"Donald Trump was returned to power by the most badly informed electorate in modern American history."

[CousinIT]

https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/trust-mainstream-media-2024-election-20241110.html

. . .

The popular business school theory of creative destruction holds that when the traditional way of doing things — like printing yesterday’s news in hot ink and maintaining an expensive fleet of trucks to get that to your doorstep — becomes hopelessly outdated, something better and more efficient arises to replace it. It’s a lot more complicated with journalism, which is very much a business yet also a critical vehicle for democracy ... or dictatorship.

Much of what raced to fill the vacuum of declining mainstream media has been misinformation, and much of that is disinformation — deliberate falsehoods in pursuit of political gain. Unlike the quest for universal truth, disinformation — like Tolstoy’s unhappy families — takes many different insidious forms. It ranges from your uncle’s conspiracy theories on Facebook to the American exile in Russia slandering Tim Walz on behalf of the Kremlin to the growing network of so-called pink slime websites that pretend to be traditional news outlets while peddling slanted news or lies.

The things that pundits have been talking about since Tuesday — an economy that hasn’t worked for the working class since the time of Ronald Reagan, anxieties among white voters about a potential end to white privilege and the patriarchy, and a Democratic Party that’s lost touch with the great American middle — all factored into this election. But nothing mattered more than this: Donald Trump was returned to power by the most badly informed electorate in modern American history.

[Autumn]

1. Of course we have "the most badly informed electorate in modern American history."

We have a media and politicians that read scripts they are given by republicans and the wealthy. Any truth has to be searched through a lot of garbage. The push back is given by people like Donna Brazille who is often busy referring to her TV husband, as she jokingly calls Chris Christy, while the host allows republican's the last word to spew their lies with no rebuttal.

[Irish_Dem]

2. Greatest moral collapse and lack of civic duty in American history.

[RockRaven]

6. Being so badly informed is a choice that each person makes each day.

Correct information is readily available and easy to find. It is a failure of morality and character to embrace and wallow in misinformation as so many do.

[Irish_Dem]

7. Yes lazy and short sighted. No sense of responsibility, public service, or the common good.

We have become a nation of self centered bad children.

[bronxiteforever]

11. Excellent point. Ignorance is a choice.

Ignorance is the eternal enemy of democracy.

[OldBaldy1701E]

34. One might argue that there can be ignorance due to inability to find knowledge.

And, in the past, this was true in certain locations. But, in this day and age? Come on now. Tribes in Africa are herding goats while listening to Ke$ha on their iPads. Eskimos are playing Switch in their igloos.

There is no excuse for being this ignorant. Not anymore.

[Brenda]

35. I disagree

that correct information is readily available and easy to find.

I do agree that Google has made most things readily available and easy to find, but that doesn't mean it is "correct."

That doesn't mean one can find Google censored things. Who is Google to censor what I read about any subject?

Are you saying that those who go to libraries and read books about subjects censored from Google are "failures of morality and character" ?

Are you really unaware of censorship online and that large Tech Companies are herding people into groups and group think?

Your post is a very good example of why the Democrats lost.

[RockRaven]

55. Or rather your post is a good example of why Democrats lost,

because too many Democrats do not seem to recognize what they are dealing with when it comes to the current American electorate (namely a large portion being intellectually and morally defunct), and so do not communicate with or manipulate them as effectively as the Repugs do.

[ReadItnWeep]

40. Yes but

The sources that give disinformation also tell their viewers that other sources are not to be trusted.
So, you are correct that it's up to each to find the true information, but not all are told to "consider the source" as I was at a young enough age to take that to heart.

[Initech]

3. I've been saying it for 15 years!!!

The propaganda is the problem. It has always been the problem. And right now we're fighting a propaganda war with table knives while they've got rocket launchers and sub machine guns. It's way past time to turn the tables on the right wing propagandists.

[RVN VET71]

46. Propaganda can be either good or evil. Thanks to Rupert Murdoch and Fox, however,

the evil has been so persuasive that it has anesthetized the more ignorant masses, thoroughly turning them against Democracy and democratic institutions. And the evil lies Murdoch has been spreading in the minds of 10s of millions of our citizens is made worse, made more destructive and effective by Murdoch's de facto alliance with Putin and his clones.

