Prof. Peter Hotez says what many of have been feeling and wondering - we grew up assuming that the American people were smart, educated, knowledgeable, thoughtful, creative, forward looking.
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They've industrialized the malfunction, but I don't think it's new. I mean look at all the cults and mystical movements of the 19th century. Maybe it's cyclic?
hard agree on this, and even without going that far back, when were USA citizens reading Plato and Aristotles? whilst Obama was normalising drone strikes without congress aproval? during Reaganomics? when Clinton was shagging in the oval office? when Nixon was using the CIA to spy on opponents? when Bush senior was kidnapping the leader of Panama or when Bush junior used lies to invade Iraq?
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Prof. Peter Hotez says what many of have been feeling and wondering - we grew up assuming that the American people were smart, educated, knowledgeable, thoughtful, creative, forward looking. But look at the vast swath of the population now, lapping up the lies, gaslighting and snake-oil emanating from grifters in right-wing media, republican leaders, billionaires and the current White House.
How will we turn things around?
#UsPol
1/n
@AkaSci I have limited ideas, but an approach I am taking is
1) trying to help people in my life with media literacy. In particular I try to point out author credibility or lack there of. Because our world is built on technologies too complex to understand for yourself without dedicated study, producing solid sounding misinformation is so so easy, and often the only way to tell is to undertatand the authors incentives for making the content.
2) trying to use popular, non-polarized, and easily verifiable topics where I also carry some credibility to suggest “you’re being lied to”. People love public land, want clean water, etc. and of course those things are under attack right now. Fox and friends spun the fact that the forest service field offices are closing and the hq is going to Utah into just “forest service moves out west where it manages”. That’s an opportunity to erode some of their credibility. But fuck it’s tiresome, like youd think if people became convinced a source had just lied they’d change sources… I also try to push sources with the argument that they have been accurate for topics where I am an expert. -
I was also surprised to learn, that the system was built this way:
13reak :fedora: (@13reak@infosec.exchange)
Eye opening video examining the US education system and the consequences of 250 years of that system: (Don't get fooled by the title) https://youtu.be/j9MubNsh3rs?is=PA43lvHZ-49uteMo
Infosec Exchange (infosec.exchange)
100+ years of corporate, anti union propaganda, Nazi infiltrators who never faced justice, and a court system that for most of its existence was biased towards the worst of capitalism and market manipulation, plus an education system designed to produce yes men. I mean, did the bulk of Americans stand a chance against these forces?
Add structural racism to blatant theft of indigenous lands, colonialism and rampant fraud, and you wonder why people are fighting back, if mostly ineffectually?
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he must have lived in an atmosphere of great privilege not to notice that the hatred of smart, educated etc. people has always been a huge part of American reality
he never heard of PT Barnam? or Reagan, who could never have been elected if large numbers of Americans were capable of critical thinking or determining their own self interest?
the anti-intellectual character of the average American has been exploited for centuries
@peachfront @AkaSci I don’t think anybody could comprehend the selfish and angry people who voted for a convicted felon, rapist, thug, corrupt capitalist. Critical thinking, and civics have gone to the wayside in our public education, breeding discontent out of ignorance. It has been the GOP’s plan since the late 80s.
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Prof. Peter Hotez says what many of have been feeling and wondering - we grew up assuming that the American people were smart, educated, knowledgeable, thoughtful, creative, forward looking. But look at the vast swath of the population now, lapping up the lies, gaslighting and snake-oil emanating from grifters in right-wing media, republican leaders, billionaires and the current White House.
How will we turn things around?
#UsPol
1/n@AkaSci I have said for a while that our problems are a result of bad education. Even if the current administration is somehow removed, we are still left with an America with no ethical center, a resistance to science and history, a racist core, and a penchant for sensationalism over journalism. The problem with America is still the Americans.
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Prof. Peter Hotez says what many of have been feeling and wondering - we grew up assuming that the American people were smart, educated, knowledgeable, thoughtful, creative, forward looking. But look at the vast swath of the population now, lapping up the lies, gaslighting and snake-oil emanating from grifters in right-wing media, republican leaders, billionaires and the current White House.
How will we turn things around?
