It's an interesting take on the situation: promoting propaganda efforts as "right to be heard". What concerns me is that public manipulation has to rely on the existing patterns of...
It's an interesting take on the situation: promoting propaganda efforts as "right to be heard".
What concerns me is that public manipulation has to rely on the existing patterns of disenfranchisement. It has to use the pains already embedded in the society. I guess that means a lot of people feel unheard. Feeling not in control naturally puts people on the fringes.
What concerns me rather more is that it's the same thing happening in Russia right now, except the target is outwards: "we are under attack — they're calling us evil — look at our might compared to theirs".
My father watches this one program on NTV. No clue what its name is. It's set up in the format of a debate, but even the hosts are nonchalantly-aggressive towards their target-of-the-day. (Usually America.) There's a lot of shouting, a lot of unpolished blasphemy, and even more raw propaganda: "We're good, but they're saying we're bad. We're good. They're bad". It's sophisticated enough that a certain kind of people – those who feel disenfranchised, lost, and stressed out from shitty living – can suspend their critical thinking to let it through without much consideration. It is not, however, sophisticated.
My father is a generally good person. In absolute terms, he's a small step towards the larger extreme on a bell curve of human dignity. Generally helpful, tries to do good by others, works his ass off when he does (he's retired; been a miner for 25 years). Hangs out with friends, keeps in touch with those he cares about. If he finds a million in a bag fallen off a truck, I'm sure he's gonna call the bank and see that the money return exactly as they were when he found them. When our elderly neighbor got robbed, he chased the thief until he couldn't anymore (my father was 55 at the time). Not a perfect person, but a good one.
He's also racist in a way that feels frighteningly normal in Russia. He thinks Trump is a hero to stand so tall against an overwhelming wave of anti-Russian political warriors. He thinks Putin is a powerhouse of a leader, with the strength to "show them what it's all about"... because apparently, they need to be shown.
He's, quite frankly, prime fertile ground for the Republican Party in the worst way possible. Should he ever move to the United States – chances are abysmal, but who ever knows – I'm pretty sure I know whom he's gonna root for.
And if his living conditions suddenly improve, especially by chance, it's far too easy for me to picture him being the wrong kind of rich: blaming others for not trying hard enough to get this rich, for example.
It's an interesting take on the situation: promoting propaganda efforts as "right to be heard".
What concerns me is that public manipulation has to rely on the existing patterns of disenfranchisement. It has to use the pains already embedded in the society. I guess that means a lot of people feel unheard. Feeling not in control naturally puts people on the fringes.
What concerns me rather more is that it's the same thing happening in Russia right now, except the target is outwards: "we are under attack — they're calling us evil — look at our might compared to theirs".
My father watches this one program on NTV. No clue what its name is. It's set up in the format of a debate, but even the hosts are nonchalantly-aggressive towards their target-of-the-day. (Usually America.) There's a lot of shouting, a lot of unpolished blasphemy, and even more raw propaganda: "We're good, but they're saying we're bad. We're good. They're bad". It's sophisticated enough that a certain kind of people – those who feel disenfranchised, lost, and stressed out from shitty living – can suspend their critical thinking to let it through without much consideration. It is not, however, sophisticated.
My father is a generally good person. In absolute terms, he's a small step towards the larger extreme on a bell curve of human dignity. Generally helpful, tries to do good by others, works his ass off when he does (he's retired; been a miner for 25 years). Hangs out with friends, keeps in touch with those he cares about. If he finds a million in a bag fallen off a truck, I'm sure he's gonna call the bank and see that the money return exactly as they were when he found them. When our elderly neighbor got robbed, he chased the thief until he couldn't anymore (my father was 55 at the time). Not a perfect person, but a good one.
He's also racist in a way that feels frighteningly normal in Russia. He thinks Trump is a hero to stand so tall against an overwhelming wave of anti-Russian political warriors. He thinks Putin is a powerhouse of a leader, with the strength to "show them what it's all about"... because apparently, they need to be shown.
He's, quite frankly, prime fertile ground for the Republican Party in the worst way possible. Should he ever move to the United States – chances are abysmal, but who ever knows – I'm pretty sure I know whom he's gonna root for.
And if his living conditions suddenly improve, especially by chance, it's far too easy for me to picture him being the wrong kind of rich: blaming others for not trying hard enough to get this rich, for example.
It's... a hell of a thing to consider.
The article on the Wayback Machine.
It blows my mind that people would accept money for bullshit like this.