https://robertreich.substack.com/p/how-can-it-be-that-trump-is-running?
Monday, September 30, 2024
Saturday, September 28, 2024
antiracismdsa: Latino Civil Rights vs.Project 2025
Friday, September 27, 2024
Why Do Some People Still Support Trump ?
Why do people still back Trump, after everything? 5 things to understand about MAGA supporters’ thinking
For many people, especially those leaning left, Donald Trump’s disqualifications to be president seem obvious, prompting some to question: How could anyone still vote for Trump?
Some of the evidence Trump’s critics cite include his two impeachments, multiple criminal indictments at the state and federal levels and a felony conviction. Opponents also say that Trump is a threat to democracy, a misogynist, racist, a serial liar and a rapist.
About 78% of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independent voters say that Trump broke the law when he allegedly tried to overturn the 2020 election results. But less than half of Republicans think he did anything wrong.
I am an anthropologist of peace and conflict, and I have been studying what I call the Trumpiverse since 2015, when Trump descended a golden escalator and announced his candidacy for president. I later wrote a related book in 2021, called “It Can Happen Here.”
More recently, I have been examining toxic polarization – and ways to stop it. Many efforts to reduce people’s polarized views begin with an injunction: Listen and understand.
To this end, I have attended Trump rallies, populist and nonpartisan events and meetings where Democrats and Republicans connect and talk. Along the way, I have spoken with Trump supporters ranging from the Make America Great Again, or MAGA, faithful to moderate “hold the nose and vote for him” conservatives.
And indeed, many on the left fail to understand who Trump voters are and how they vary. Trump’s base cannot simply be dismissed as racist “deplorables,” as Hillary Clinton famously said in 2016, or as country bumpkins in red MAGA hats. Trump voters trend older, white, rural, religious and less educated. But they include others outside those demographic groups.
Many people have thoughtful reasons for voting for Trump, even if their reasoning – as is also true for those on the left – is often inflamed by populist polarizers and media platforms.
Here are five key lines of reasoning that, in varying combinations, inform Trump voters’ choice.
1. Media distortion
Where those on the left see Trump’s many failings, those on the right may see what some political observers call Trump Derangement Syndrome, sometimes simply called TDS.
According to this line of argument, the left-leaning media dissects Trump’s every word, and the media then distorts what he says. I have found that some Trump supporters think that people who feed too much on this allegedly biased media diet can get TDS and develop a passionate, perhaps illogical dislike of Trump.
I have also heard hardcore Trump supporters argue, with no evidence, that such “fake news” media outlets, like CNN, are part of a larger deep state plot of the federal government to upend the will of the people. This plot, according to those who propagate it, includes not just leftists, government bureaucrats and people who claim to be Republicans, but really aren’t, but also people in law enforcement.
Some Trump supporters also see merit in his contention that he is being wrongly persecuted, just like some see the Jan. 6 defendants being persecuted.
2. Bread on the table, money in the bank
“Are you better off than you were four years ago?”
For many Trump voters, the answer to Ronald Reagan’s famous question is clear: “No.” They accurately remember Trump’s term as one of tax cuts, economic growth and stock market highs.
It is true that overall employment numbers and average pay went up under President Joe Biden. But for some Trump supporters, that economic boost pales in comparison to the massive surge in inflation during Biden’s term, with prices rising almost 20%. While the inflation rate has recently abated, prices remain high – as voters are reminded of every day at the grocery store.
Polls also show that Trump has a strong lead over Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris on how they would handle the economy, which is a top concern for voters, especially Republicans.
3. A border invasion
Another reason some Americans want to vote for Trump: immigration.
Like inflation, the number of people illegally crossing the border soared under Biden.
This massive influx of “illegal aliens,” as Trump calls them, dropped to its lowest level in four years in July 2024. This happened after the Biden administration made it harder for immigrants to apply for asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border, a policy measure that is in line with many Republicans’ approach.
In 2022, a poll found 7 out of 10 Republicans worried that “open borders” were part of a Democratic plot to expand liberals’ power by replacing conservative white people with nonwhite foreigners.
Trump has played into some people’s mostly false concerns that immigrants living illegally in the U.S. are freeloaders and won’t assimilate, as illustrated by recent – untrue – allegations that immigrants are eating pets in Ohio.
