01-29-2021, 05:25 PM
A primary reason for the rise of fascism is that voters are being swayed to vote for fascists by propaganda. Perhaps it's time to take a hard look at freedom of the press and free speech. It is illegal to yell "Fire!" in a crowded theater. It should be just as illegal to incite violent overthrow of the government in the media by lying to the listeners. Right now, a huge part of the populace has been brainwashed by the right wing media into believing in a reality that is pure misinformation and to believe that media sources that actually deal in reality are false. Unless we find a way to wrest these people away from their misinformation opiate we are going to lose this democracy. Propaganda is how the Third Reich took control of the german populace. We need to find a way of stopping the control of the populace by fascist propaganda.
An example. I have an old high school friend who is now under the sway of right wing propaganda. She was/is a very sweet person, but when the topic turns to politics she vomits forth strings of completely false information to support her desire that the evil democratic congresspersons and the new president who are on a mission to destroy our country be killed to "stop the steal". She also expresses horror that anyone could listen to the evil corrupt mainstream press who are in on the plot. The point being...she is not a fundamentally evil person but deep within her heart she believes the nonsense she has been fed. There is no possibility of reaching such people so the only solution is to crush the propaganda machine.
Edit: Another thought. It's the propaganda multiplied by unregulated social media that is the problem. IMHO the dems need to focus on regulation of social media and the press to ensure that distribution of falsehoods has consequences. I'm not sure how to do that without retaining the essence of freedom of the press and speech, but it needs to be dealt with in some way.
An example. I have an old high school friend who is now under the sway of right wing propaganda. She was/is a very sweet person, but when the topic turns to politics she vomits forth strings of completely false information to support her desire that the evil democratic congresspersons and the new president who are on a mission to destroy our country be killed to "stop the steal". She also expresses horror that anyone could listen to the evil corrupt mainstream press who are in on the plot. The point being...she is not a fundamentally evil person but deep within her heart she believes the nonsense she has been fed. There is no possibility of reaching such people so the only solution is to crush the propaganda machine.
Edit: Another thought. It's the propaganda multiplied by unregulated social media that is the problem. IMHO the dems need to focus on regulation of social media and the press to ensure that distribution of falsehoods has consequences. I'm not sure how to do that without retaining the essence of freedom of the press and speech, but it needs to be dealt with in some way.