My mother, born, raised, and still lives in Norway, was anti-mask during COVID and refused to take the vaccine because of micro-robots (and the scary 5G towers), so we all know where she stands in certain topics. She also believes that Zelenskyy is the reason for Russia invading Ukraine…
Anyhoo, I was talking to her then other day, and she told me that I need to stop reading anti-propaganda. I laughed and asked if she could explain it, which she, of course, could not, but she said it’s a wording being used online all the time. I don’t frequent the sites she does, and I’ve known she’s been reading conspiracies for at least 10 years, but anti-propaganda? Does words not have meaning anymore?
If you ask me, anti-propaganda is facts, but hey, I might be wrong, considering English is my second language.
If she has accepted that she is pro-propaganda then maybe you need to link her to the Wikipedia page for the word.
“Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded language to produce an emotional rather than a rational response to the information that is being presented”
I like the Oxford dictionary definition:
“The systematic dissemination of information, esp. in a biased or misleading way, in order to promote a particular cause or point of view, often a political agenda.”
I managed to logic my parents out of one thing.
My parents actually asked me if it was possible that the vaccines contained 5G micro robots.
After taking a moment to maintain my composure and put on my “pretend I wasn’t asked a stupid question and answer seriously” face, I asked them to take out their phone.
When the phone was in their hand, I asked them to consider the fact that it must be charged every day to keep working, and that the vast majority of the size of the phone was taken up by the battery. Then I pointed out that a device small enough to be injected wouldn’t have enough power to still be on when it left the needle.
Luckily I didn’t have to go further than that.
I think that’s the only time I’ve had any success pounding logic into them. I think the problem is they can’t think of me as anything but a child, except where computers are concerned.
They paid for my computer science degree, and they know I’ve been working in IT for 32 years, and I answer all their computer questions. So, if the subject is computer-related, I’m their expert. Anything else and I’m just a deluded child.
I haven’t tried talking to my mom about the SSA COBOL AI rewrite yet. I’m not sure if she heard about it or if she did whether she understood enough to even be concerned enough to ask me.
I started using anti-vaxx propaganda tactics satirically.
The goal is to show how the tactic is manipulative by applying it to something obviously not dangerous.
Water is easy, start insisting that “dihydrogen monoxide” is dangerous:
Celebrity just died? “They had dihydrogen monoxide before they died, maybe it killed them”
“All traffic fatalities in the last 5 years were link to people using dihydrogen monoxide”
“Dihydrogen overdoses kill people every year”
“Why is dihydrogen monoxide in everything? Why is big dihydrogen monoxide putting this in everything, what are they trying to do?”
“I bet Trump was on dihydrogen monoxide when he thought of his tariffs plan”
Etc
Did you know there are more hydrogen atoms in a single water molecule than stars in our whole solar system?
there are more hydrogen atoms in a single water molecule
Hydrogen atoms?! Didn’t they use that in the hydrogen bomb? And in the Hindenburg Disaster? OH THE HUMANITY!
This reminds me of the people that say they are anti-antifa.
"Anti-propaganda aims to undermine the effectiveness of propaganda by exposing its manipulative tactics, providing alternative perspectives, or offering factual information to counter biased claims.
I’d pick my battles and try to address the most harmful lines of thought first. Like anything medical for example. Deprogramming is a popular topic online so there are some resources out there.
Best of luck, it’ll be difficult until you find a foothold.
Wait so the alternative to anti-propaganda is just plain propaganda. She wants you to read propaganda?
No, she specifically told me to stop reading anti-propaganda 🤣
So stop reading anti-propaganda and start to read propaganda is what she’s trying to say?
Cut the source of the actual propaganda being pumped into her head.
Curiously, when these people are cut of from the source of hate and fear being pumped into their heads for a month or so, they start to be more rational.
That’s doing to be hard. She’s reading all the right-wing websites in Norway and Europe. I wish I could, and my brother and myself have told her multiple times in the past 5 years how wrong she is (“Norwegian government is hacking my Facebook because I’m critical to them” when Facebook photos were down for all of Europe for a few hours), but she does but listen. Might be because she looks at her children as children, and not actual grown men with degrees. She also lives in Spain now, so hard to do anything with her WiFi.
Yeah, I understand it’s easier said than done. I’m dealing with this with my older sister.
In comics Anti-hero, is not a villain. It’s a hero, using same tools as villains would (Deadpool, Punisher, etc).
Anti-pripaganda. Is a propaganda with opposite vector. Same tools, different goal.
If propaganda is “USA is roten country with systemic oppression off all but 1%, that is comming for our freedom and our resources”, the anti-propaganda would be “USA is the greatest country in the word and things we do are good becouse we are ones doing it. What even is a Patriot Act? Only terrorist should worry about stuff like this.”
Wouldn’t it just be facts?
That’s what I said lol
I feel like the word propaganda gets a little misused. There’s so much negativity attached to it, but propaganda at it’s core is media that tries to persuade someone. So media trying to undo misinformation about COVID is also propaganda.
I guess this means that we’ve reached the point where folks have become so accepting of the bullshit they’re saturated in, that the idea of hearing the truth, is abhorrent to them.
