The Danger of a Propaganda-Driven America

Human beings have always been vulnerable to propaganda and ideology that caters to their darkest fears. Once sufficiently held captive by their fears, by ideology and propaganda groups of people begin to strike out violently and/or look the other way while ideological violence strikes others. Small outbreaks of violence become normalized. Acts of coordinated political violence become permissible. Finally, large outbreaks of violence against groups of people considered 'vermin' become 'righteous' acts of self-preservation.

My dear friends, the US right now has traveled a long ways down the road of this process. A significant number of us have been propagandized into existential fears against Muslims, Jews, gays, people of color, immigrants, liberal 'snowflakes', the disabled, homeless, atheists, the press, climate scientists, etc. Small outbreaks of violence in spray-painted swastikas, an 8 year old boy lynched, 'Patriot prayer' rallies that pose as pretexts for violence pepper local news feeds daily. Coordinated political violence against immigrants are now the norm as ICE rounds up children in schools, breaks up families. The President encourages the police to rough up suspects and treat them violently. Joe Arpaio is pardoned. DACA youths put on notice. Basic norms of political functioning and human decency are transgressed daily. The likelihood of a free and fair national election is remote, if not impossible given what happened in 2016 and our non-response to it.

I believe people don't realize how much danger we are in. The things going in our favor as a society is the utter incompetence of the executive branch as well as a reservoir of goodwill that seems to be ingrained in significant numbers of Americans. But there is an inexorable march to outbreaks of propaganda-driven violence. Truth as a norm, once demolished, becomes nearly impossible to recover without the fire of tragedy. And without truth a society is incapable of neither mercy or justice. My fear is that such a society waits for us just around the corner.