This is so true, but I'm feeling pretty hopeless standing up against a tide of misinformation on social media sites specifically run by "alt-right" fascists and/or China. I just don't think there is anything the Dems could have run differently short of not running Biden in the first place; dropping out and having Kamala go was the best shot, and it failed EXACTLY the way we could expect from the tiktok/facebook algorithms. Trump himself barely tried; he knew he would win because the social media companies were actively in his camp.
I think there are *some* things parents can do, if they recognize it and address it in their homes. But teachers? I honestly don't know. I have a very good media literacy unit right now (shout out to Checkology!) and am following up with it every week, but I don't think it inoculates kids from relentless social media campaigns. They technically know they can't trust the factual information they hear there, if they think about it, but people base their votes on "vibes" more than actual facts.
Our consumerist society has been conditioned by years of corporate manipulation for this moment. The world of advertising, where lies and obfuscation (of truths such as that fossil fuels cause climate change or cigarettes cause cancer) are all OK, no matter how deadly or destructive, so long as it sells the product and makes money. The voters have “chosen” a product known as Donald Trump, who the ads say will make them happier and wealthier. Somewhere Neil Young’s song “Piece of Crap” (which is always what wind up getting when we take the product home), is playing quietly in the background.
Thank you for speaking the truth.
This is so true, but I'm feeling pretty hopeless standing up against a tide of misinformation on social media sites specifically run by "alt-right" fascists and/or China. I just don't think there is anything the Dems could have run differently short of not running Biden in the first place; dropping out and having Kamala go was the best shot, and it failed EXACTLY the way we could expect from the tiktok/facebook algorithms. Trump himself barely tried; he knew he would win because the social media companies were actively in his camp.
I think there are *some* things parents can do, if they recognize it and address it in their homes. But teachers? I honestly don't know. I have a very good media literacy unit right now (shout out to Checkology!) and am following up with it every week, but I don't think it inoculates kids from relentless social media campaigns. They technically know they can't trust the factual information they hear there, if they think about it, but people base their votes on "vibes" more than actual facts.
Our consumerist society has been conditioned by years of corporate manipulation for this moment. The world of advertising, where lies and obfuscation (of truths such as that fossil fuels cause climate change or cigarettes cause cancer) are all OK, no matter how deadly or destructive, so long as it sells the product and makes money. The voters have “chosen” a product known as Donald Trump, who the ads say will make them happier and wealthier. Somewhere Neil Young’s song “Piece of Crap” (which is always what wind up getting when we take the product home), is playing quietly in the background.
Well said.
The AP and various other media reported about the significant increase in White Catholic voting for Trump in 2024.