There is the Big Lie — Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud that are driving all manner of anti-democratic beliefs and behavior. But that Big Lie is supported and reinforced by all the little lies that make it real. In a highly polarized society where one political party is attacking the foundations of democracy and the neofascist movement continues to grow, public opinion is no longer a basic matter of collective beliefs about matters of public concern. Public opinion is now a function of personal identity, existential core values and the understanding of reality itself.
As political scientists and other researchers have shown this dynamic is especially true for Republicans and other “conservatives.”
In that way, the Age of Trump and its aftermath resemble a science fiction dystopia where people exist in their own personal realities, through a type of experience machine that connects them to others who believe the same things — however untrue or fantastical […]
I think the picture answers your headline. It seems in any group of humans you are going to have a percentage of dumbasses.
A must read: David Bohm on the “Limitations of Thought.” Succinct.
https://www.ttfuture.org/academy/david-bohm/david-bohm
We do not make decisions based on logic. The emotional component is fear of less; survival threat of climate cliff and more people.
“Democracy is undermined when there is no shared understanding of basic facts and empirical reality.”
Thank God it’s only 30% of willingly ignorant people, who identify with, and are addicted to negativity, associated with the Big Lie. (None of those people in the photo are smiling)
Fascism is on the rise with Trump or anyone like him who makes it to the office of president.