In 2022, 82% of Republicans said they viewed immigration as a “very important” issue. Trump continues to tout his proposed solution, which includes shutting the border, building a wall and deporting 11 million immigrants who are living in the U.S. without legal authorization.
4. A proven record
Some Trump voters simply compare the records of Trump and Biden-Harris and find that the tally tilts firmly toward Trump.
And it’s not just about the economy and immigration.
There were no new wars under Trump. Biden-Harris, in contrast, are saddled with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip. Trump supporters’ perception is that American taxpayers foot a large portion of the bill, even though other countries are also giving money to Ukraine, and Israel is actually buying weapons from the U.S.
I have found that Trump supporters also think he is better suited to deal with the rising power and threat of China.
5. The MAGA bull in a china shop
While some Harris supporters lament Trump’s destruction of democracy and decency in politics, I have found that Trump voters see a charismatic MAGA bull in a china shop.
It is precisely because Trump is an unrelenting pugilist, or a fighter – as he showed when he raised a fist after the assassination attempt against him in July – that he should be elected, his supporters believe.
Some even view him as savior – who will save the U.S. from a “radical left” apocalypse.
For such Trump stalwarts, MAGA is not simply a slogan. In the Trumpiverse, it is a movement to save an America that is on the brink of failure.
Alex Hinton, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology; Director, Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights, Rutgers University - Newark
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Thursday, September 26, 2024
Choosing Democracy: Musk Threatens Vice President- Others, now deleted
Choosing Democracy: Musk Threatens Vice President- Others, now deleted: Musk Threatens Vice President- Others Robert Reich, Shortly after the apparent second assassination attempt against Trump, Elon Musk respo...
Tuesday, September 24, 2024
How False Narrative About Haitians Gained Traction
Why debunked falsehoods about Haitian migrants gained traction
By Tiffany Hsu | |
The latest, with 42 days to go, Sept, 24, 2024,
The false narrative that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were killing and eating pets was quickly and decisively debunked this month. But that did not prevent the rumor from catapulting across the national stage for weeks.
In early September, a Springfield resident published an error-riddled Facebook post that relied on what she later called a “game of telephone.” She deleted the post and disavowed it, but on Sept. 5, a conservative user posted it on X.
On Sept. 9, Springfield officials discredited the claim — but by then, it was already too late. It was racing through an online ecosystem primed to amplify disinformation.
On Sept. 10, Donald Trump supercharged the narrative by referring to it during the presidential debate. Despite an immediate fact check from one of the debate moderators, the false story line exploded online and in the real world, propelled by conservative news outlets, political leaders and social media influencers.
Here’s why disinformation — usually defined as false information that its peddlers know is deceptive — has been so difficult to rein in during a particularly chaotic campaign cycle.
Living the meme
Even as the animal cruelty disinformation led to tangible harassment and threats in Springfield, the narrative was being played for laughs online. Trump and a coterie of allies — including Elon Musk, the owner of X — blitzed the internet with artificially generated images of pets in fantastical situations. Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, egged supporters on by urging them on X to “keep the cat memes flowing.” TikTok videos showed families applying seasonings to their pets in jest; a South African musician created a viral TikTok remix of Trump’s debate comment and then performed it live in Munich, posting about the event on X accompanied by a laughing emoji.
The joking tone, which can make disinformation seem more acceptable and less dangerous, has crossed into the real world in the case of the false pets narrative.The Republican Party in Arizona erected a dozen billboards riffing on Chick-fil-A ads, with the message “EAT LESS KITTENS — Vote Republican!”
Fake it till you make it
Elected officials like Vance promoted the story even as they admitted it might not be true. In this case, even before the debate, Vance admitted that “it’s possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false.” Days later, he said he was willing “to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people.” The tactic’s success hinges on a number of cognitive biases, such as the tendency to believe things that we hear frequently, or that are easiest to remember, or that we already expect to be true.
“‘I’ll believe it when I see it’ — that was the phrase we used to use,” said Michael Mosser, the former executive director of the Global Disinformation Lab at the University of Texas at Austin. “Now, it’s ‘I’ll see it when I believe it.’”
Disinformation can be profitable
Going viral online can translate into real money for the people who amplify disinformation. In a 72-hour period after Mr. Trump promoted the pet falsehood during the debate, a handful of YouTube videos that echoed his claim were accompanied by ads from Mazda, Adobe and more than a dozen other large brands, which most likely earned the video creators several thousand dollars collectively, according to Eko, a group focused on corporate accountability. A substantial chunk of the ad revenue would have also gone to YouTube.
