Government isn't working for us, people are being taught it's the governments fault. It's the people in government that make government not work for us. Better candidates to choose from would help immensely, but, stop electing republicans is the real solution. Better government is attainable.
I’ve often observed that in order for a “conspiracy theory” to gain a foothold, it begins with a kernel of truth to grow from. Legitimizing the theory has been accomplished (via the kernel) and expanded upon to satisfy the intended agenda no matter how twisted it can eventually morph into. (Sandy Hook is a perfect example of this warped sense of grievance.)
Alex Jones has ruined freedom of speech to torture innocent families. He should have gone to jail for putting the families thru hell. A paper bankruptcy is not punishment enough. Now to hear he is back on the air is outrageous.
You’re correct — there may be agreement at the beginning of a discussion, but where it goes and any solutions offered may contradict the best course of action.
My immediate thoughts are, there's a level above these two directions towards solutions, in which people aren't speaking about the economy. and, what the heck, as an environmental science educator, there's a level above the economy-- the ecology which we almost never talk about properly -- and upon which all life on earth hangs in the balance.
Those who purport to believe in labor, housing, heathcare, human rights, bodily autonomy, and economic support for other people, rarely talk about where those funds will emerge from.
Occasionally they might mention that wars are expensive, the f@#$ing ballroom and other vanity projects are expensive (how many people could eat or get medical care, or be housed with the money tied up in lawsuits and paint around the kennedy center name battle?), but they don't necessarily mention how to reroute those funds, the political processes that need to be engaged to change those priorities, and what if any personal sacrifices might be necessary to create those shifts. (in the Haymarket protests for example, people died and were deported, to achieve the 8 hour workday and breaks we've been unable to retain against all of the union busting, union corruption and violence directed at workers' rights movements.)
Those who believe whole swathes of society are scapegoatable, believe they can retrieve extra funding from uh I don't know, I guess deporting, murdering, or otherwise stripping those other people of any chance to live or live well, and then taking the extra for themselves.
Again, the plan for how the theft and redistribution to the selfish people this appeals to -- from the other probably very hardworking populations -- is not outlined in the political rhetoric. How would that economic redistribution look? Who would enact it? Do these people just expect a violent colonial type settlement, in which they are handed the properties of the people they don't consider also human? Do they have stockpiles of weapons to defend that theft, to do the murdering themselves? Or do they hope it will just be done quietly where they can't see it, and they'll just be oops the beneficiaries of unintentional genocide?
I might know less about what this population is expecting or isn't asking, but I know that the plans to scapegoat might be intentionally vague on the part of the pundits who propose it, because -- and here's sort of the anchor to these thoughts for me -- I don't think those pundits stand to gain from disrupting the difficulties at hand, but just from sparking outrage so they can profit off of the frustrations of the people who can't survive. Which, if we're honest is the same situation for the pundits on the other side?
If people are really hoping to spark change, they would have to be offering more than talking points about what the needed changes are, and asking more questions about how an average person in the U.S. around their impossible work/life schedule has some time and effort to help organize and build movements to address their own concerns -- which if we'rebeing thoughtful about it, are not all of the same concerns. A farming community does not have the same concerns as a community built around a college, or a town with a chemical production facility. These communities might have overlapping, contradictory, or compatible concerns, but they aren't all the same, as is often implied by our dehumanizing political systems which attempt to flatten all of our identities and concerns into homogenized states.
The fact that voting rights are being taken away, and it isn't a bigger deal, seems to me to be happening in part because communities are so fractured and fearful, and don't know how to advocate for our rights other than through representatives. it seems pretty likely as well that some of the people who are going to be disenfranchised as voters are people on the right who hope to disenfranchise others, and will only find themselves less able to speak up for their own needs.
This is so long and rambling, but I believe that my main concern is how people became so passive and easy to manipulate and how to change that state for individuals and communities so that talking points are less of a big deal than community care.
Giving Carlson any legitimacy is the same as giving MT Green or Alex Jones respect. None deserve it. They made asses of themselves when they could have stood up for honesty. Then when that runs into the ditch, decide to see the light. Honesty is not a virtue when much of your public persona is based on lies.
