It has never in the history of humanity been easier to educate yourself, either via YouTube, blogs, podcasts, wiki and normal news outlets.
Well, yes and no on that. Many of the most delusional folks are "educating" themselves through the means you list above...however, there is so much disinformation being distributed from these same sources that what these people are "learning" is likely not going to be the facts nor will it be helpful.
One of the primary things most of these people are learning is not to trust anybody and this means even if they did read or hear or see something that gave them a glimpse of something helpful, something true, or a fact...they will not acknowledge it and they will dismiss it. They have been "taught" to ignore what they do not like.
A good example of how this disinformation works and how powerful and fast moving it is would be Critical Race Theory. This was something nobody was discussing only 3 months ago and rapidly it has become something that people are repeating over and over with no understanding of what it is, why they are saying it, and they believe it is being taught everywhere, which is a total falsehood.
In just a matter of weeks Critical Race Theory became a hot button phrase for the right. It is mentioned several times in the video that Ross posted. We can track back to the exact moment that the phrase was launched at the Right wing loons, here it is:
Prior to this exchange, not a single person was up in arms about Critical Race Theory. None. Mentions of it in the media, including Right wing media were at exactly zero. Why? Because it is not an issue and never was.
In this moment, Gaetz puts Critical Race Theory on the map and he appears to either not know what it is or is intentionally using it incorrectly to mislead people. Secretary Lloyd immediately spots this and calls Gaetz use of the term "spurious" and moments later General Milley would destroy Gaetz use of the term embarrassing Gaetz and creating such an uproar for making one of the FOX news heroes look like a fool that FOX would begin calling for defunding the military on their shows. Laura Ingraham would kick off that frenzy I believe.
At this point the term began to be used all over Right wing social media, blogs, news outlets, and of course by members of the public in ways which clearly indicated they had no idea what the term meant or where it came from. Out of either pure stupidity and ignorance or again with the intent to mislead and incite racists all of these people began to repeat that CRT was being "taught in our public schools" and this must be destroyed.
Problem was Critical Race Theory was not being taught in our public schools. In fact most teachers had no idea what it was. So, all the use of the term did was expose racists in the Republican ranks and create an uproar among Right Wing voters over something that was not even happening. The only kind of school where Critical Race Theory would be mentioned and perhaps discussed is law school. It also is mentioned in military schools for officers as it is meant to address fairness in sentencing as officers can be required to take part in military trials.
Finally, it is not a practice or a rule or anything like that, it is something legal scholars discuss and examine. It has absolutely no part in any public school curriculum and not even in higher education unless you go to law school.
The lunatic that lives down the street from me has a "DESTROY CRITICAL RACE THEORY" sign posted in his yard. He probably does not understand in any way how stupid this makes him appear because he is calling for the destruction of an idea that legal scholars should examine how people are sentenced in a court of law.
So, in just a matter of weeks Critical Race Theory was mentioned by Matt Gaetz and skyrocketed to the top of the list of grievances and outrages of the Right...and not a single one of them knows what it is, where it came from, and believe a total falsehood about it being taught in our schools. Literally, millions of people were rapidly conned and now are out there complaining about something that is not even happening...and it is now a pillar of the Right Wing platform so much so that even former Vice President Mike Pence has made false statements about it.
And here is the big issue, how do you bring these people back to reality? They were fed a lie that originated with a guy accused of child molestation and they believe it only because they like the way it sounds. Not based on any facts, just because it sounds to them like it has something to do with race. Many of them just hear from some person they know, a friend, a coworker, a family member...that this horrible thing is being taught in our schools. People believe their friends, their family, their coworkers and so they just take it as fact and never look into it and even if they do they will find millions of videos, articles, blogs, social media posts telling them the lie. So, how do they sort through that?
They can go out onto the internet but the tendency for people is to look for information that confirms what they want to believe. This is particularly strong in members of the Right. Yes, that displays a lack of critical thinking skills but getting them to use critical thinking is more difficult than just showing them the truth.
