Thank god American media is free and not totally a giant propaganda mill like all those evil nations that aren’t America and not as special as America is.

I don't think people that spout death threats on climate change do much thinking at all.

Republicans have been actively attacking and undermining American schools for decades. These depleted schools have produced legions of people who can't discern truth from falsity and have absolutely no curiosity about the rest of the world. Facebook and the television tell them liberals are bad and the cause of all their problems. They don't question it.

I want to know the mushbrain that gave you the downvote.

Why did you do it? What part of that comment did you not agree with, how is it wrong?

Uneducated people glean comfort from tribalism, not logic

People like this have basically no concept of the rest of the world at all. I have talked to many people who don’t understand there is a difference between China and Japan, and think Africa is a country. And they don’t care.

Most likely this person also never thinks about states in the US more than one state away from theirs. When I moved to New England as a kid I had teachers think I was from a foreign country because I moved from New Mexico… I’d have to explain “it’s the state between Arizona and Texas”, and then people would just look confused.

So, no news from the rest of the world filters into their brain at all.

I used to listen and try to understand when I lived in rural counties in the US. Now all I hear is…

Durrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

This patronizing attitude is part of the reason politicians like Trump has become popular. He talks to these people who the "civilized" part of the country is totally ignoring. You care about climate change, and so do I. But what if you live near a coal mine that has slowly been phased out? You see your town which your grandfather lived in slowly rots away. You see America as a failing country - you see stores closing. You see people moving away. People dying from opiate overdose. Unemployment and depression

These people have real and legitimate grievances. Their government has failed them - which is why anti-establishment figures like Trump is such a lightning rod for their energy. Then we go and tell them that we need to make sacrifices for the climate. What are they supposed to think? What more do they have to give?

Ignoring these people and pretending like they don't matter or are totally irrational is going to help lead to fascism in this country. Any real revolutionary movement will have to incorporate the whole of America. We need these people on our side.

These same morons chose to mass die of Covid. They will again in the next pandemic. And they will of climate change. Unless we organize and start electing people who pass climate laws pretty quickly.

Because that’s how fascist nationalism works

Why do so many conservatives resort to intimidation, “death threats”, and violence to reinforce their beliefs?

It's the conspiracy theory mindset:

They convince themselves they are geniuses because they "know" something scientists deny, and they "saw through the lies", etc.

So when somone they previously listened to speaks against the conspiracy, all they hear is someone they trusted calling them stupid. And they project their own self-hatred onto that person.

When you don't have the truth at your side, you gotta resort to something else.

It would work on them. Why would it not work on you? Because the threat is not dire enough? We'll make it more dire then.

I've been told that a lot of irrational anger has its roots in control, including lack of control.

If that's true, then I think those that quickly resort to violence in defense of their ideology, do so since they fear losing control of how they hold that ideology in high esteem.

The oil lobby has paid copious amounts of money to propagandize the population, and to bribe republican politicians to continue their policy of laissez-faire.

They're just against anything liberals are for at this point. If liberals like it, it must be bad! Just wait until the Republicans take away their Medicare and social security. But wait, the Republicans will blame the Dems for it and the hate continues. This country is pretty much fubar for decades.

They're brainwashed zealots and Republicans in office are preaching that it doesn't exist because they're paid by corporations that would be hurt by green energy.

These people start with one crazy idea, pop into an internet/Fox news rabbit hole, and come out with all the crazy ideas.

If you fall for one, you can fall for any.

Not to get overly philosophical or anything, but who you are as a person and what your ideas are come down to your experiences. For me, I spend time fixing/causing programming problems at work, talking with people, doomscrolling lemmy/mastodon, playing video games and watching shows.

For a portion of the population, they are sitting and watching fox news for hours upon hours a day. Even if you are resistant to a view point, your brain is not capable of 100% rejecting a message that is being sledgehammered in to you over and over again. If Fox news or other shit media is your experience, it would be hard to think of the world in a way that doesn't conform to what they tell you. It will be incremental at first, you'll reject 95% of a message that doesn't conform to your previous ideas, but maybe concerned face newscaster has a point about the border. "We can't let everyone in" you might reason. All to make your more malleable to the next crock of shit they serve up.

The more I think about it the grosser it is. Just a mass of blond ladies telling you minorities and people who care about the environment are out to change your way of life. You way of life - which is sitting on a couch watching blond ladies spouting lies to you. I'm sure there's some sick mental illness issues floating around here.

I used to work at a bank that had fox news on all day and it was horrible, but I'm positive some of my viewpoints from then were shaped by that experience, despite me knowing it was a shit entertainment channel.

If the Democrats express support for a concept, Republicans MUST be against it. Their entire identity is based around taking the most extreme version of the polar opposite thing the Democrats express.

Fox News destroyed America.

Also a country full of people who own obnoxious, selfish, vain gas guzzlers, who actively ridicule anyone trying to drive a sensible car, and cancel out all the effort the rest of us are at least trying to do

People who are willing to put ethics to the side are able to making a lot money in the US and nothing speaks louder than money.