You makes really excellent point.

Something similar is playing out with DOGE finding “waste” and “fraud.” Very little in the say if evidence, much int the way of waving around papers at a press conference / shitposting on Twitter and screeching “Woke DEI spending has been slashed.”

Tbh, I get it. I understand why it works. Most people aren’t political junkies. Most people don’t really follow the news. They’re busy just trying to get through their day.

That said, I read a good comment once- “You might not care about politics, but politics cares about you.” I only wish more people understood that. Unfortunately, our economic system works against it.

Random aside, I wish we had strong labor unions in the US. They’d be very beneficial at this time.

Although, that was actually passed by a legislative body. Technically, this EO is just a paper announcement (caveats that this is Trump and so far, this spineless Congress seems content to show him their collective belly).

Also, I’m not an expert at all, but this reddit comment made me feel a little better. I need my cope!: https://old.reddit.com/r/law/comments/1isvzgu/the_full_executive_order_is_out_this_is_the/mdkblz9/

100%.

When I think about it for a while, my thoughts always come back to “What is truth? What is a fact? Why do I think my news consumption is more factual than this person’s news consumption?”

I’m not a philosopher, and I think it’s a tricky question to answer. I’ve found myself on the Stanford Philosophy Wiki. There’s a ton of good stuff in there.

Of course, on a practical level, you’re rarely going to be debating “what is a fact?” when you’re arguing with your MAGA relations. My “normal” answer is that I try to get my news from sources that have reputations for fact-checking / rigor (AP / Reuters etc etc).

However, if you’ve spent all your time consuming Fox / Newsmax / AM Radio in the late 90s / aughts, your mental model of AP / Reuters is not my mental model. Anything outside of your right-wing bubble is to be shinned. To you, AP and Reuters do not have a reputation for rigor. They’re part of a liberal conspiracy funded by the government and George Soros to demonize conservatives / brainwash the libs.

It’s a tricky problem. I feel like we’re in an era where the Dawn of the Internet / Social media is analogous to the advent of the printing press. We just don’t know how to handle the firehose of information.

There’s a huge part of me that thinks that recommendation algorithms need to be regulated.

Mask off dictator insanity.

Agreed. I’ve only been to one protest in my time, and the state of the country was nowhere near as dire as it was now.

I’ve been thinking I should get and old pixel and load it up with GrapheneOS, just in case I’m at an event where I’d rather not have my location broadcast.

Do you have any experience with that type of thing?

Totally. I know plenty of people who would be considered smart by any standard, but when you’re mainlining propaganda every hour, of every day, for multiple decades… it’ll twist a person.

Agreed. Now’s the time to appreciate any small wins that we get.