My thinking on what must happen to save democracy has evolved.
Fact: The United States has been a backsliding democracy for some time.
Fact: We are in an information disruption.
Because democracy requires facts and an educated population, the question is whether enough people will develop the media literacy needed in this new age of information quickly enough.
How much time we have depends on what happens in the next election.
If the Democrats win again with small margins, the backsliding can be stalled.
If the Democrats win big, the we will buy more time. There were not big enough majorities in the Senate in 2020 to do much, and then the Democrats lost the house.
I am putting together a long reading list for my blog.
Even countries that slide into authoritarianism can (and have) gotten out without war.
@Teri_Kanefield Barack Obama and Joe Biden won by a landslide. They were focused on rebuilding from the symbolic ashes of 2008.
But in 2012, when much of the rebuilding was done, they didn't deepen the changes, they seemed to be comfortable with the state of things, and that's one part of the reason something unthinkable happened in 2016.
Democrats need to think beyond the election. Winning is the minimum baseline. Thinking very thoroughly what for, that's still a pending job.
FDR demonstrated what can happen with a landslide election.
Looking back, he brought about rapid changes that entirely changed the face of the nation.
At the time, the progress felt painfully slow. For the first few years, the Supreme Court was nixing his legislation.
Even a big win will create lots of rage in people who don't understand how slowly a large and complex system moves and this is by design: It also slows down autocratic power grabs.
@Teri_Kanefield If we can't get the uninterested to engage via our efforts of messaging and outrage (which seems to be the case), we need guidance to What Works. Do you know less-inflammatory titles than Alinsky's*? If not, it may be past time for someone to write them.
(($; -)}™
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*I can't determine the efficacy of Alinsky's "rules," but results seem mixed, at best. However, if we're the "smart" and "honest" side, we ought to manage positive results. E.g., FDR, as you just cited.
@Teri_Kanefield
Today's polls are showing another coin-flip election for November. But I think the social conditions have changed to produce a big win for the D's.
I am preparing a six-article series on this change. First part is here:
@Teri_Kanefield Good luck. All democracies are thinly disguised oligarchies/plutocracies; they will always head toward authoritarianism. So, you know, good luck.
@Teri_Kanefield FDR: another great President who accomplished much for Americans in a time of need. Conservative Republicans despised him and the New Deal.
They still do today, trying to undo so much of it, including massive infrastructure projects and Social Security.
Don’t forget that.
It’s not socialism: it’s your money.
@Teri_Kanefield I have been thinking about @jeffjarvis 's writing about journalism recently that journalism brought facts to a fight about belonging. I think it is both and. For the world to stop far right forces we need better media literacy and better journalism. That will not be enough though because as Jeff says people have become disconnected and they need real belonging in real local community not a far right echo chamber simulacrum of community.
@Teri_Kanefield
I am discouraged about what higher education can accomplish for at least 2 reasons 1. The increasing influence of the Right on the administration of colleges and universities 2. The increasing difficulty of teaching communication (including media literacy). The problem is, unlike, for example, teaching calculus, everybody thinks they already know how things work. I say this at the end of a long career teaching communication, culture, and technology.
By and large what a wonderful and important conversation!
A few stray reply guy nuggets, but for the most part a really interesting and intelligent discussion of the challenges ahead that Teri has framed so masterfully. At least Mastodon is on the job of saving democracy.
@Teri_Kanefield The level of what's needed for effective media literacy keeps growing as the technology and capabilities behind mis/disinformation campaigns become more sophisticated. I argue that along with media literacy, there needs to be other interventions as well.
There's been a growth in extreme right-wing media like Fox, Breibart, Bannon, etc. that use communication techniques that hook people by using emotive language. It would help if people learned to be wary of media that use language designed to make people angry.
Disinformation campaigns from professional trolls from within the country and outsite (China, Russia, etc.) that have flooded social media with the intent to create polarization and malcontent.
Deep fake. This is only starting and a huge paradigm shift for effective disinformation. We're already seeing fake videos of politicians saying things opposite to what they stand for in the Taiwan election. This will occur during the next election big time - and it WILL sway people. One useful thing AI could be used for is... someone should come up with a way to use to spot deep fake and block it, en mass.
The above have all had a role in pulling people away from most traditional big media which (as much as people complain about them) is still the best source of news (Fox doesn't count, it's a different sort of beast). Yes, there has been a drop in quality in some sectors (a lack of advertising means they're poorer than they once were and fired a lot of good people). But a LOT of people are now getting their news from social media -- things shared from what trolls post, gossip and so on. How do you get people to view the more balanced news -- which has boring language and isn't as entertaining -- and that people are being told sucks?
Improving media literacy is one thing and great, but most people can't detect deep fakes, etc. Most people are lazy and won't take the time to fact-check everything they read. Plus, a lot of people aren't very good at fact-checking. I think the fix is more in finding ways to stem the flood of mis/disinformation -- using a mix of legal and AI tools.
@Teri_Kanefield
Propaganda has exponentially proliferated in the now billionaire owned MSM and social media. Mastodon and other people powered platforms are a great solution. It is obscene the way FOX and other RW "news" corporations are allowed to operate: Spreading blatant lies, deception, and defamation. We need legislation that tasks the FCC with regulating cable news. Why doesn't it exist already? https://deanobeidallah.substack.com/p/heres-how-we-can-stop-fox-news-from
@Teri_Kanefield When I was young I went to visit my uncle's family in northern Nevada. I was introduced to a ranch foreman in boots, jeans and cowboy hat, his teeth black from chewing tobacco. He had never been out of Mason valley. When he heard I was from L.A. he thought of smog. He said he thought smog was caused by rockets. In his life-world, under those wide open skies, he never saw more than two or three cars at once. How could they cause smog? It must be something newfangled and weird.
@Teri_Kanefield One more anecdote. During the last election some people in my neighborhood asked on Nextdoor how to get Trump merchandise and go to a rally. It was not about politics. It was about fun. For them, it was like going to a concert, a memorable event in their lives. In the cold war, pundits used to say that the Soviets were playing chess while the Americans were playing poker. Now the Democrats are trying to do politics while MAGA leads cheers and does card stunts, a different game.
@Teri_Kanefield We're facing decades of systematic radicalizing propaganda. This propaganda has convinced millions that ignoring all non-aligned media, science, government, academia... is good and necessary. It hinges on tales of a widespread liberal conspiracy to install brutal communism that forces a hard partisan split and encourages increasing right-wing fascism to battle fake, exaggerated communism.
@Teri_Kanefield Unfortunately the ones that will are outnumbered by many in key electoral states. That’s been an increasing problem since 2000.
One more election cycle may be the tipping point in the wrong direction.
@Teri_Kanefield a whole group of knowledge producers--by which I mean university professors--have already lost the thread & capitulated to some misguided idea they should use AI in classrooms to understand it. Fine, but also maybe spend more time teaching students how to find legitimate sources of information, especially the stuff that comes from university professors who aren't total shills for tech. (Sorry for the hobbyhorse. But universities are part of the problem, squandering potential.
Join the work if you're not already doing it.
Join a local grassroots group, learn about the Race Class Narrative framework (see links on my pinned toots), contribute to candidates who share your values, help enlighten people around you; the person who cuts your hair, your landscaper, painter, store clerk, etc.
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