I disagree. That would require that silent majority you speak of to actually have the ability to "do the research" and form appropriate conclusions. I don’t think this is true. Few people can or do.
Before you start blasting me as a snobbish liberal elite in love with academia, or whatever, let’s be clear.
I’m not talking about intelligence, though that is part of what I’m talking about. I’m talking about time and resources too. The bald fact of the matter is that very few people have enough of all 3 elements in order to do their own research work and make an informed decision without relying on the work and expertise of others regardless of where they stand on the political divide. And whether they you recognize and admit that fact or not, it’s true. It’s true for the vast majority of people. And lest you think to accuse me of being a hypocrite, it’s true for me too.
The real issue is who and where you put that faith and trust in. It always has been. For all of us. Because somewhere along the thinking process you give more credence, weight that then equals veracity, and trust to one source over another. You’re fooling yourself if you think that weight isn’t driven by emotion rather than logic or reason for anti-vaxxers, conspiracy theorists, and Big Lie advocates. Q
At this point, a lot of those "alternate sources" have been debunked. Guliani has admitted he never fact checked his claims about voting machines, Q has been unmasked as a basement troll, Lindell got caught lying about an assault and he has yet to produce evidence of voter fraud. At one point he even said he didn’t really have any. Trump is facing criminal prosecution, Right-Wing hate jocks are dropping like flies from COVID, the very Covid they claimed was a hoax, Republican leadership are getting outted after secretly getting vaccinated, Trump got booed off a stage in Alabama after admitting he got vaccinated and asking his followers to do the same. There will be more outings and debunkings to follow.
No. At this point, there’s nothing logical or reasonable about sticking with these narratives. It’s pure embarrassment. You people don’t want to admit that you got taken by a bunch of greedy, power mad charlatans. You’d rather die than admit you fell for a snake oil salesman. You’d rather risk your families and friends than admit that you were wrong. And of course, your feelpinions are more important than anyone else you might take out with your hubris and your pride.
