sirfrogsworth:When looking at some of the bad takes above it would be easy to write off most of thes
sirfrogsworth:When looking at some of the bad takes above it would be easy to write off most of these folks as foolish or bad. But I’ve known a few of these people since high school and I don’t think that is the case. Not exactly. Weaved throughout their words are right wing talking points. I would argue part of the issue here is folks have been deliberately misinformed by very effective propaganda. Right now our president is giving very official-looking daily press conferences and saying some of the foolish things you read above. I’ve known Ben L since elementary school. He sort of defines the expression, “Well, his heart is in the right place.” He is friendly and kind and gets along with everyone. One of the least judgmental people I’ve known. He kind of reminds of The Dude on occasion. But he has struggled with learning all his life. He especially struggles with learning on his own and often relies on the people in his life to help him understand things. He is also very susceptible to conspiratorial thinking. He has what I would consider a “vulnerable mind.” You tell him there is a secret truth behind the apparent truth and it’s hard for him to resist. Combine that with a few bad influences including his religious, right wing, Trump-supporting father and you get a vaccine skeptic who asks questions like “What about the dollar?” while thousands are dying. When he wrote that I literally heard his father’s voice in my head. You are free to judge Ben L how you see fit. I’m certainly not going to die on a hill defending him or anything. (Especially when he said “Disclaimer, not a doctor or chemist here…” and I hurt my eyes rolling them too hard.) But I do still believe he is a good person who has been corrupted rather than a bad person who believes shitty things. I say this because when presented with a strong argument he has changed his mind in the past. And he dislikes Trump despite his father’s influence. He can be reasonable. I don’t know if he will listen this time. I hope he will come around. He did seem a bit curious rather than having his mind fully made up.The point of posting all this is to say… The right is very good at propaganda. The folks above with the bad takes may not even watch Fox News or the president’s mini-MAGA rallies. They might just know someone who does. Someone who they trust. Maybe a friend or family member. All it takes is for someone to say, “Did you hear they are miscounting the deaths?” or “The flu kills people too and we don’t stay in our house for that.” A vulnerable mind might find that reasonable from a friend or loved one–and it permeates their thinking. The virus isn’t the only thing that is spreading right now. Bad information is also our enemy. And the only cure is better information presented convincingly to those willing to listen. You can write off truly shitty people as they are usually lost causes. But I think in times like this, we need to try and find the people who were just led astray and hopefully guide them back to the truth. Gold stars to that Dan fella and my longtime friend, Danielle. She is a smart cookie, an excellent hugger, cosplayer extraordinaire, and pretty good with those vaccine metaphors too. -- source link