After the Nazis fell in WWII, the world asked how Germans could have been so gullible to follow such an evil dictator who would lead them to the slaughter. We must ask ourselves the same question. How, in the face of overwhelming facts, could a chunk of the American electorate swallow such glaring lies about the election, Antifa, Qanon…
After the Nazis fell in WWII, the world asked how Germans could have been so gullible to follow such an evil dictator who would lead them to the slaughter. We must ask ourselves the same question. How, in the face of overwhelming facts, could a chunk of the American electorate swallow such glaring lies about the election, Antifa, Qanon and partisan bullies? We must dig deep for reasons, but I'm afraid we're not going to like what we find.
Let's begin with the American Revolution. In the late 1700's colonists were becoming increasingly literate and newspapers (newsletters, really) such as the Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advisor influenced and fueled passions to fight against oppressive English monarchy. One could argue that without these primitive means of communication with rural communities our fight for independence at least would have been delayed. These newspapers voiced a call to arms.
Flash forward 250 years. Communication with the masses by is as easy as a click of a button. The difference, of course, is that there are so many points of view it can be problematic to rouse and sway insurrection. So discourse shifted to what Professor Heather Cox Richardson (Letters From An American--the best political commentary in the country) so eloquently points out: The Big Lie. Right wingers jumped on the collective bandwagon with enthusiasm to be able to play war. But this doesn't explain why they took the bait. The explanation is darker and delves into the underbelly of the American psyche.
All humans wish to belong and seek others with whom they have the most in common. Those who protest in the name of freedom and equality grow their ranks together. But now, as a direct result of the Internet Age. people can band together and feel validated even is their base argument is a Big Lie. The differentiation between truth and lies no longer matters. What matters to the participants is they feel life now has meaning, that they belong to something greater than themselves, that their lives now have worth, widely accepted facts notwithstanding.
The result of this new paradigm is that morality has been subjugated by collective human action. "We'll follow our leader to the edge of the cliff and gladly jump!" It's identical to the mass hypnosis of Nazi Germany, but this time we can tweet about it, thus somehow further validating our existence. But to what end? Anarchy? It is said that a sucker is born every minute. Our fear should be that have already begun to mobilize, again.
Fine for lemings.... but they finish very badly.....in the sea at the bottom of the cliffs. They do however solve their overpopulation problem rather radically!
After the Nazis fell in WWII, the world asked how Germans could have been so gullible to follow such an evil dictator who would lead them to the slaughter. We must ask ourselves the same question. How, in the face of overwhelming facts, could a chunk of the American electorate swallow such glaring lies about the election, Antifa, Qanon and partisan bullies? We must dig deep for reasons, but I'm afraid we're not going to like what we find.
Let's begin with the American Revolution. In the late 1700's colonists were becoming increasingly literate and newspapers (newsletters, really) such as the Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advisor influenced and fueled passions to fight against oppressive English monarchy. One could argue that without these primitive means of communication with rural communities our fight for independence at least would have been delayed. These newspapers voiced a call to arms.
Flash forward 250 years. Communication with the masses by is as easy as a click of a button. The difference, of course, is that there are so many points of view it can be problematic to rouse and sway insurrection. So discourse shifted to what Professor Heather Cox Richardson (Letters From An American--the best political commentary in the country) so eloquently points out: The Big Lie. Right wingers jumped on the collective bandwagon with enthusiasm to be able to play war. But this doesn't explain why they took the bait. The explanation is darker and delves into the underbelly of the American psyche.
All humans wish to belong and seek others with whom they have the most in common. Those who protest in the name of freedom and equality grow their ranks together. But now, as a direct result of the Internet Age. people can band together and feel validated even is their base argument is a Big Lie. The differentiation between truth and lies no longer matters. What matters to the participants is they feel life now has meaning, that they belong to something greater than themselves, that their lives now have worth, widely accepted facts notwithstanding.
The result of this new paradigm is that morality has been subjugated by collective human action. "We'll follow our leader to the edge of the cliff and gladly jump!" It's identical to the mass hypnosis of Nazi Germany, but this time we can tweet about it, thus somehow further validating our existence. But to what end? Anarchy? It is said that a sucker is born every minute. Our fear should be that have already begun to mobilize, again.
Fine for lemings.... but they finish very badly.....in the sea at the bottom of the cliffs. They do however solve their overpopulation problem rather radically!
Lemmings set an awful example for humans, yet some take inspiration from them.
Exactly. Power is the mob. Feared by our founders. Not a word about party.
To truth. To the individual. To tolerance.
Thank you, Randy Watson. Thank you.
Mass hypnosis. Nice. I’ve been using words like brainwashing, cult leadership, Kool-Aid, delusion.