• UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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    22 hours ago

    The tools that were used to drive Germany to madness are much the same we’re seeing today. A lot of that first 1/3 is being bombarded with mass media saying “Black people are trying to kill you! Leftists are trying to rob you! The Evil Biden Government is trying to transgender your children!” over and over and over for decades on end.

    This isn’t just Americans waking up one morning and deciding to be MAGA chuds. It is a product of two generations of intense right-wing propaganda through every avenue of mass media.

    • djsoren19@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      19 hours ago

      It’s also Americans not doing anything about it for the last two generations. The right-wing propoganda machine has been a threat for literally my entire life, but it has been allowed to complete its ultimate goal without anyone actually trying to stop it.

      • derpgon@programming.dev
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        19 hours ago

        Oh boy, I am seeing it first half my country. An old friend of mine shares right wing propaganda several times a day, and doesn’t matter how many times I try to counter argument - he just doesn’t care. No reply, no reaction, no nothing. Not even responding to DMs.

        Lost cause these people, and I’ve got better things to do than driving two hours just to knock on his door and talk some fucking sense into him.

        At least I am getting positive reaction from people who see what kind of bullshit he shares.

        • djsoren19@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          17 hours ago

          I honestly think the answer has to be banning the content. I don’t understand why we allow people to lie and demonize minorities on the internet and TV, it seems pretty obvious what giving a platform for hateful ideology leads to. For Americans, this level of censorship was a bridge too far, but hopefully other countries realize that it’s a necessary bulwark against the rise of fascism.

          • MutilationWave@lemmy.world
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            15 hours ago

            But how could we ban the content when the owners of the media are fascists? When all three branches of the government are dominated by people who rely on this messaging?

            • djsoren19@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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              13 hours ago

              There was a time when this wasn’t the case, and there was independent media in the United States. Unfortunately, that was when it needed to be nipped in the bud.

              I honestly think that removing the Fairness Doctrine doesn’t get pointed to enough as one of Reagan’s massive blows to the U.S.

    • stickly@lemmy.world
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      21 hours ago

      That’s the one thing that gives me hope: their views changed radically but only in one generation through concentrated, directed effort. Calling people idiots or sheep misses the point that this is the natural result of exposing people to this shit daily.

      Nobody in history ever thought people are inherently rational and considerate, society is held together through a culture that reinforces it. The tools of the information age can rapidly and drastically shape our society however we want it, we just need to pull them out of the hands of those billionaires burning civilisation to the ground for their own benefit.