this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2023
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[–] somas@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

@flossdaily

Were you alive during Nixon? I was a baby but I interacted with people Trump’s age when I was a child. I don’t know if it’s the lead in the air back then or what but more than half of all adults seemed terminally stupid. I was a child and I thought they were stupid.

We’ve clearly got a lot of people who think Trump’s smart today but Trump’s brand of gibberish was just considered “common sense” in the 80s. Social media hasn’t made us dumber, it’s just allowed the dumbest people to find each other more easily.

Regarding us all sharing the same facts when Nixon was president, that’s just not true. People lived in a very divided America then as well. Social media and the refinement of propaganda techniques does make things seem more hopeless today but the same Roger Stone who’s fucking things up today was around back then. He was doing exactly what he’s doing today back then.

[–] flossdaily@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The fact that the public, in the end, turned on Nixon is the REASON we have Fox News today. It's creators were anticipating the landscape today where a conservative media bubble would isolate Republicans from the facts. It works perfectly.

[–] somas@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

@flossdaily

Yes, I’m aware of that. This is why I brought up Roger Stone. My point is people aren’t stupider or more insular today; they are actually slightly less so.

The machinery of propaganda is much more refined today.

[–] flossdaily@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago

Stupider? No.

More insular? Are you kidding me? Of course they are. It's not even close.