Carlson praised Putin which should have condemned him to the trash pile for eternity. Absolute traiter. Just prostituting himself so he can get a front seat. Stop using him as some reliable candle of truth.
Smart how? Smart at shoot ‘em up bang bang video games? Smart but with brain worms? Smart but high or drugs or alcohol. Smart but racist? Smart but failed history?
Hold the champagne, MAGA is still there as sick as ever and until Dems come back in power there is no limit MAGA will go too. I am sure they have plan to disrupt Nov elections. It appears mail in ballots are being trashed to make it more difficult to vote. ICE thugs will probably be at every polling booth to look for "illegals".
For 5th Graders "How to Spot Chinese Communist Brainwashing Techniques Used by High Control Groups"
8 Ways Groups Try to Control How You Think
Sometimes, strict groups try to take over the minds of their members. A scientist named Robert J. Lifton found eight sneaky tricks these groups use to brainwash people:
• 1. Controlling What You See and Hear (Milieu Control)
The group stops you from talking to outsiders. They only let you read, watch, or listen to things that they approve of.
• 2. Making Things Look Magical (Mystical Manipulation)
The leaders plan special events to make it look like they have magical or holy powers, even though they are just tricking you.
• 3. Saying Everything is Either Perfect or Evil (Demand for Purity)
They tell you the world is split into two sides: their side (which is perfectly good) and everyone else (who is completely bad).
• 4. Forcing You to Tell Every Secret (Cult of Confession)
You have to share all your private thoughts, mistakes, and secrets with the group so they can use them against you later.
• 5. Treating Rules Like Perfect Truth (Sacred Science)
The group’s ideas cannot be questioned. They say their rules are 100% true and perfect, like a science that can never be wrong.
• 6. Using Short Catchphrases (Loading the Language)
Instead of letting you think for yourself, they make you use short slogans or buzzwords to answer every question.
• 7. Ignoring Facts to Protect the Group (Doctrine over Person)
If real-life facts or logic prove the group is wrong, you are told to ignore the facts and keep believing the group anyway.
• 8. Deciding Who Matters (Dispensing of Existence)
The leaders act like only the people inside their group deserve to be happy or safe, while anyone outside of it doesn't matter at all.
Oh gosh, Trump weaves actual points of frustration all throughout his schtick. He just also adds in some bullshit, he moves on too quickly, he comes up with false solutions, and he serves his own best interests.
He's like an autocrat with AD/HD and narcissism and sociopathy and dementia all rolled into one.
Excellent analysis, David. On the topic of approaching conspiracy theorists with empathy - by understanding legitimate grievances and how these can be manipulated - I highly recommend two books: 'Doppelganger' by Naomi Klein, and 'The Culting of America' by Daniella Mestyanek Young.
I enjoyed this piece. What I always end up thinking is that the "other side" can always read these types of explanations and say the exact same thing back. Someone can always say that the other side does not "understand the problem". Political and religious conversations always go around in circles, and everybody ends up feeling like they are all saying the same thing but somehow still disagreeing.
People lack trust in government and institutions because now we know they have done nothing but lie to us for years. They lied about the murders of JFK, RFK and Charlie Kirk. They lied about the moon landing, 9/11, the “pandemic” and accompanying bioweapon and all vaccines, which are poison. The guilty and the treasonous are never held accountable, whether they traffic in children, spray chemtrails in the air or unleash on the public millions of lab treated ticks. I could go on, but you get the drift. Psychopaths are ruling on both sides of the aisle and we are in a spiritual war like never before.
Interesting. Not a word about the anti-war rhetoric that has drawn in an audience of those that would have dismissed almost anything Tucker et al had preached in the past? Do you consider that less influential in this argument/observation than domestic grievances?
From my reading it seems that the opposition to wars and funding Israel’s wars have been the biggest recent divisions between far right pundits and the administration. Carlson, MTG, and others.
Government isn't working for us, people are being taught it's the governments fault. It's the people in government that make government not work for us. Better candidates to choose from would help immensely, but, stop electing republicans is the real solution. Better government is attainable.