What the Democrats need to do is somehow counter the leprous propaganda on the MAGA Right with Good Propaganda,
propaganda that rebuild the public's confidence in the institutions of freedom and decency with truth. This is not going to happen as long as our journalists try to normalize the fascist craziness that Trump and his cohorts represent.

But "Good Propaganda" involves identifying evil for what it is, in identifying MAGA, the single most divisive force in America, for what it is, and for identifying Trump as its principal leader, as an admirer of dictatorships, as a failed businessman, felon, and sexual abuser who scorns the very notion that America is/was a nation of laws, not men.

Dammit, we need journalists to go after the bastards every day -- and a media that gives them the ability to do just that.

[MagickMuffin]

4. Been researching Aldous Huxley quotes, and there are a lot of good ones

Here’s just a couple that kinda relate to the op

"The survival of democracy depends on the ability of large numbers of people to make realistic choices in the light of adequate information." ~ Aldous Huxley



"In regard to propaganda the early advocates of universal literacy and a free press envisaged only two possibilities: the propaganda might be true, or the propaganda might be false. They did not foresee what in fact has happened, above all in our Western capitalist democracies - the development of a vast mass communications industry, concerned in the main neither with the true nor the false, but with the unreal, the more or less totally irrelevant. In a word, they failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions." ~ Aldous Huxley

[Wiz Imp]

19. 2 Excellent Quotes

Huxley was a brilliant man.

[andym]

5. The rules of the media game are easy to manipulate: any criticism an opponent says gets covered

It works for both sides, but the Republicans use it much more often and more effectively. The more extreme the comment, especially criticism, the more it makes the news. One example in the last campaign where Democrats used it effectively and then backed off: When Democrats and Kamala attacked Trump as a threat to democracy, the GOP went wild in attempt to suppress it, McConnell himself called it dangerous rhetoric.

The press can and will use bothsiderism always, so that must be accounted for as well in any public statement.

[Six117]

8. Ultimately, you cannot "win" with lies.

No one does.

[totodeinhere]

9. Maybe so but he can do a lot of damage in the mean time. n/t

[W_HAMILTON]

10. Republicans just did -- and have been for years.

If they thought you couldn't win with lies, they wouldn't have ever begun their decades-long war on """mainstream media,""" which they then supplanted with their own conservative-slanted media.

[OverBurn]

26. They did and will continue to do so.

[markodochartaigh]

12. Ignorance and apathy

Last edited Wed Nov 20, 2024, 06:17 PM - Edit history (1)

are the Achilles' heels of democracy.
In the US about one third of the electorate are so apathetic that they can't be bothered to vote against an authoritarian Strong Leader as long as they get their hamberders and sportsball.
And ignorance of politics is widely considered a virtue on Mainstreet USA.

Edit: I see that the response that someone made to my point was removed. While I didn't agree completely with what the other person said, I think that it is great that we can have conversations here, even when we disagree. I don't know the circumstances of the removal. But I would hope that any reply to a post of mine, as long as it didn't break forum rules, would be kept in place.
Again, conditional on the reason for removal, I would like to thank the person who responded for giving a thoughtful and considered response.

[FormerOstrich]

13. Free content

isn't free. Seem as if there are a lot of people that don't want to pay for the content so they get what they pay for.

When you are the product it isn't going to add value to your life...

[bluestarone]

14. Hell, they didn't even attempt to be informed!

Most worthless bunch of Americans we've ever had.

[OldBaldy1701E]

39. In the movie 'The Caine Mutiny', there is a great descriptor used to describe the US.

The line comes when José Ferrer comes into the ball room while the crew is celebrating their win in the court-martial case. (Ferrer is their attorney, for those who do not know the film. If you have never seen it, you should. Major performances from everyone in the cast.) He is berating the crew for not helping the captain instead of demanding that he be relieved of command, thus creating the mutiny charge. He turns to the assembled crew and says:

When I was studying law, and Mr. Keefer here was writing his stories, and you, Willie, were tearing up the playing fields of dear old Princeton, who was standing guard over this fat, dumb, happy country of ours, eh?

That is part of the problem. Entropy. The fact that we are complacent and complicit. I hear that saying in my head every day...

First they came for the communists...

(Props to author Pastor Martin Niemöller)

[WarGamer]

15. Blaming the electorate again... well guess what, it's the SAME electorate in 2028

It's mostly the same electorate that voted for Obama 2x and Biden once...

