It's always so easy to blame women, isn't it?

William Lindsey :toad:

@RogueDharmaBum I'm reserving blame for the Republican party.

William Lindsey :toad:

@rlstone4dems Definitely a pity. But that's what social institutions are, aren't they — webs of affiliation, so that if you pluck one strand, all strands violate? We'll all suffer now due to the refusal of some of us to educate ourselves and face reality.

Peet Tetteroo

@wdlindsy Slightly over 32% only of the country - 30% did not vote and the rest went to Dem and Ind.

William Lindsey :toad:

@gooba42 Yes, that's right. And I'd say that at least one reason this has happened to us is that we've refused to listen to the testimony of minority communities who could offer us a realistic and at the same time hopeful perspective on our society and what ails it.

William Lindsey :toad:

@lin11c Yes, sadly.

William Lindsey :toad:

@KathyLK Yes, for sure.

Urzl

@wdlindsy I think we need to be more careful and precise in the language we use. Particularly now when the writing is probably of more use to some future archaeologist than to the traumatized and disempowered people reading it now.

William Lindsey :toad:

@NMBA Thank you for making that point. I'd also say that I think younger people tend to get such information as reaches them via online video sites, and those seem to be rife with disinformation and right-wing memes, e.g., the ilk of Andrew Tate, who is so increasingly influential among younger males.

William Lindsey :toad:

@Dianora Well-stated. I agree.

JustKathy

@wdlindsy @gooba42

Scott Dworkin is making it his mission to somehow to try to "take back" the media by supporting independent news organizations. I think the only way to do this is by avoiding corporate news organizations. (I hate to use the word "boycott," because apparently that's asking to be sued in Musk's America.) #journalists #journalism #media

https://www.dworkinsubstack.com/p/time-for-us-to-take-back-the-news

William Lindsey :toad:

@chiraag I have long been critical of neoliberalism. I also think that it's a miscalculation to say that the choice of increasing numbers of people to swallow fascist ideas is entirely rooted in economic malaise.

William Lindsey :toad:

@AeonCypher Left-leaning media are the problem.

I see. Thanks for informing me.

Masto.poetry

@wdlindsy @chiraag
why do you insist on calling it by the wrong name? neoliberalism is the conservative policy since the 1800s. look it up!

William Lindsey :toad:

@todwest You declare that it wasn't racism.

I seem to see a different picture altogether than you do.

William Lindsey :toad:

@patrickco @SykesCharlie Yes. I don't think Charlie Sykes is saying Trump is the cause of all of that, either.

William Lindsey :toad:

@philip_cardella Yes, good points that need to be factored into this discussion, for sure.

William Lindsey :toad:

@Piousunyn Not surprising, is it?

William Lindsey :toad:

@gumpfloyd Why do people believe it? That's surely an important question, isn't it? We've had a laboratory case to study in recent years with the response to the pandemic, the willingness of millions to believe total nonsense about Covid and vaccines. Why do people behave this way? A key factor is surely lack of sound education. Keep large numbers of people from being well-educated — the Republican strategy for years now — and you make people ripe to swallow lies and misinformation.

William Lindsey :toad:

@vashafer A good and chilling (as you say) question to ask.

William Lindsey :toad:

@the5thColumnist All archys eventually succumb to their overinflated egos, don't they?