I’ve often observed that in order for a “conspiracy theory” to gain a foothold, it begins with a kernel of truth to grow from. Legitimizing the theory has been accomplished (via the kernel) and expanded upon to satisfy the intended agenda no matter how twisted it can eventually morph into. (Sandy Hook is a perfect example of this warped sense of grievance.)
Alex Jones has ruined freedom of speech to torture innocent families. He should have gone to jail for putting the families thru hell. A paper bankruptcy is not punishment enough. Now to hear he is back on the air is outrageous.
Very astute observations David. Thank you.
You’re correct — there may be agreement at the beginning of a discussion, but where it goes and any solutions offered may contradict the best course of action.
My immediate thoughts are, there's a level above these two directions towards solutions, in which people aren't speaking about the economy. and, what the heck, as an environmental science educator, there's a level above the economy-- the ecology which we almost never talk about properly -- and upon which all life on earth hangs in the balance.
Those who purport to believe in labor, housing, heathcare, human rights, bodily autonomy, and economic support for other people, rarely talk about where those funds will emerge from.
Occasionally they might mention that wars are expensive, the f@#$ing ballroom and other vanity projects are expensive (how many people could eat or get medical care, or be housed with the money tied up in lawsuits and paint around the kennedy center name battle?), but they don't necessarily mention how to reroute those funds, the political processes that need to be engaged to change those priorities, and what if any personal sacrifices might be necessary to create those shifts. (in the Haymarket protests for example, people died and were deported, to achieve the 8 hour workday and breaks we've been unable to retain against all of the union busting, union corruption and violence directed at workers' rights movements.)
Those who believe whole swathes of society are scapegoatable, believe they can retrieve extra funding from uh I don't know, I guess deporting, murdering, or otherwise stripping those other people of any chance to live or live well, and then taking the extra for themselves.
Again, the plan for how the theft and redistribution to the selfish people this appeals to -- from the other probably very hardworking populations -- is not outlined in the political rhetoric. How would that economic redistribution look? Who would enact it? Do these people just expect a violent colonial type settlement, in which they are handed the properties of the people they don't consider also human? Do they have stockpiles of weapons to defend that theft, to do the murdering themselves? Or do they hope it will just be done quietly where they can't see it, and they'll just be oops the beneficiaries of unintentional genocide?
I might know less about what this population is expecting or isn't asking, but I know that the plans to scapegoat might be intentionally vague on the part of the pundits who propose it, because -- and here's sort of the anchor to these thoughts for me -- I don't think those pundits stand to gain from disrupting the difficulties at hand, but just from sparking outrage so they can profit off of the frustrations of the people who can't survive. Which, if we're honest is the same situation for the pundits on the other side?
If people are really hoping to spark change, they would have to be offering more than talking points about what the needed changes are, and asking more questions about how an average person in the U.S. around their impossible work/life schedule has some time and effort to help organize and build movements to address their own concerns -- which if we'rebeing thoughtful about it, are not all of the same concerns. A farming community does not have the same concerns as a community built around a college, or a town with a chemical production facility. These communities might have overlapping, contradictory, or compatible concerns, but they aren't all the same, as is often implied by our dehumanizing political systems which attempt to flatten all of our identities and concerns into homogenized states.
The fact that voting rights are being taken away, and it isn't a bigger deal, seems to me to be happening in part because communities are so fractured and fearful, and don't know how to advocate for our rights other than through representatives. it seems pretty likely as well that some of the people who are going to be disenfranchised as voters are people on the right who hope to disenfranchise others, and will only find themselves less able to speak up for their own needs.
This is so long and rambling, but I believe that my main concern is how people became so passive and easy to manipulate and how to change that state for individuals and communities so that talking points are less of a big deal than community care.
Lily, your commentary is on-point. Thanks for your shared thoughts!!
This kind of rhetoric could easily lead some people, down exactly the same rabbit hole that trump took maga down
Giving Carlson any legitimacy is the same as giving MT Green or Alex Jones respect. None deserve it. They made asses of themselves when they could have stood up for honesty. Then when that runs into the ditch, decide to see the light. Honesty is not a virtue when much of your public persona is based on lies.
