Here's a challenging conundrum. Given that much of our problems come from the effect of decades of

[NRaleighLiberal]

(this post was bubbling in my mind, catalyzed by the most excellent post by Drunken Irishman and a to and fro we had in this thread - https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=14508180 )

right wing radio and TV - the propaganda, brainwashing, and creation of the cult that we now observe - laughable and ludicrous, yet really troubling in their complete non-acceptance of the election outcome (that goes for the cult leader himself, of course)...

What is it that has prevented an effective antidote to this?

Once the Fairness Doctrine ended, it was the right wing that poured funding into their authoritarian, alarmingly effective media.

Part of me thinks that right wing noise is totally black and white, brief, meme-like - with us or against us, etc. That's easy stuff to generate - the messages are simplistic - and simple. As we all know, reality is not that simple - more words are needed, life is more nuanced.

So I guess what we are up against is that the right wing, by nature being more authoritarian, gets lots of bang for the buck in funding their version of "news" - ginning up hate and violence. By its nature, liberal and progressive views and media, being more complex, would never succeed in the way that conservative media does - our big tent, diversity, tolerance - the messiness - just doesn't translate to the right wing model.

But it is incredibly frustrating to see the effectiveness of the lies and bombast and mind control of that right wing noise machine.

Add to that the ways that social tools now aid and abet that noise - Facebook and Twitter, and others.

I don't know how much effort Democrats put into analyzing tactics to combat such things, but to me, it is worth some effort to explore ways to counter the effectiveness of the right wing to sweep large swaths of people into believing their bullshit.

[Shermann]

1. I've been studying this phenomenon quite a bit

One positive trend I see is that social media has installed circuit breakers to trip when the disinformation reaches a certain point. They don't want to be in the fake news propagation business to a significant degree, which is good. It is relatively easy to stop the major manipulators, but quite difficult to stop the grass roots propagation that occurs.

I also think that conservative media can form a bubble when it goes unchecked too long. The pandemic allowed us to watch science work in real time, and the conservative news often ran contrary to the science. These stories drifted into falsifiable territory, and were proven objectively false weeks or even days later. Again and again. The election fraud "story" is so full of falsehoods that you have to wonder when the bubble will pop.

[NRaleighLiberal]

3. COVID is an interesting lens in which to look at this.

It shows some things very clearly:

In that conservative bubble, intellect, education, expertise is completely devalued (to me, part of that is envy).
Despite hundreds of thousands of deaths, despite their dear leader himself getting infected - the right wing bubble calls it a hoax - so we get maskless behavior.

If that isn't the definition of cognitive dissonance, a stark example of the power of propaganda, and cult-like behavior, nothing is.

Thanks for your response, by the way.

[magicarpet]

2. We must get a handle on rampant right winger propaganda,..

.... or it will soon eat our Democracy alive. Their ambition is to deliver the final death blow so we can't recuperate or recover.

[NRaleighLiberal]

4. I totally agree - but how? I don't think it is viewed by nearly enough as dangerous as it really is.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

5. Biden should do fireside chats.

He can explain democratic bills whom is sitting on them interfering with passage,and become more like a trusted friend. Alot of people voted bush because he seemed like a guy you'd have a beer with.

Biden with his good nature and honesty can win people over to the Dem side by explaining what it is.
Like once a week he can talk with the people. And give them a little civics class while he's at it.

[marylandblue]

6. I think the key here is understanding authoritarian followers.

These people are vulnerable to messages based in fear and also are weak at critical thinking. Scare them enough, and they will follow you anywhere without thinking, because they are too scared to do anything else. So I think the counter messaging has to focus on calming their fears and teaching critical thinking.

[NRaleighLiberal]

7. good point. Fear is a key factor, for sure. Maybe indicative of a core lack of self confidence.