I remember a time when news for most people came from the local paper and/or a 30 minute network evening TV show. Both were written by real journalists who attempted to be unbiased.
And cancelling Apollo. The Saturn V was the greatest engineering achievement of the human race. If the Wright brothers had done their first flight and 8 years later some group flew a 747 across the Pacific ocean it would have been by multiple measures a less impressive achievement.
He cancelled the remaining missions and shelved the rocket. Within 2 years it could no longer be built and the country that went to the moon could not put a human into space. In the 50 years since then no rocket has come close to what it could do.
Fox News tapped an audience which was already open to such bullshittery. Removing Fox News does not remove that audience. We need to better understand why a significant proportion of the population (not just of the US, but of the world) embraces fascism and the structures that drive towards it. Then, to identify how to convince fascists to abandon fascism.
Agree with the point that Fox News tapped that audience, disagree that removing them wouldn’t help.
Media literacy must be included as part of primary education. How do we know things? How do we find out things? What does it mean to “create a podcast”? etc.
Ideally, yes, it would be better if we lived in a world where there was not a niche for Fox News to fill. But again, removing Fox News would not remove that niche. Something else would fill the vacuum created by its absence.
Mostly agree, but I think that’s just one step removed. It’s not like the GOP (more correctly, conservatism) erected everything out of whole cloth, against a social democrat utopia that already existed. There has always been a very overlapping and sizeable Euler diagram of populism, conservatism, nationalism, and fascism, extending back into the tribal fog of prehistory.
It’s easy to point the finger at the primary bogeymen of today, and that over simplification is a major way that these horrible political and social views propagate. Their messaging is wrong, but it’s easy, and generally speaking, people prefer easy to complicated, with disregard to what’s more accurate.
The technology that allows powerful people to make war with each other and oppress the weak has vastly outpaced the advancement of more inclusive social and political philosophies. We’re going to need to come to a better understanding that we humans are all together one tribe. We need to be dedicated to the common good, not only of people like us, but of people unlike us, too, on the basis that we are all people.
Maindrivers of fascism are the insane people fearmongering and stoking nationalism in a bid for more power and money. It’s corruption and nonsense all the way down only made possible by poor education and voter participation. FPTP and lax campaign laws make it easy for the super wealthy to influence elections behind the scenes too. A lot of democracies are still run with systems designed by ancient wealthy romans for the benefit of ancient wealthy romans and are left unchanged. It’s to the surprise of noone when billionaires act like emperors in modern times with inequality on the rise everywhere and with news indistinguishable from entertainment given how the fairness doctrine has been long abolished even if that was precisely why it existed in the first place.
I’m sure there are. I couldn’t name a single one, and I am quite certain that there are zero US secondary schools that teach any of them. When I was in high school, we didn’t even get into WW1 in history class, and there’s been 35 years more history since then. We didn’t even get to the rise of fascism in the 20th century; no wonder it’s on the rise again.
Books that the majority of Americans are too apathetic, ideologically poisoned or just busy to read, much less take concrete actions as a result.
I wish it wasn’t so, but that’s the current reality. Telling your average Faux News viewer to read and honestly reflect on objective history books is a fool’s errand.
We have to fight intolerance not with the information of the tolerant, but with vilification, exclusion and other severe consequences for their misanthropic words and actions.
If people weren’t as stupid, they’d already be ignoring fox news.
The solution to misinformation isn’t censorship, it’s for people to be better educated. Are we supposed to ban every conspiracy theory website? If so, who gets to decide what is the truth and what is “misinformation”? The same type of government organization that is now banning books in florida? No thanks.
Probably but I bet the correlation is weak. Do you have a study that shows otherwise? I know engineers generally are more conservative compared to the other science-y white collar professions but I know several engineers who have the same level of education as I do who are total redhats.
I don’t discuss politics at work. That is my safe place from that bullshit.
And yet: “education” is never the panacea people pretend it is, when they scoff at DIRECT solutions to visible problems. ‘Don’t take action! Let’s opine about a generation-long project to prevent this from happening again.’
Because if there’s anything safe from the meddling of disinformation-pushing conservative bastards, it’s school.
I believe when people talk about education and schooling it’s about the future, not the present. The current generations are already set in their ways.
So to take ‘direct action’ would depend on what actions you’re actually able to take.
One thing, I know fantasy, I would like to see is editoral being labeled as such. Yes, that includes those round table talking head things. Just a banner on the bottom that said “editorial, not news”.
Society will never progress while Fox News is allowed to remain on the air. Fox News creates digital walls to segregate the audience from reality.
I remember a time when news for most people came from the local paper and/or a 30 minute network evening TV show. Both were written by real journalists who attempted to be unbiased.
Read up on roger Ailes and Reagan destroying ‘The Fairness Doctrine.’
Back in the day, you could only own two radio stations in one town [AM and FM] and any editorial had to provide time for rebuttal.
Yup. You can take nearly a modern “bad thing” and trace it back to Reagan policy.
Nixon too. Particularly around the state of insurance in the US.
And cancelling Apollo. The Saturn V was the greatest engineering achievement of the human race. If the Wright brothers had done their first flight and 8 years later some group flew a 747 across the Pacific ocean it would have been by multiple measures a less impressive achievement.