Carlson praised Putin which should have condemned him to the trash pile for eternity. Absolute traiter. Just prostituting himself so he can get a front seat. Stop using him as some reliable candle of truth.
Smart how? Smart at shoot ‘em up bang bang video games? Smart but with brain worms? Smart but high or drugs or alcohol. Smart but racist? Smart but failed history?
Excellent observation. We’re slowly and haltingly beginning to understand and address what led to the excesses and abuses of the MAGA movement.
Hold the champagne, MAGA is still there as sick as ever and until Dems come back in power there is no limit MAGA will go too. I am sure they have plan to disrupt Nov elections. It appears mail in ballots are being trashed to make it more difficult to vote. ICE thugs will probably be at every polling booth to look for "illegals".
This. And it’s dangerous.
For 5th Graders "How to Spot Chinese Communist Brainwashing Techniques Used by High Control Groups"
8 Ways Groups Try to Control How You Think
Sometimes, strict groups try to take over the minds of their members. A scientist named Robert J. Lifton found eight sneaky tricks these groups use to brainwash people:
• 1. Controlling What You See and Hear (Milieu Control)
The group stops you from talking to outsiders. They only let you read, watch, or listen to things that they approve of.
• 2. Making Things Look Magical (Mystical Manipulation)
The leaders plan special events to make it look like they have magical or holy powers, even though they are just tricking you.
• 3. Saying Everything is Either Perfect or Evil (Demand for Purity)
They tell you the world is split into two sides: their side (which is perfectly good) and everyone else (who is completely bad).
• 4. Forcing You to Tell Every Secret (Cult of Confession)
You have to share all your private thoughts, mistakes, and secrets with the group so they can use them against you later.
• 5. Treating Rules Like Perfect Truth (Sacred Science)
The group’s ideas cannot be questioned. They say their rules are 100% true and perfect, like a science that can never be wrong.
• 6. Using Short Catchphrases (Loading the Language)
Instead of letting you think for yourself, they make you use short slogans or buzzwords to answer every question.
• 7. Ignoring Facts to Protect the Group (Doctrine over Person)
If real-life facts or logic prove the group is wrong, you are told to ignore the facts and keep believing the group anyway.
• 8. Deciding Who Matters (Dispensing of Existence)
The leaders act like only the people inside their group deserve to be happy or safe, while anyone outside of it doesn't matter at all.
Oh gosh, Trump weaves actual points of frustration all throughout his schtick. He just also adds in some bullshit, he moves on too quickly, he comes up with false solutions, and he serves his own best interests.
He's like an autocrat with AD/HD and narcissism and sociopathy and dementia all rolled into one.
It's a great time to be an American :/
Excellent analysis, David. On the topic of approaching conspiracy theorists with empathy - by understanding legitimate grievances and how these can be manipulated - I highly recommend two books: 'Doppelganger' by Naomi Klein, and 'The Culting of America' by Daniella Mestyanek Young.
I enjoyed this piece. What I always end up thinking is that the "other side" can always read these types of explanations and say the exact same thing back. Someone can always say that the other side does not "understand the problem". Political and religious conversations always go around in circles, and everybody ends up feeling like they are all saying the same thing but somehow still disagreeing.
People lack trust in government and institutions because now we know they have done nothing but lie to us for years. They lied about the murders of JFK, RFK and Charlie Kirk. They lied about the moon landing, 9/11, the “pandemic” and accompanying bioweapon and all vaccines, which are poison. The guilty and the treasonous are never held accountable, whether they traffic in children, spray chemtrails in the air or unleash on the public millions of lab treated ticks. I could go on, but you get the drift. Psychopaths are ruling on both sides of the aisle and we are in a spiritual war like never before.
Interesting. Not a word about the anti-war rhetoric that has drawn in an audience of those that would have dismissed almost anything Tucker et al had preached in the past? Do you consider that less influential in this argument/observation than domestic grievances?
From my reading it seems that the opposition to wars and funding Israel’s wars have been the biggest recent divisions between far right pundits and the administration. Carlson, MTG, and others.