others say about… others. If you want to know where someone stands, talk to them, don’t take a 3rd party’s word for it.
Although that doesn’t apply to people who confirmed super-liars.
You make a really excellent point.
Something similar is playing out with DOGE finding “waste” and “fraud.” Very little in the say if of evidence, much in the way of waving around papers at a press conference / shitposting on Twitter and screeching “Woke DEI spending has been slashed.”
Tbh, I get it. I understand why it works. Most people aren’t political junkies. Most people don’t really follow the news. They’re busy just trying to get through their day.
That said, I read a good comment once- “You might not care about politics, but politics cares about you.” I only wish more people understood that. Unfortunately, our economic system works against it.
Random aside, I wish we had strong labor unions in the US. They’d be very beneficial at this time.
It’s not only true for the right. The left has its own problems with propaganda, dogmatism, and fake news. Some of it resulting directly from trying to counter the effectiveness of the right wing. Extreme polarization is the outcome and discourse becomes impossible.
Change conservative to liberal, right leaning to Democrat and you’ve just described MeidasTouch. They’re nothing but mouthpieces for the DNC. The way that people like Rogan were mouthpieces for the RNC.
You’re not wrong but any cultural shift like this is enough to cling to optimism. If/when the fast food catches up to Trump and he croaks JD Vance will be the one trying to defend these trash policies. Him (or anybody else) are not going to be as effective bullshit artists…
LOOK HOW DESPERATE I AM FOR GOOD NEWS. LET ME HAVE THIS!!!
The Republicans aren’t looking for leadership or ideas, they’re looking for a strong man who beats his chest at “Soy boy rivals”
Vance… aint that guy