Yeah, I know, but most people really don’t. And where people go to get clarity on policy, ideology, and context is rife with misinformation and bias.

I think maybe people knew better about socialism first off (despite European and elitist rhetoric of ignorant and uneducated Americans, we do learn this in school) but when your leaders constantly pound the same drum consistently, maybe you start to question what you think you knew. Some will accept this shift in definition thinking they had it wrong and these people are experts after all. Others will go to their usual outlets where algorithms show them info that does not lay out a dissenting view and is not required to be factual. They’ll be ‘shown’ they had it wrong by echo chamber algorithms.

The fact that most people want and need quick and easy answers plays into this. They don’t have the time, energy, or inclination to do a deep scholarly dive over things that put food on the table.

And even the most intelligent of people can be gaslit when stressed enough and when the propaganda is sustained enough. There’s something to 'the more something is said, the more true it becomes’.

This is a flaw in the way our brains are wired that has been successfully exploited.

We need better strategies countering that.