3 ms·

I wonder what the best argument is for a median American needing to watch the news in order to do their civic duty. E.g. how will the average Joe be able to imp

• mmooss 2y ago
  > E.g. how will the average Joe be able to impact a century-long conflict in Palestine? The 'average' American has so much influence, in fact, that the cornerstone of Israeli foreign policy and national security is the support of average Americans. How that mechanism works is an interesting question, but not too hard to imagine: Israel is much too small to defend itself, and therefore depends on support from the most powerful country in the world. That support happens largely because average Americans want it. Imagine, for example, if one of the current candidates said, 'if elected, I will cut off all support to Israel' - probably they would lose the election. The beliefs of average Americans have great influence over many things, which is why powerful people spend so much time, money, and effort trying to persuade them. Look at Fox News and MSNBC; look at Russian and Chinese (and probably other) social media influence operations; look at the near infinite political propaganda; look at Musk, who spent $40B on such influence, and at how much time he spends posting in order to influence people. Another way to influence average Americans is to convince them to surrender their power and not even try. That leaves the field more open for others to control events.