 |
| Misanthropic Boomer |
We have a great deal of hard work to do in order to re-establish the rights of the people of our Republic. Over the past thirty plus years we have been silent, impotent witnesses to our own gradual destruction. If we do not wish to return to the feudalistic society of a thousand years past we must become active; we must seek the truth and refute the lies that are bringing the nation to the brink of such a second feudal age.
A 2011 survey out of Fairleigh Dickinson University indicated that people are more well informed who watch no news than FOX News watchers. Now eight years and a new President later things have not only not improved, but also with a mendacious head of state, and the acceptance of “alternate facts” (facts are facts…there can be no alternate) the situation is much worse. More recent studies by Emory and Stanford Universities indicate that FOX has a much more influential effect on Democratic voters than do MSNBC and CNN on Republicans…it is apparently easier to move voters to the right than the left.
A 2011 survey out of Fairleigh Dickinson University indicated that people are more well informed who watch no news than FOX News watchers. Now eight years and a new President later things have not only not improved, but also with a mendacious head of state, and the acceptance of “alternate facts” (facts are facts…there can be no alternate) the situation is much worse. More recent studies by Emory and Stanford Universities indicate that FOX has a much more influential effect on Democratic voters than do MSNBC and CNN on Republicans…it is apparently easier to move voters to the right than the left.
FOX Entertainment is definitely the main propaganda arm of the GOP. This is, for the most part the legacy of the late Roger Ailes (even the "Rapacious Rupert Murdoch" was afraid of Ailes). Ailes spent most of his career as a political hack for the GOP. He worked for Nixon, Reagan, and Geo. H.W. Bush. And it was Ailes that drove the FOX propaganda machine. It was Ailes that intuitively recognized what neurobiologists are just finding out…if one repeats a lie often enough the lie doesn’t become truth, even worse the truth becomes irrelevant.
We must also recognize that the problem is much bigger than FOX. We have become ignorant through our own laziness; so that we accept, more often than not, whatever we are told. Social media also plays a large part in this, as became evident in the 2016 election. In addition, the advent of sites such as Facebook make it easier to spread misinformation as it creates tribal groups that pull in like minded people who then help to disseminate the falsehoods and propaganda. Once again, this seems to work more effectively for the Right. That is, perhaps a result of a longing for the status quo, while the Left is forever pushing change. People tend not to like change because it implies that something is wrong with the way things are…no one likes to be told they are wrong. It is, therefore a much more difficult message to sell, and lends itself less to a good propagandas story. That is, in part, how the 1% got where they are. A façade of the “good old days” has been created for them to hide behind. We cannot just blame FOX and Right wing talk radio; we must understand the part we played in allowing this to happen in the first place.
Remember Roger Ailes? He was counseling Reagan during the Air Traffic Controllers (PATCO) strike way back in 1981. This was in actuality the beginning of the destruction of Unionism in America: no mean feat. Ronald Reagan had always been pro union (he was president of the Screen Actors Guild, a very powerful union) because he knew that it was the unions that created the middle class through the process of collective bargaining. This it seems was anathema to Ailes, and it seems to Reagan as well once he began taking Ailes advice. Ailes was known as both a bully, and a re-inventor of truth. It is those who are today following in Ailes footsteps on whom we must shine our light; those who skulk in the dark, and manipulate the light.
The tools for accomplishing this are the very ones that are routinely used against us. Truth is a powerful weapon when handled properly. We must spend less time complaining and more time learning about what works. As I said, no one likes change as it is an automatic refutation of the situation requiring it. Therefore we must learn to present change in such a way as to make it palatable. For example rather than the current approach to gaining control of the firearms issue by attempting to sway people who are convinced that the Left wants to take away their guns by using statistics and what we believe to be reason, a better approach might be to agree with most of what the Right fears.
That is, we should first and foremost clearly state our recognition and support of the Second Amendment; acknowledge the value of a well armed citizenry. And then point out that a benefit of a national gun registry database will be to insure that owners weapons cannot be confiscated as it will be part of the legislation that creates the registry…it will be a protection for them. Additionally, since one must be licensed to drive a car, drive a motorcycle, go fishing, and engage in other specialized activities requiring greater than mere general knowledge, a gun license with appropriate testing and fees could be required to insure the safety of our citizenry; all fees would go toward providing firearms training, ranges, etc. This may not be the best example but I believe you can get an idea from it that the approach is different than the one currently in use; which has never worked and caused a great deal of animus. Think about the fact that no one has ever proposed or promoted the idea of taking away American’s firearms, yet the NRA has the Right convinced that every Democrat in the nation wants to repeal the Second Amendment.
