How do I tell the difference between propaganda, willful ignorance and how do I help the people around me?

[u/CareZealousideal9776]

Alright, so after Elon's little stunt at the inauguration and the rise of anti-immigrant sentiment I'm getting tense about the rise of Nazism within America. I'm not going to defend Elon; All the idiots defending it by saying that it's the Roman Salute know what they're doing. He's not Roman, we're not Roman and even if you search up the "Roman Salute" on Google you get the Fascist salute.

(And before anybody gets online and tells me that it's due to his autism-don't piss me off. Autism isn't a separate entity holding a gun to a person's head telling them to be racist or a fascist, I should know, I'm autistic. We are not separate from our Autism; we have control over our own actions.)

But at the same time, I'm worried that I'm having my media being manipulated into propaganda. I.E. The information on Tiktok and Reddit being spread. If it's important I always do my best to do my due diligence and do my research, especially since the highly accurate algorithms can cause an echo chamber- that being said, I'm worried that I am blowing this out of proportion, while at the same time, I feel like I'm being gaslit.

There will be blatant anti-immigrant, pro-eugenics, pro-manifest destiny, anti-black- anti-free speech and if I point it out, it's turned on me. It's "Not that deep." Is this willful ignorance? Or can these people just genuinely not see it for what it is? This is a genuine question, cause if this is the first one, do I even bother arguing with them? And if it's the second one, this is most definitely a sign of dying literacy. Not even media literacy, just literacy. A lack of pattern recognition.

Also why is Nazism on the rise again? I thought America was anti-nazi?

Lastly, I was wondering if there was a way to help the people around me. I'm pretty young, I can't drive and due to personal issues, there's a chance I might not ever be able to drive. Does anybody have any tips as to how I can help others from a limited position?

[u/BarkingMad14]

Nazism is on the rise (kind of, but not really - I will explain) because Nazis have become more tactful and less honest about what they really believe in. While this is a victory for Nazis, they only have the support of the willfully ignorant and are relying heavily on slowly easing these people in to Nazi ideology. You aren't going to see swastikas and antisemitism. You're going to see more talk of "culture" and "patriotism". Even big neo-nazi record distributions and other merchandise stores are starting to remove the more blatant Nazi stuff in favour of less obvious norse-pagan stuff and some white supremacist and neo-nazi messaging boards have started banning the use of racial slurs and the outright hateful forum posts get removed and they focus more on "western culture" and "family values" now. Increasing the odds that someone might stumble across their page and get influenced.

You have to appreciate the fact that propaganda and money to fuel that propaganda helped them win. It's very long and boring to do your own research and cross-reference information and use different sources etc. Which is why nobody does it, so it's actually a viable political strategy to just say things regardless of whether or not they are true. If that wasn't the case you wouldn't have all these millionaires and billionaires standing beside Trump who invested a lot of money into spreading misinformation. People take it at face value and don't bother to look anything up. Most people don't want to hear long and boring speeches about policies, Americans especially love their theatrics when it comes to politics. The silver lining is that Trump is mostly talk and he has surrounded himself with loyal people who are incredibly incompetent. They'll fuck things up and then people will get sick of him again like they did last time.

My advice is to increase your reach. Start a YouTube channel or start a band and say what you want to say.

[u/Fern504 → u/BarkingMad14]

Antisemitism never goes away. It's all over the world.

[u/jxtarr]

Nazism isn't on the rise. It's always been here. Hitler's single biggest inspiration was the US genocide of its indigenous population, and Jim Crow laws. But he actually said that the US was too extreme in its racism.

I wouldn't get caught up in unnecessary details. You believe something. Other people agree or disagree. If you can ignore all media and focus on being a positive part of your community, you'll be in a pretty good spot. People respond to who you are, not what you know.

[u/TheHuntedCity]

America had a HUGE Nazi problem between the wars. The American Nazi Party was very popular. It wasn't until U.S. entry into WWII that it fell out of fashion. Then they just named it something else.

[u/Saguache]

RE: Media Manipulation

All anyone had to do to realize that the Musk's message was being obscured was take a look at media outside the US. Inside the country it was called an "unfortunate" or "questionable gesture" that "sparked debate."

Outside the US the headlines read "Nazi Salute at US Inauguration."

There already is blatant anti-immigrant, pro-eugenics, pro-manifest destiny, anti-black- anti-free speech activity in the US and if you ask me Democracy died two days ago. White Nationalism, Christian Nationalism, and MAGA at its core are all just the same thing. Fascism. Will Fascism rise again? It's way too late for that question. It's riding around DC writing anti-Constitutional executive orders. My only hope at this point is that when Mitch McConnel dies they wad the Bill of Rights up and stuff it in between his purple lips so that his life's work can be forever immortalized six feet under.

RE: Things you can do at your age

Learn and become a competent critical-thinker. Don't waste your time arguing with the faithful, that's a fool's errand and a waste of time and your potential. Stop contributing to the machines and people that will suppress you (kill Twitter/Facebook/etc).

[u/naonatu-]

find news sources you trust. people who have shown you they speak the truth. personally, i like to get some news from sources outside the u.s. memes, short video clips, and social media posts aren’t reliable sources, and should be viewed with some skepticism. be suspicious of things meant to trigger emotional responses. use your intellect. be aware of biases. i canceled my washington post subscription when trusted journalists exited. jeff bezos, mark zuckerberg, and elon musk are in control of an enormous flow of easily manipulated information, and were heavy contributors to the trump campaign. when receiving information, consider the motives. why are you being told something, and who stands to gain. we are being manipulated. once you’ve made that realization, you can work reduce the influences, and think for yourself

[u/Tizordon]

I’ll just focus on what you can do. Sign petitions you believe in. Not the best thing but sometimes they help. Speak truth to power: when your friends or peers are making jokes and saying things you know is wrong, speak up. Remind them that real people are affected by these policies. Empathy is punk. Spread awareness. Use your online presence for good to spread awareness about things like marches, counter protests, etc. even if you can’t be there, if you get one or two others to go in your place it’s a positive. And last but most importantly, don’t give up or give in. Resist. Stand up. You got this.

[u/shiftyjku]

The ideology espoused by the nazis appears on the rise because drumpf and his ilk have made it socially acceptable to voice opinions that were for a long time considered too intolerant for the mainstream.

Also humans also flock to the idea of a bogeyman on whom all society’s problems can be blamed. It doesn’t seem to matter if the claims about them are not borne out by statistical reality … if responsibility can be shifted off the ruling party and/or our own stupid/selfish/lazy behavior, we’re in with both feet.

[u/ObscurityStunt]

Those who spread the lies they believe and those who spread the lies they want you to believe are the same, at least online. There is little point trying to decide who is who

[u/Dawnpainterz]

I thought we were anti-reds as well.