With more than a quarter of Americans now believing that Haitians are abducting and eating dogs and cats — including 52 percent of likely Trump voters, according to polling by YouGov, a market research firm — influencers and the platforms that house them are incentivized to continue serving up the falsehood to draw attention.
A vulnerable news ecosystem
A grim outlook for the news business and growing distrust of professional media outlets have caused many people to seek information and local stories from social media, where lax content moderation and engagement-driven algorithms helped the animal cruelty narrative gain momentum.
Websites posing as independent news outlets while being secretly funded by partisan groups, sometimes known as pink slime websites, now outnumber daily newspapers in the United States, according to Newsguard, a group that tracks misinformation.
Northwestern University found last year that 204 counties around the countryare news deserts, lacking newspapers, local digital sites, public radio newsrooms or ethnic publications, with another 228 counties at risk of the same fate. A third of adults in the United States told Pew Research Center this summer that they regularly got news from Facebook and YouTube.
Disinformation without borders
The false pets narrative blasted through the right-wing media ecosystem in the United States but also circulated around the world and across the borderless internet. Spanish-language and Latino-focused accounts, including some in Spain and Colombia, amplified the claims, according to Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas, a think tank. Musk, who has nearly 200 million followers on X, shared a video from a meeting of the Springfield City Commission that claimed to legitimize the pet-eating accounts.
The false claims have come with real consequences for Springfield and for Haitian Americans around the country, but less so for Trump, Vance and the influencers spreading them. Trump has continued to fuel unfounded narratives: On Monday night, he targeted a different Haitian community, stoking fears about migrants in Charleroi, Pa.
New York Times
Economists as Apologists
Economists as Apologists: Too much of the profession operates as the ideological department of predatory capitalism.
Monday, September 23, 2024
Reich: 10 Basic Economic Myths
Reich.
Basic economic myths. Plus
It’s too easy to conclude that Trump supporters are ignorant.
Addressing the root causes of their support for Trump doesn’t justify their support of him. But if we want to reduce the lure of Trumpism — of authoritarianism and neofascism — we need to address these root causes.
For the past 10 weeks, I’ve offered 10 video essays on the 10 biggest economic myths. They have been used to justify a system whose gains increasingly go to the top, while most Americans have been working harder but getting nowhere.
Over the last 40 years, the “free market” has been rigged and power has shifted upward to corporate executives and investors who engage in organized bribery — bankrolling lawmakers who change laws and regulations to their benefit.
This has allowed the powerful to monopolize industries, bash unions, pay lower taxes, make big financial bets on Wall Street and get bailed out when the bets go sour, outsource jobs abroad, and pretend they’re job creators who deserve all this power.
The result? The richest 1 percent of Americans now own nearly as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent put together.
Most Americans without college degrees are working longer hours than they worked decades ago and taking fewer sick days or vacations. They have less job security.
Life expectancy has been falling for Americans without college degrees. That’s because income and wealth have direct impacts on health and longevity. Income and wealth determine access to life-supporting services like high-quality preventive health care, nutritious foods, and housing.
Income and wealth also have a lot to do with whether someone is endangered by handguns, opioids, and economic stress.
We cannot separate what has happened to the typical American from the dangerous lure of Trumpism. Trump has exploited their anger and anxiety for his own ends, but the anger and anxiety are real. Unless addressed, they will be exploited by other authoritarians long after Trump is history.
America’s working class has become angrier and more frustrated — and more vulnerable to demagogues like Trump, peddling the politics of hate.
But this doesn’t have to be our fate. We have the power to make the system work for the many, not the few.
The goal in the upcoming election is not only to vanquish Trump. It’s also to vanquish Trumpism — the attraction of authoritarian fascism. How? By shifting power and wealth away from America’s oligarchs and back toward average working Americans.
This requires:
Breaking up monopolies. Strengthening labor unions. Making it harder for big corporations to outsource jobs abroad.
Providing paid leave. Raising the minimum wage. Ensuring that everyone who needs a job has one.
Making child care and elder care, and housing, affordable. Providing Medicare for all. Paying for this by raising taxes on the super-wealthy and on big corporations.
And, not the least, getting big money out of politics.