Remember Roger Ailes? He was counseling Reagan during the Air Traffic Controllers (PATCO) strike way back in 1981. This was in actuality the beginning of the destruction of Unionism in America: no mean feat. Ronald Reagan had always been pro union (he was president of the Screen Actors Guild, a very powerful union) because he knew that it was the unions that created the middle class through the process of collective bargaining. This it seems was anathema to Ailes, and it seems to Reagan as well once he began taking Ailes advice. Ailes was known as both a bully, and a re-inventor of truth. It is those who are today following in Ailes footsteps on whom we must shine our light; those who skulk in the dark, and manipulate the light.
The tools for accomplishing this are the very ones that are routinely used against us. Truth is a powerful weapon when handled properly. We must spend less time complaining and more time learning about what works. As I said, no one likes change as it is an automatic refutation of the situation requiring it. Therefore we must learn to present change in such a way as to make it palatable. For example rather than the current approach to gaining control of the firearms issue by attempting to sway people who are convinced that the Left wants to take away their guns by using statistics and what we believe to be reason, a better approach might be to agree with most of what the Right fears.
That is, we should first and foremost clearly state our recognition and support of the Second Amendment; acknowledge the value of a well armed citizenry. And then point out that a benefit of a national gun registry database will be to insure that owners weapons cannot be confiscated as it will be part of the legislation that creates the registry…it will be a protection for them. Additionally, since one must be licensed to drive a car, drive a motorcycle, go fishing, and engage in other specialized activities requiring greater than mere general knowledge, a gun license with appropriate testing and fees could be required to insure the safety of our citizenry; all fees would go toward providing firearms training, ranges, etc. This may not be the best example but I believe you can get an idea from it that the approach is different than the one currently in use; which has never worked and caused a great deal of animus. Think about the fact that no one has ever proposed or promoted the idea of taking away American’s firearms, yet the NRA has the Right convinced that every Democrat in the nation wants to repeal the Second Amendment.
Perhaps one way to shine the light on all of the lies, and to fight the mendacity and disinformation is to get as many people as possible to utilize the internet and Social media on a continuing and organized basis, to flood the mainstream media as well as FOX with emails calling out the liars. This also needs to be done regarding those both running for, and already in elected office. And it cannot be done with a brickbat, finesse must be the watchword.
Since we know that people have jobs and families, and so for the most part are very busy we cannot expect them to participate in something like this without doing most of the work for them. I would suggest something like the petition sites currently used to communicate with elected officials could be created with boilerplate messages and challenges to misinformation as it arises as one method of changing people’s minds through truth. The creation of a moderate group of both Left and Right leaning individuals to ensure the veracity of what is being said and or published would provide credibility. Everyone could then be encouraged to send proof of public lying to such a group, who could then research the accusation, draft an email of correction available for everyone to sign and send individually. That email would be addressed to the mainstream media outlets, FOX, the White House, and the person who told, or exploited the lie.
I know this sounds like a lot of work, but nothing is going to change for the better unless we get off our collective asses, and do something. We need to participate if we are to be free. What I am proposing above is a kind of civil disobedience, in that if done properly it could bring down servers everywhere. We must figure out a way to make it painful to lie to the American people.
Since we know that people have jobs and families, and so for the most part are very busy we cannot expect them to participate in something like this without doing most of the work for them. I would suggest something like the petition sites currently used to communicate with elected officials could be created with boilerplate messages and challenges to misinformation as it arises as one method of changing people’s minds through truth. The creation of a moderate group of both Left and Right leaning individuals to ensure the veracity of what is being said and or published would provide credibility. Everyone could then be encouraged to send proof of public lying to such a group, who could then research the accusation, draft an email of correction available for everyone to sign and send individually. That email would be addressed to the mainstream media outlets, FOX, the White House, and the person who told, or exploited the lie.
I know this sounds like a lot of work, but nothing is going to change for the better unless we get off our collective asses, and do something. We need to participate if we are to be free. What I am proposing above is a kind of civil disobedience, in that if done properly it could bring down servers everywhere. We must figure out a way to make it painful to lie to the American people.
