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I'd say that the key difference is that in, say, the US -- yes, there's tons of very stupid stuff said by media uncritically, and there's stuff the government s

I'd say that the key difference is that in, say, the US -- yes, there's tons of very stupid stuff said by media uncritically, and there's stuff the government says. But it's also easy to find opposition points of view. Case in point, mask mandates and convoys. Propaganda still works, same as marketing and advertisements, but it really does not seem equivalent when it's so easy to access information critical of what your government is doing. Unlike when all media critical of the government gets banned. No one tried to arrest me for protesting the Iraq war, or Guantanamo, or Afghanistan, or... But the "mainstream" media definitely has huge blind spots, implicit racism, and other nasty features from either habit or laziness.

ithkuil 5y ago
I agree and it really bothers me how otherwise well intentioned people in my neighborhood in the European country where I live fall in the trap of saying that the west (and the US in particular) is "just so bad" etc. They are pro Russia trolls or whatnot, it's genuine widespread confusion. And I have to say that I do blame america for creating so many precedents of hypocrisy that they fueled this cynicism to an extent that spills over the usual group of local conspiratorial nutjobs. That said, I'd take this hypocrisy every day instead of people being actually killed. I mean it's not a videogame for cry ing out loud, these are people's lives. War is a fucking hell.