Do a better job of selling WHAT YOU WILL DO for the people...

Not a coincidence that Sanders and others have noted that the creep to the right of the modern day DEM Party have hurt the Party.

SELL A BETTER PRODUCT and do a better job SELLING IT.

[LeftInTX]

25. Goes hand in hand. It's up to us to inform!

[bucolic_frolic]

16. To rational people yes, but to MAGA Christians this is salvation through suffering

They enjoy the pain. Cheeto Jesus was the most perceptive take on Trump's status to the MAGA cult.

Salvation through suffering. They enjoy pain, they are accustomed to being mentally abused, they seek more of it, hiding in plain sight.

[Justice matters.]

47. Well, they will really SUFFER when the Republicans they voted for will

get rid of "Obamacare" because they did not understand (or refused to acknowledge, or even ignored) that the ACA and Obamacare is the same thing!

Even the evil "concepts of a plan" lie, after NINE YEARS of its non-existence, didn't sway them, and now they're crying online as they just realize they'll lose it, for themselves and their aging relatives...

They FA big time, then they will FO and it's on THEM, ignorant IMBECILES!

What in the world is it so hard to understand: "A vote for ANY Republican is a vote against YOUR OWN "interests" once and for ALL?

[The Third Doctor]

17. A great degree of intellectual laziness.

Many prefer to be spoon fed conspiracy theories instead of getting on these new fangled mini computers and do basic research.

[NoMoreRepugs]

20. I'm of the opinion that the dullards want to be told what to think, it's just so much easier.

[nmmi]

21. ⚠️ ARCHIVE.IS LINK , a couple paragraphs, and more from Amanda Marcotte at salon.com

Philadelphia Inquirer piece in the OP:
https://archive.is/NFeTA#selection-673.0-677.118

2024’s other big loser? The mainstream media. Is there any path forward?
As an electorate besieged by disinformation turned to Trump, trust in traditional media has imploded. What comes next?

This very much jibes with where voters get their news (https://archive.is/o/NFeTA/https://www.inquirer.com/columnists/attytood/biden-voters-low-information-trump-red-lobster-rigged-polls-20240521.html ). An NBC News survey back in May ( https://archive.is/o/NFeTA/https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24614251-240126-nbc-april-2024-poll-4-26-2024-release WHICH MORPHS INTO https://archive.is/pg5rO [1] -nmmi) — when Biden was still the Democrats’ deeply troubled candidate — found nonetheless that he led by landslide proportions among the shrinking number of Americans who still read a newspaper, with a 70-21% lead ((it's more than just reading a newspaper - see below -nmmi)).

The now-president-elect, according to that NBC survey, posted his biggest margin of 53-27% among voters who don’t follow any news.
... That dovetails with the survey ( https://archive.is/o/NFeTA/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/interactive/2024/trump-harris-policy-quiz/ ) in which voters — when blindly given a choice between Trump’s policy agenda and Harris’ proposals — went strongly for the ideas of the Democrat who would lose.

[1] This link doesn't work for me. But from The Week 11/22/24 p. 12, Amanda Marcotte at salon.com wrote (I added the spacing, and emphasis -nmmi):

When given an explicit choice, most Americans actually prefer Democratic policies on health care, abortion, wages, family leave, taxation, and the economy.

Polls from earlier this year, in fact found that people "who consume news from journalistic outlets -- newspapers, network news programs, and news websites -- overwhelmingly planned to vote for the Democratic candidate"

But roughly half the country now consumes "an all-propaganda media diet" from Fox News, Tik Tok, Instagram, X, right-wing podcasts, and what their MAGAfied friends and family tell them. These sources immerse their audiences in a separate reality of misinformation, resentment, and conspiracy theories in which vaccines are dangerous, scientists are evil, America is a hellhole overrun by criminals and vicious migrants, Ukraine isn't worth saving, and the economy is in the toilet. ...

[ReadItnWeep]

49. This is the truth behind how democrats lost

Thank you for posting this!
So many are trying to point to a single policy or person or message and blame the entire loss with an extremely narrow take.

I haven't read this article specifically, but I read a similar one that stated when the policies of each party(candidate) were side by side but without labeling them as Kamala's policy vs. Trump's, most of the people polled chose the Democratic agenda.