He cancelled the remaining missions and shelved the rocket. Within 2 years it could no longer be built and the country that went to the moon could not put a human into space. In the 50 years since then no rocket has come close to what it could do.
And he did it all for tax cuts.
I think even that stuff could be said to be results of stuff like Aisles working with Nixon, and Justice Lewis Powell’s memoranda. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_F._Powell_Jr.?wprov=sfla1
That is, until Sinclair and Clear Channel started gobbling up local affiliates to push their own narratives.
This is extremely dangerous to our democracy
This Is Extremely Dangerous To Our Democracy
This Is Extremely Dangerous To Our Democracy
Fox News tapped an audience which was already open to such bullshittery. Removing Fox News does not remove that audience. We need to better understand why a significant proportion of the population (not just of the US, but of the world) embraces fascism and the structures that drive towards it. Then, to identify how to convince fascists to abandon fascism.
Agree with the point that Fox News tapped that audience, disagree that removing them wouldn’t help.
Media literacy must be included as part of primary education. How do we know things? How do we find out things? What does it mean to “create a podcast”? etc.
Ideally, yes, it would be better if we lived in a world where there was not a niche for Fox News to fill. But again, removing Fox News would not remove that niche. Something else would fill the vacuum created by its absence.
They (GOP) created the audience over decades by gutting education, social support programs and encouraging racism.
By the time fox came around people were ripe to be abused.
Mostly agree, but I think that’s just one step removed. It’s not like the GOP (more correctly, conservatism) erected everything out of whole cloth, against a social democrat utopia that already existed. There has always been a very overlapping and sizeable Euler diagram of populism, conservatism, nationalism, and fascism, extending back into the tribal fog of prehistory.
It’s easy to point the finger at the primary bogeymen of today, and that over simplification is a major way that these horrible political and social views propagate. Their messaging is wrong, but it’s easy, and generally speaking, people prefer easy to complicated, with disregard to what’s more accurate.
The technology that allows powerful people to make war with each other and oppress the weak has vastly outpaced the advancement of more inclusive social and political philosophies. We’re going to need to come to a better understanding that we humans are all together one tribe. We need to be dedicated to the common good, not only of people like us, but of people unlike us, too, on the basis that we are all people.
Well said
Maindrivers of fascism are the insane people fearmongering and stoking nationalism in a bid for more power and money. It’s corruption and nonsense all the way down only made possible by poor education and voter participation. FPTP and lax campaign laws make it easy for the super wealthy to influence elections behind the scenes too. A lot of democracies are still run with systems designed by ancient wealthy romans for the benefit of ancient wealthy romans and are left unchanged. It’s to the surprise of noone when billionaires act like emperors in modern times with inequality on the rise everywhere and with news indistinguishable from entertainment given how the fairness doctrine has been long abolished even if that was precisely why it existed in the first place.
Do we? Hasn’t there been lots of books written by Europeans who lived thru the 1930s documented step by step how their nation fell.
I’m sure there are. I couldn’t name a single one, and I am quite certain that there are zero US secondary schools that teach any of them. When I was in high school, we didn’t even get into WW1 in history class, and there’s been 35 years more history since then. We didn’t even get to the rise of fascism in the 20th century; no wonder it’s on the rise again.
Books that the majority of Americans are too apathetic, ideologically poisoned or just busy to read, much less take concrete actions as a result.
I wish it wasn’t so, but that’s the current reality. Telling your average Faux News viewer to read and honestly reflect on objective history books is a fool’s errand.
We have to fight intolerance not with the information of the tolerant, but with vilification, exclusion and other severe consequences for their misanthropic words and actions.
If people weren’t as stupid, they’d already be ignoring fox news.
The solution to misinformation isn’t censorship, it’s for people to be better educated. Are we supposed to ban every conspiracy theory website? If so, who gets to decide what is the truth and what is “misinformation”? The same type of government organization that is now banning books in florida? No thanks.
Educated fascists abound.
Not that anyone should take you seriously, with that inane conclusion. ‘Oh, arresting kidnappers? Like the kidnappers did? No thanks.’
There is a negative correlation between education and support for Trump.
Probably but I bet the correlation is weak. Do you have a study that shows otherwise? I know engineers generally are more conservative compared to the other science-y white collar professions but I know several engineers who have the same level of education as I do who are total redhats.
I don’t discuss politics at work. That is my safe place from that bullshit.
And yet: “education” is never the panacea people pretend it is, when they scoff at DIRECT solutions to visible problems. ‘Don’t take action! Let’s opine about a generation-long project to prevent this from happening again.’
Because if there’s anything safe from the meddling of disinformation-pushing conservative bastards, it’s school.
I believe when people talk about education and schooling it’s about the future, not the present. The current generations are already set in their ways.
So to take ‘direct action’ would depend on what actions you’re actually able to take.
For example… the actions that dolt was specifically poo-poo-ing?
If people were better educated, I’d be able to read your username. /s
One thing, I know fantasy, I would like to see is editoral being labeled as such. Yes, that includes those round table talking head things. Just a banner on the bottom that said “editorial, not news”.
CNN is working on becoming a Fox News clone now too after the Warner-Discovery merger.