Hate Sells category archive
The Disinformation Superhighway 0
Both in raw numbers and on a percentage basis, the United States has one of the worst responses to COVID-19. At Psychology Today Blogs, Clifford Lazarus looks at how disinformation, spread largely on the disinformation superhighway, has contributed to this and, indeed, has harmed to polity in general.
He makes three main points.
- Misinformation results in a dangerous erosion of trust because it makes it very hard for people to share a common set of agreed upon facts.
- Without trust in one another our country will fracture and fragment creating a vicious circle leading to the decay of our democracy.
- Misinformation is very deadly and highly “contagious.”
Follow the link for a detailed discussion of each.
Our Own Tower of Babel 0
In a fascinating discussion, David interviews Jonathan Haidt about what led to our becoming a society of stupid (hint: “social” media isn’t).
Read Haidt’s article.
(Missing word found.)
The Disinformation Superhighway 0
Susan A. Nolan and Michael Kimball discuss the Finnish model for fighting disinformation and misinformation through teaching media literacy to (what here would be called) middle and high schoolers. A snippet:
But does such early education work? In a word, yes.
Follow the link for their reasoning.
The Fear Marketplace of Ideas 0
Along these lines, in the context of a longer editorial about efforts to ban books in schools because reading books might lead to (gasp!) thinking, my local rag today points out
“Looks Like We’ve Got Us a Convoy! 0
The stupid. It burns.
Oh, in regards to the stupid and the price it exacts, Josh Gohlke runs the numbers.
The Fascists’ Formula 0
Afterthought:
No, that’s not an understatement.
Fascism is knocking on America’s door, and far too many among us are willing to open that door.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
Rebecca Watson explores how arithmetic fell afoul of Florida’s ban on critical race theory historical facts. It’s an even uglier and more twisted story than you might expect.
Transcript here.
Afterthought:
When the Republican Party implemented its “southern strategy” in Richard Nixon’s second presidential campaign, it expected to use racism and bigotry as a tool to gain and retain power.
Now, five decades later, the Republican Party has become the tool and racism and bigotry its wielders.
The Disinformation Superhighway 0
Yet more evidence that “social” media isn’t.
Louder than Words 0
The Arizona Republic’s E. J. Montini points out that actions speak.
“White Fright” 0
Rebecca Watson looks at the long and inseemly history of the theory now referred to as the “Great Replacement” in American history, immigration policy, and culture and how these beliefs feed into right-wing violence, such as the recent mass shooting in Buffalo.
Transcript here.
The News Cycle Spiral
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The Fetishists 0
In the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Tony Norman tries to understand (some) Americans’ fascination with projectile-propelling portable phalli.
No excerpt or summary can do this article justice. Just go read the whole thing.
Buffaloed on the Disinformation Superhighway 0
The SPLC dissects the misdirection play. Here’s how the article begins; follow the link for the evidence.
In the wake of the Buffalo, New York, mass shooting, veteran disinformation posters on Twitter such as male supremacist Mike Cernovich and Malaysia-based RT (formerly Russia Today) contributor Ian Miles Cheong led a campaign to suggest that the terrorist harbored a left-wing ideology . . . .
Hate and Mongers of Hate 0
Seth skewers points out the internal contradictions in the right-wing’s racist “great replacement theory” myth lie.
We are a society of stupid.