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

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@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.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@Dianora Well-stated. I agree.

[kathylk@universeodon.com]

@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

Time For Us To Take Back The News

Onward.

(www.dworkinsubstack.com)

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@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.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@AeonCypher Left-leaning media are the problem.

I see. Thanks for informing me.

[mastopoet@h-net.social]

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

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@todwest You declare that it wasn't racism.

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

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

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

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

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

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@Piousunyn Not surprising, is it?

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@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.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

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

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

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

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@mrraccoon What has not been around since humans have speech is the internet and the hugely amplified way it transmits lies and disinformation.

[chiraag@mastodon.online]

@wdlindsy I agree that it's not the _only_ factor, but when something that is concretely hurting you is tied so deeply with an abstract concept like democracy, it really doesn't help.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@MylesRyden As I posted here on November 4, the day before the election, I have learned from living half of the 20th century and over 20 years in the new century that one can never underestimate the depths of racism and misogyny American voters will reveal when they go to cast their votes. I grew up and live in the US South and know this in my bones.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@hamishb A very good point to make.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@todwest You say the Democratic party is to blame.

I see things very differently. We are talking past each other.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@TheEffekt Perhaps because I grew up in the US South and live there still, I really have no problem seeing that this is what my country wants. Add to that my experience as an openly gay man in a same-sex marriage, which only amplifies and confirms so much I've seen growing up in the white South as it resisted civil rights for people of color tooth and nail. I've never been permitted to have illusions about the "goodness" and "innocence" of my fellow citizens.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@martinvermeer Yes, well-stated.