OK, a couple of quotes to start things off…
- “You’re darn tootin’ I’m angry!” (See R&S cartoon here.)
- “Of course you know… this… means war.” (See BB cartoon here.)
A friend of mine reminded me of this quote, allegedly from Karl Rove:
"The aide said that guys like me were ‘in what we call the reality-based community,' which he defined as people who ‘believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.' I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. ‘That's not the way the world really works anymore,' he continued. ‘We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality— judiciously, as you will—we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors... and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.'" — quote found many places, but I copied this from Mother Jones
In this post-fact, Gish-gallop, grifty political climate full of narcissists and misinformation, “the system” has let us down. Simply put — enlightenment values are under attack, and instead of living up to the responsibility the power of a free press entails, “the media” has been complicit in weakening the importance of those same enlightenment-era values that grant them that power.
Today, I fight back.
(I’m using the term “enlightenment” here in a really sloppy way, but you get what I mean — “reality-based”, empirical, whatever. Enlightenment to me is the effort to be as bullshit-free as possible while recognizing there is a very human tendency to bullshit.)
In this war, we have at least two choices — double-down on “enlightenment” values OR double-down on bullshit, demagoguery, and the techniques of propaganda (which, empirically, can be effective).
I’m choosing the first path of being anti-bullshit but keeping the second path in my pocket. It IS true that it’s tough to compete when the playing field is not level. It’s tough to compete when the “referees” don’t call penalties. It’s difficult to compete when you take tools of war off the table because you believe that to use them is unethical. It’s difficult, but the question becomes “Is it possible?”
I want to find out.
So… I propose the following start at a plan of action:
- Create a quick-response taskforce to call out propaganda on both sides.
- Create an anti-propaganda toolkit and training materials.
- Create an ethics guide for politicians.
- Call out self-dealing and conflicts of interest without going into intent. If a politician has the appearance of impropriety, the ethics guide should have a toolkit for dealing with transparency and a way for the politician to extricate themselves gracefully.
- Respond quickly. Propaganda is essentially a DDOS attack. Note the Rove quote above is primarily about the ability of the left to respond quickly to bad actors. Speed is critical.
- Respond with force. No, not second amendment force, but with the force of numbers. With all the powers rational actors can muster. Be relentless. Again, we need a toolbox for this.
I’m proud to be in a city that supports both Democrats and Socialists. I’m proud to be in a state that supports transit. I’m proud to live in a neighborhood where kids are walking out in protest of the election of a virulent narcissist to our highest political office.
There’s a protest scheduled in downtown Seattle tonight. It’s not sponsored by Democrats, but democrats should go protest there or somewhere else. Labor Unions should go. It’s at www.facebook.com/…
It’s time to say “We’re here! We’re here! We’re here!”
This time, I want a clean candidate. This time, lets fight with weapons we believe in, but make sure our tools of war are sharp and our tactics effective. Failing that, the empirical data might just say that deceptive propaganda really is so effective that it cannot be abandoned as a tool.
But now the war begins. Nobody spouting propaganda gets a free pass. No media outlet letting propaganda pass unchallenged gets a free pass.
Respond quickly. Who will take to the streets tonight? Respond with force. Who will help build our tools and train people to use them?
This is my attempt to organize. Who’s with me?
World? Are you listening? Prepare for a fight.