#UsPol
1/n@AkaSci I worry that there is no practical solution to this--we need our representative governments to actually represent us; the wealth controlling our media, our education system, and our government will do what they can to continue manipulating us.
We're stuck in a loop where the only way to create an educated citizenry is through education, but the media we use to deliver education is thoroughly dominated by a small handful of wealthy platforms (with a small handful of wealthy owners).
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@AkaSci I worry that there is no practical solution to this--we need our representative governments to actually represent us; the wealth controlling our media, our education system, and our government will do what they can to continue manipulating us.
We're stuck in a loop where the only way to create an educated citizenry is through education, but the media we use to deliver education is thoroughly dominated by a small handful of wealthy platforms (with a small handful of wealthy owners).
@AkaSci I fear the only change that will prevent this from continuing will have to be a massive societal/economic change instigated by a force of equal power to this small handful of wealthy people.
Our centralized systems of education rest on a centralized economy, and all of our centralized systems have been compromised at a fundamental level.
I think any practical solution will probably have to rest on violence. Our existing systems are compromised beyond their ability to self-correct.
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The goal of this discussion should not be to critique Prof. Hotez or to claim "I told you so."
One of the goals should be to look for solutions, even if they sound vague and difficult.
E.g., how can we help people recognize and reject the peddlers of disinformation? Get them to join the Fediverse?
Another objective would be to influence people to reject the MAGA party and to vote for Democrats (even if Democrats are imperfect).
Your thoughts?
2/n
Thanks for posting this. Although one piece of framing is interesting: 'The goal isn't...to critique Dr. Hotez' (?) Why the hell would we do that? Dr. Hotez's bona fides are well-established.
A good starting place in #MediaLiteracy is to identify and respect expertise/wise counselors (like Hotez) while we've still got them and access to them. Before they are all memory-holed...
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@AkaSci I have limited ideas, but an approach I am taking is
1) trying to help people in my life with media literacy. In particular I try to point out author credibility or lack there of. Because our world is built on technologies too complex to understand for yourself without dedicated study, producing solid sounding misinformation is so so easy, and often the only way to tell is to undertatand the authors incentives for making the content.
2) trying to use popular, non-polarized, and easily verifiable topics where I also carry some credibility to suggest “you’re being lied to”. People love public land, want clean water, etc. and of course those things are under attack right now. Fox and friends spun the fact that the forest service field offices are closing and the hq is going to Utah into just “forest service moves out west where it manages”. That’s an opportunity to erode some of their credibility. But fuck it’s tiresome, like youd think if people became convinced a source had just lied they’d change sources… I also try to push sources with the argument that they have been accurate for topics where I am an expert.I agree that Media Literacy (ML) is a great place to begin. Our foundation in support of ML has an entire Substack devoted to these topics...
Life in the "Realternet" | Hug Morenz Foundation (Mark H) | Substack
Thoughts and Tips for maintaining a healthy balance with Technology, from The Hug Morenz Foundation for Media Literacy. Click to read Life in the "Realternet", by Hug Morenz Foundation (Mark H), a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.
(markharbinger.substack.com)
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, yeah, things have to get worse before they get better.Hmm, #AIResist isn't a Fediverse hashtag, yet? Does that say something...?
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Prof. Peter Hotez says what many of have been feeling and wondering - we grew up assuming that the American people were smart, educated, knowledgeable, thoughtful, creative, forward looking. But look at the vast swath of the population now, lapping up the lies, gaslighting and snake-oil emanating from grifters in right-wing media, republican leaders, billionaires and the current White House.
How will we turn things around?
#UsPol
1/n@AkaSci I don't believe in US education since the late 1970s. At that time, I wrote to my cousin in the USA about German rents in DM (= German marks, the currency at that time). She asked me what both means. At that time she was working in a bank, responsable for stocks!
Unfortunately, I don't have a solution beside making education free and accessible for *everyone*. -
@AkaSci I don't believe in US education since the late 1970s. At that time, I wrote to my cousin in the USA about German rents in DM (= German marks, the currency at that time). She asked me what both means. At that time she was working in a bank, responsable for stocks!
Unfortunately, I don't have a solution beside making education free and accessible for *everyone*.I figure that 1964 was a pivotal year in US history.
