this post was submitted on 24 Jul 2023
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Politics

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[–] reverendsteveii@beehaw.org 87 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Stop assuming they're stupid. They're not stupid. They're monsters, they know exactly what they're doing and they're doing it because they want people to suffer.

[–] Didros@beehaw.org 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

"The right people" to suffer. They never wanted themselves, their neighbors, or even the poor people down the road to suffer. They want all tge bad people Fox News tells them about to suffer and the fucking democrats just refuse to make the Fox News anchors happy!

Stupid? No. We are all much more susceptible to propaganda than we think.

[–] TerryTPlatypus@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago

This. There are A LOT of errors and fallacies which the brain makes, and oftentimes those can be used by bad actors to influence, nudge, and manipulate the person into doing something. While I understand there is a certain level of accountability that needs to be enforced, we should keep in mind the puppetmaster whom we often do not see in the background can do more harm because they are more deeply embedded and have more implicit power that needs to be uncovered and stopped.

[–] ozoned@beehaw.org 13 points 1 year ago

Sadly this. I yelled at MIL when Roe was overturned and a 10 year old made headline news. Her response was "BUT THE MEXICANS!". They literally don't give a flying fuck about anyone but themselves and blaming absolutely EVERYONE else.

[–] kgbbot@lemmy.ca 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Trump can be both stupid and a monster, we just have to focus on the monster part more than the stupid.

[–] Rentlar@beehaw.org 6 points 1 year ago

Trump is very talented with one thing and one thing only: Making Everything About Him. (MEAH?)

It's the others in the party, whether it's legislators like McConnell, Green Margarine, Bobert, Cruz, or lobbyists for the capitalists like the Federalist Society, Koch brothers, O&G, health insurance that make sure things stay "good for business" (and shitty for your average person).

[–] krolden@lemmy.ml 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Labeling them stupid is part of the psyop. Ive found myself correcting so many people IRL when they say that trump is stupid. Like, yeah, he's a piece of shit but if he's so stupid then how did he convince so many people to believe everything he says.

[–] mobyduck648@beehaw.org 7 points 1 year ago

Yeah I feel we had a less extreme example of this phenomenon in the UK with Boris Johnson. Lots of people took his bumbling blonde persona at face value but the reality is he’s a cunning political operator without any basic moral instincts.

[–] reverendsteveii@beehaw.org 6 points 1 year ago

Trump I believe is their perfect idiot. He's acting exactly how he has always acted, and there's just way too many times he's been super hype to admit to felonies on tape. If you want an example of playing stupid as a psyop, google George W Bush debating with Al Gore and doing wild shit like calling astronauts "spatial entrepreneurs", then google his debates with Ann Richards for the governorship of Texas. That man was playing stupid for the stupid.