Unfortunately, the few in the US who are hoarding the most wealth, use their money to buy newspapers, social media sites and fund the right wing propaganda machine. And also they add to voters choosing worse outcomes when they pay lobbyists to turn both parties against what's truly best for society.

Money, and especially those who have an over sized share of the wealth, will always work against what a healthy society needs to function.

[Hassler]

22. 25% of voters revel in their ignorance, the

Other 25% are just assholes who know the truth but don't care.

[Jarqui]

23. "It's the stupid, Stoopid" ...nt

[Cha]

24. Yep Propaganda Powered by Billionaires & Beilions!

[EarthFirst]

27. ...and MSNBC just went to Mar a Lago to kiss the ring. nt

[spooky3]

36. It wasn't MSNBC; it was Joe and Mika. Nt

[EarthFirst]

38. I see no distinction...

Only my opinion; ymmv…

[spooky3]

41. I separate Nicolle, Rachel, Stephanie, and Lawrence. Nt

[barbtries]

28. and

the most relentlessly propagandized. their ignorance in many cases is willful.

[beaglelover]

29. This is the result of years of Twitter/X, TikTok, Facebook, etc. Social media will be the death of Democracy.

[LPBBEAR]

30. They are being far too kind

in their description of who elected Trump.

A more accurate description below......

"Donald Trump was returned to power by chin drooling halfwits who can barely manage to wipe themselves. The most ignorant electorate in modern American history."

[Turbineguy]

31. Rupert Murdoch's life work.

Success!

[Kaleva]

32. At what time in our history was the electorate well informed?

[spooky3]

37. I think the emergence of Fox News in the 1990s was a huge factor.

It’s the disinformation rather than simply the lack of info that is the main problem.

Some social media have amplified the disinformation.

[Kaleva]

50. I think the speed of how news travels and widespread availability

can be both a blessing and a curse.

[spooky3]

53. news AND disinformation nt

[Blue Owl]

33. That's putting it mildly!

[brush]

42. Absolutely. Disinformation online greatly outweighed news sources the reported truth.

Even now online disinformation has as much if not more influence on untruths that voters ingest.

[Hope22]

43. It's been bad for a while.

In 2021 in the emergency room of the local hospital. The male nurse was distraught about the equipment he needed not being in the room. It Walked away to another department or some such thing. We asked if things were pretty rough in there and he replied yes, many employees have simply quit because they can’t take the way they are being treated. YOU SEE WE HAVE A LOW FUNCTIONING COMMUNITY! Huh…what did you say? He went on to say that the people in our community did not understand or believe in Covid and took every bit if it out on the staff. So it seems the low functioning members of our community spoil much of what used to be nice. The conversation was certainly a surprise to us. I’ll never forget it!

[FakeNoose]

44. "Smart" phones have made us stupid

And I agree with others here, that in many cases it has become willful stupidity.

[La Coliniere]

45. The willfully ignorant have made this happen.

They want spectacle and 24/7 entertainment, not responsible leadership. The lack of critical thinking skills has created this unbelievable fiasco that will now harm many of us.

[yourout]

48. Deliberately misinformed.

[JohnSJ]

51. Helped along by a lazy and inept press.

[Dem4life1970]

52. Absolutely Orwellian...

...he is the change candidate vs. the V.P. who created this disaster (um...did Biden run against Pence in 2020)?

...he said the economy was horrible (the best economy in the world, with the lowest inflation in the world)

...inflation was 40% he said (it was actually 2.1%)

...he said he woudl bring manufacturing jobs back (he lost over 100k manufacturing jobs when he was President, thanks to the Bipartisan infrastructure Bill Biden led and signed over 800k manufacturing jobs came back from 2021-2024).

...he said he would make the U.S. "Energy Dominant" again (the US became energy independent in a way it never has, under Pres. Biden, including traditional energy sources and renewable energy-no dependence on foreign, Middle Eastern Oil)

...he lied about Haitian immigrants

...he said he would perform Mass Deportations because of the "open borders" and "border invasion" (the numbers tell a completely diff. story)

lie after lie after lie and he proved the maxim attributed to Hitler or one of his henchman, "The bigger the lie, the more people will believe it." They did...and they are experiencing the beginnings of Buyers' Remorse. I say beginnings, because, just wait, there will be a lot more Buyers' Remorse to come.

[TomSlick]

54. Decades ago, a PoliSci professor told us that the inherent weakness in democracy

is that people get exactly the government they deserve.