As the US approaches the third straight election in which misinformation is expected to play a role, it’s important to understand what’s driving people who don’t believe in US elections.
There’s a tendency in this heated political climate to simply reject people who are saying false things and to write off conspiracy theorists writ large.
But as the US approaches the third straight election in which misinformation — and the fight against it — is expected to play a role, it’s important to understand what’s driving people who don’t believe in US elections.
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I talked to O’Sullivan about the documentary, in which he has some frank and disarming talks with people about what has shaken their belief in the US. But he paints an alarming picture about the rise of fringe movements in the country.
Our conversation, conducted by phone and edited for length, is below:
WOLF:What were you trying to accomplish with this project?
O’SULLIVAN: So much of mainstream American politics now is being infected and affected by what is happening on what was once considered the real fringes — fringe platforms, fringe personalities.
And I think really what we want to do in this show is illustrate how these personalities may be pushing falsehoods, but they’re no longer fringe. This is all happening right now. And it is having a big effect on our democracy.
it sucks so bad that the internet initially looked like this thing that would enlighten the world and allow for us as a species to make incredible gains in sciences and culture and morality. instead it seemed to do the opposite.
You can't defund education and not expect this outcome. If you want a functioning democracy, you need good and complete education for all citizens. I doubt there is any cheaper fix for this problem. An educated citizens is, on average, more resistant to bullshit. Education is the best investment a democracy can make.
What's really interesting is how much I agree with some people on the far right. We are angry at the conditions our society has created. We are affected by the same inequalities, lack of infrastructure, and there is no safety net in case something happens to us. It just gets insane when we see how different our solutions are.
Not a bad article, but I wish they wouldn't use politically neutral language like fringe or polarisation or even just conspiracy theorist, as if the issues aren't almost exclusively happening on one side of politics. Call a spade a spade already.
The interview is with a person that made a documentary called MisinfoNation: The Trump Faithful. It said it was airing on CNN tonight, but I don't have cable. It doesn't look like it's available anywhere online. Dammit.
Misinformation has been around before the written word and while many are pointing the finger at the Internet for making it worse, I am not convinced it has. I mean all bought trickle down economics before the Internet for example.
I'd argue it's most. Granted, people's level of delusion varies, but esp among the younger kids who are tik-tok addicts, there is a marked decline in their ability to realize there is a world outside of their experience and what they are being told on tik-tok.
What baffles me is the intolerance of disagreement. When I was in college the main thing I learned was the limits of what I know, how much I don't know, and to tolerate others POV and to investigate the facts and see beyond biased narratives and recognize those biases...
Today it seems all people learn is 'i am right, because i feel i am right, and nobody can tell me otherwise'. and people are more and more extreme in their views and more willing to dehumanize others for the smallest of disagreements. IRL and on the internet.
My views are liberal, but I'm open to conservative ideas. This was not controversial in the 2000s, and most of the early 2010s, but post Trump/tiktok, even my own former friends on the left have whole-heartedly adopted the 'I am a victim and my feelings are all that matters' mentality, and just live in these social media hug boxes where every little think they do is a HUGE achievement, and any mistake they make is never their fault. Meanwhile, they bitch and bitch about how unfair and unhappy their lives are if only rich white guys would just give them their money it would all be better. They have zero interest in building anything inclusive or meaningful in their communities, unless you define community as 'only people who look, speak, and think exactly like I do'. Everything is a catchphrase, and no subtling is allowed. 'ACAB'... well I have family who are cops.... sorry if I'm not on board with the mentality that ACAB, but I 100% recognize the need for police reform... but that viewpoint is 'toxic' now. You can't recognize cops as people.
It's truly dark. I've also seen it firsthand with people i've know for several years now, watching them slowly become angry nutbags whose joy in life is enforcing social confomrity into whatever fiefdom they are a part of. And I am just sort of peacing out now, because I no longer want to be involved in communities and groups full of narcissistic twits and angry miserable people whose only joy in life is shitting on others who are different than them.