Why is it ok for people to believe in some fake things and not others?

[Jarqui]

59. For clarity, I do not think it is "ok"

I do not think it is as simple as you express it.

Things happen for a reason.

Some or bunches of what you point out has merit. But there is another side to it you do not address.

For example:
The education system has failed to teach Americans on how to cut through some of this better than they do.

Moms are not staying home as much any more. Both parents are working and some as many of three jobs to get by. They do not have time to dig into these issues like they used to.

We used to have a trustworthy newsman like Walter Cronkite who reliably cut through a lot of this for us. Now, we've split up into smaller tribes of folks and only listen to what we want to hear.

The control of about 95% of the media has shrunk to a few rich entities who shape a bunch of this bogus thinking.

So there are other reasons why this is happening that spread the blame around.

Having said that, like you say, the consequences if this continues are grave. It's already delivered a Trump presidency that we hope to survive. It's not on a good trajectory