5 ms·

Don't we have a bigger issue if ad money can swing an election? Where's the critical thought on the part of the electorate?

FLUX-YOU 9y ago
Critical thought doesn't make you immune to propaganda.
- moomin 9y ago
  This is a really important point. Everyone thinks that they, personally, are immune to this sort of thing. Every scientific study suggests they’re wrong. The Mercers and Putins of the world do this because it’s cost-effective.
  - rtx 9y ago
    True, as visibly in this comment section. Old people reading twitter flipped the election. Yes, I see the irony.
  - mistermann 9y ago
    The Mercers and Putins of the world do this because it’s cost-effective. An interesting comment if you think about it in the context of your prior paragraph.
  - 1001101 9y ago
    > Every scientific study suggests they’re wrong. Which scientific studies? Interested.
bcg1 9y ago
Critical thought often requires intentional effort, even by those who value it. And many people that I come across do not even seem to value critical thought, especially when it comes to politics... to the contrary, there exists a movement promoting the idea that thinking is a practice that makes you some sort of elitist.
rndmize 9y ago
What critical thought? The electorate, especially on the right, as spoon-fed narratives and outrage pieces by pundits, analysts, talk-show hosts and entire news organizations. Information that doesn't fit the theme is downplayed or ignored; information that does is distorted, taken out of context or used in flawed ways - and this is naturally ignored by the audience. For an easy, recent example, look at the Trump tax plan. This is constantly, repeatedly being sold as a "middle class tax cut". And yet it removes the estate tax, which only hits individuals with assets greats than 5.5 million or couples greater than 11 million. Cutting corporate taxes - why would this do anything? Corporate taxes are on profits, and if you're growing your business you aren't getting taxed anyway because you spend it instead - see Amazon and the whole "your margin is my opportunity" idea. How on earth would this lead to more growth? A doubled standard reduction, but other deductions are scrapped, mostly making things a wash; and a removal of the AMT, which hits the wealthy and some upper-middle class folk - none of this seems to really benefit the middle class, and you can pick that up merely by reading the proposal and some of the statements and analysis around it. (Just for good measure, the document itself: https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4061905/Read-President-Trump-s-Tax-Proposal.pdf https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4061905/Read-Pres... ). And yet, the narrative of "middle class tax cuts" continues unabated. Maybe people don't have time to do the research; maybe they don't care, or maybe they don't feel qualified to contest experts and politicians. But the effect is that people make their decisions based on how they feel, and critical thought is largely non-existent.

FLUX-YOU 9y ago

Critical thought doesn't make you immune to propaganda.

moomin 9y ago
This is a really important point. Everyone thinks that they, personally, are immune to this sort of thing. Every scientific study suggests they’re wrong. The Mercers and Putins of the world do this because it’s cost-effective.
- rtx 9y ago
  True, as visibly in this comment section. Old people reading twitter flipped the election. Yes, I see the irony.
- mistermann 9y ago
  The Mercers and Putins of the world do this because it’s cost-effective. An interesting comment if you think about it in the context of your prior paragraph.
- 1001101 9y ago
  > Every scientific study suggests they’re wrong. Which scientific studies? Interested.

bcg1 9y ago

Critical thought often requires intentional effort, even by those who value it. And many people that I come across do not even seem to value critical thought, especially when it comes to politics... to the contrary, there exists a movement promoting the idea that thinking is a practice that makes you some sort of elitist.

rndmize 9y ago

What critical thought? The electorate, especially on the right, as spoon-fed narratives and outrage pieces by pundits, analysts, talk-show hosts and entire news organizations. Information that doesn't fit the theme is downplayed or ignored; information that does is distorted, taken out of context or used in flawed ways - and this is naturally ignored by the audience. For an easy, recent example, look at the Trump tax plan. This is constantly, repeatedly being sold as a "middle class tax cut". And yet it removes the estate tax, which only hits individuals with assets greats than 5.5 million or couples greater than 11 million. Cutting corporate taxes - why would this do anything? Corporate taxes are on profits, and if you're growing your business you aren't getting taxed anyway because you spend it instead - see Amazon and the whole "your margin is my opportunity" idea. How on earth would this lead to more growth? A doubled standard reduction, but other deductions are scrapped, mostly making things a wash; and a removal of the AMT, which hits the wealthy and some upper-middle class folk - none of this seems to really benefit the middle class, and you can pick that up merely by reading the proposal and some of the statements and analysis around it. (Just for good measure, the document itself: https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4061905/Read-President-Trump-s-Tax-Proposal.pdf https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4061905/Read-Pres... ). And yet, the narrative of "middle class tax cuts" continues unabated. Maybe people don't have time to do the research; maybe they don't care, or maybe they don't feel qualified to contest experts and politicians. But the effect is that people make their decisions based on how they feel, and critical thought is largely non-existent.