The Revenue Act of 1964 lowered the highest marginal income tax rates from 90%, thus shifting the tax burden to those with lower incomes and allowing those with higher incomes to hoard wealth. Taking money out of circulation drove up inflation and caused the collapse of social infrastructure, such as the universities that educated the generations that built the post-WWII economy and got Americans to the Moon.
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I figure that 1964 was a pivotal year in US history.
The Revenue Act of 1964 lowered the highest marginal income tax rates from 90%, thus shifting the tax burden to those with lower incomes and allowing those with higher incomes to hoard wealth. Taking money out of circulation drove up inflation and caused the collapse of social infrastructure, such as the universities that educated the generations that built the post-WWII economy and got Americans to the Moon.
Everyone got a tax cut from the 1964 reform. But the biggest cuts were for the upper brackets.
" ̶T̶a̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶m̶o̶n̶e̶y̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶c̶i̶r̶c̶u̶l̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶d̶r̶o̶v̶e̶ ̶u̶p̶ ̶i̶n̶f̶l̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶"
This put *more* money in circulation, not less. This functioned somewhat like lowering interest rates (also increases money in circulation) and that was what spurred inflation to new heights.
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Prof. Peter Hotez says what many of have been feeling and wondering - we grew up assuming that the American people were smart, educated, knowledgeable, thoughtful, creative, forward looking. But look at the vast swath of the population now, lapping up the lies, gaslighting and snake-oil emanating from grifters in right-wing media, republican leaders, billionaires and the current White House.
How will we turn things around?
#UsPol
1/nI'm sorry but ~1/2--2/3rds of americans have always been basically dense. They were simply better managed when information media was top down and managed, and not a populist driven free-for-all. Not a popular take, but democratization of informational media is NOT good for democracy. What we have to deal with now is exactly where a populist media environment inevitably lands.
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The goal of this discussion should not be to critique Prof. Hotez or to claim "I told you so."
One of the goals should be to look for solutions, even if they sound vague and difficult.
E.g., how can we help people recognize and reject the peddlers of disinformation? Get them to join the Fediverse?
Another objective would be to influence people to reject the MAGA party and to vote for Democrats (even if Democrats are imperfect).
Your thoughts?
2/n
@AkaSci I disagree.
We should push people to reject the system entirely.
Conspiracy theories proliferate everywhere in US society, not just among Republicans. Just look at all the people who spread 2020 style conspiracy theories about 2024's election.
Americans need to be more critical of the people in power and push for an alternative that isn't as murderous, imperialistic, and genocidal. And the first step in that is crushing the influence of the Republican and Democratic parties.
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@AkaSci I disagree.
We should push people to reject the system entirely.
Conspiracy theories proliferate everywhere in US society, not just among Republicans. Just look at all the people who spread 2020 style conspiracy theories about 2024's election.
Americans need to be more critical of the people in power and push for an alternative that isn't as murderous, imperialistic, and genocidal. And the first step in that is crushing the influence of the Republican and Democratic parties.
@AkaSci conspiracy theories arise when ignorant people with little scientific knowledge seek to reconcile their hatred of government policy with their support of the centers of political and economic power.
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@anarchademic @amyedge @AkaSci
I mean like society-collapsing, Mad Max I learn-to-play-flaming-guitar on-the-hood-of-a-tanker, "worse"...
Sorry, I should've been more specific.
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They've industrialized the malfunction, but I don't think it's new. I mean look at all the cults and mystical movements of the 19th century. Maybe it's cyclic?
@Phosphenes @AkaSci it's certainly not new. Since the beginning of colonization, colonizers have been dependent on misinformation, a lack of critical thinking, and the prioritization of racism over all other thought. Otherwise, the US couldn't exist. It's always been like this to some degree, and it's been a push and pull of grassroots education and elite propaganda since. "Educated" privileged white people want to go back to the misinformation they learned, but we need to tear that down, too
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OK. I just related basic economics--inflation is spurred by increasing money supply.
️ And the rich do not "hoard", they continually invest and reinvest--*that* is how their net worth continues to grow, as long as their investments are sound. -
@anarchademic @amyedge @AkaSci
We've just redone the old 'opimist joke' from Pres. Bartlet on The West Wing...
Pessimist: "Things couldn't possibly get any worse."
Optimist: "Oh, sure they could!"
