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> Truth is that people largely place trust in institutions and people they are used to and identify with, often for irrational reasons. People are prone to FUD.

by dash2 5y ago

> Truth is that people largely place trust in institutions and people they are used to and identify with, often for irrational reasons. People are prone to FUD. Theyre lazy and passive. I think to a degree, this is a misunderstanding. The Russian approach to disinformation in particular does not sell the message "trust us!" - at least, not in the West. Instead, they push the message "trust nobody!" In fact, RT's slogan is "question everything". While that sounds enlightened, in fact, total lack of trust makes you cognitively disabled. You can't believe anything or any expert. All too often, you then "do your own research" and, as a gullible amateur, are sucked into conspiracy theories. The problem isn't the sheeple, it's the wake-up-sheeple people.

pydry 5y ago
You're effectively saying the same thing as me...? Russian FUD propaganda resonates in the west because of the lack of trust in western media. That's them successfully exploiting a hole our media dug for themselves. The fact that we've responded by banning RT highlights that that hole goes deep enough that we're responding by, as a matter of imminent practicality, violating a core value of our civilization. That both hurts and deepens the hole. Unfortunately we cant go back in time and reinstate the fairness doctrine and render RT a pathetic waste of time. The cat is out of the bag now we deliberately eroded trust in our own institutions and autocratic regimes have been exploiting it for years. Speaking of antivaxxers, the same thing happened in reverse. I have friends in Russia who absolutely refused to take sputnik because why the fuck would you inject something into your arm because Putin told you to?
- JumpCrisscross 5y ago
  > them successfully exploiting a hole our media dug for themselves You're arguing that RT exploits a hole the West dug itself into. The comment you're responding to argues the hole is besides the point. The exploit would work with or without it. (The fact that all media is lumped into a single category, a fallacy, seems to prove the point.)
  - pydry 5y ago
    >The comment you're responding to argues the hole is besides the point. They're making no comment about why RT resonates, just that those people it does resonate with "are the problem". By media I was referring exclusively to mainstream newspapers/sites, TV, etc. I realize that the way I used the term was slightly ambiguous.
fartcannon 5y ago
Youre victim blaming, no? The problem is the lack of ethics of the people in the know, who are creating the propaganda, and tools and disinformation on behalf of the Robert Murdoch's in exchange for money. All this stuff is done by people like us. We are the problem. Not the misinformed masses.

by dash2 5y ago

pydry 5y ago

You're effectively saying the same thing as me...? Russian FUD propaganda resonates in the west because of the lack of trust in western media. That's them successfully exploiting a hole our media dug for themselves. The fact that we've responded by banning RT highlights that that hole goes deep enough that we're responding by, as a matter of imminent practicality, violating a core value of our civilization. That both hurts and deepens the hole. Unfortunately we cant go back in time and reinstate the fairness doctrine and render RT a pathetic waste of time. The cat is out of the bag now we deliberately eroded trust in our own institutions and autocratic regimes have been exploiting it for years. Speaking of antivaxxers, the same thing happened in reverse. I have friends in Russia who absolutely refused to take sputnik because why the fuck would you inject something into your arm because Putin told you to?

JumpCrisscross 5y ago
> them successfully exploiting a hole our media dug for themselves You're arguing that RT exploits a hole the West dug itself into. The comment you're responding to argues the hole is besides the point. The exploit would work with or without it. (The fact that all media is lumped into a single category, a fallacy, seems to prove the point.)
- pydry 5y ago
  >The comment you're responding to argues the hole is besides the point. They're making no comment about why RT resonates, just that those people it does resonate with "are the problem". By media I was referring exclusively to mainstream newspapers/sites, TV, etc. I realize that the way I used the term was slightly ambiguous.

fartcannon 5y ago

Youre victim blaming, no? The problem is the lack of ethics of the people in the know, who are creating the propaganda, and tools and disinformation on behalf of the Robert Murdoch's in exchange for money. All this stuff is done by people like us. We are the problem. Not the misinformed masses.