None of these goals will be easy to achieve. They will demand our energy and tenacity. The Biden-Harris administration has made a good start on them. The Harris-Walz administration will do even more, if given a chance.
We must all do our part — not just by voting but also by being activists in our communities, our states, and in the nation.
The stakes could not be higher.
***
I hope you’ve found our debunking series useful. Please share. Many thanks for joining me.
If you’d like to see or review the entire series, just click on the link:
Myth #1: Economics has nothing to do with politics, morality, or power. BUNK!
Myth #2: Government obstructs the free market. BUNK!
Myth #3: The rich deserve to be rich. BUNK!
Myth #4: Corporate political donations are free speech. BUNK!
Myth #5: The market doesn’t play favorites. BUNK!
Myth #6: Global trade is good for everyone. BUNK!
Myth #7: America is socialist. BUNK!
Myth #8: Corporate tax cuts create jobs. BUNK!
Myth #9: Inflation is caused by wage increases and too much government spending. BUNK!
Myth #10: Economic growth is always good. BUNK!
***
Tuesday, September 10, 2024
Elon Musk is Out of Control - Fake News
AI and Musk
Lies on Elon Musk’s X have instigated some of the worst racial riots in Britain’s history. Musk recently posted a comment to his hundreds of millions of followers claiming “Civil war is inevitable” in the U.K., and asserted that the British criminal justice system treats Muslims more leniently than far-right activists.
European Union commissioner Thierry Breton sent Musk an open letter reminding him of EU laws against amplifying harmful content “that promotes hatred, disorder, incitement to violence, or certain instances of disinformation” and warning that the EU “will be extremely vigilant” about protecting “EU citizens from serious harm.”
Musk’s response was a meme that said: “TAKE A BIG STEP BACK AND LITERALLY, F*CK YOUR OWN FACE!”
As I noted last week, Americans, too, are being subject to lies and bigotry on Musk’s X — and not just because Musk fired the entire staff that had been keeping such filth off the platform; Musk is also reposting and encouraging some of it.
Musk recently released an AI chatbot that falsely told tens of millions of Americans that “the ballot deadline has passed” in several swing states, including the battlegrounds of Michigan, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania, among others.
Secretaries of state in five states urged Musk to “immediately implement changes” to his chatbot, but Musk hasn’t done so.
Evidence is mounting that Russia and other foreign agents are using X to disrupt this year’s presidential race, presumably in favor of Trump. Musk refuses to take any action.
What to do about Musk? I’ve suggested that advertisers boycott X. Now Musk is suing advertisers for doing this, arguing that they’re violating antitrust laws.
It’s time to get tough with Musk. Here are some suggestions.
First, the Federal Trade Commission should demand that Musk take down lies that are likely to endanger individuals or threaten our democracy, and if he does not, sue him under Section 5 of the FTC Act.
Musk’s free-speech rights under the First Amendment don’t take precedence over the public interest. Seven weeks ago, the Supreme Court said federal agencies may pressure social media platforms to take down misinformation — a technical win for the public good (technical because the court based its ruling on the plaintiff’s lack of standing to sue).
The U.S. government — and we taxpayers — have additional power over Musk, if we’re willing to use it: The U.S. should terminate its contracts with him, starting with Musk’s SpaceX.
In 2021, the United States entered into a $1.8 billion classified contract with SpaceX that includes blasting off classified and military satellites, according to The Wall Street Journal. The funds are now an important part of SpaceX’s revenue.
Robert Reich
See more here,
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/30/elon-musk-wealth-power
Saturday, September 7, 2024
Heritage Foundation Creates and Shares Fake News About Immigrants Voting in Georgia
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/07/us/politics/heritage-foundation-2024-campaign-immigration.html?
The right-wing think tank has been pushing misinformation about voting into social media feeds. The Georgia secretary of state’s office called one video “a stunt.”
Listen to this article · 10:34 min Learn more
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Once a staid think tank, the Heritage Foundation has recently made its mark seeding falsehoods about the integrity of the 2024 election across social media and conservative news outlets.\
By Ken Bensinger and Richard Fausset
Sept. 7, 2024Updated 10:09 a.m. ET
In July, two men went door to door at a sprawling apartment complex in Norcross, Ga., an Atlanta suburb that is a hub for the region’s fast-growing Latino population, asking residents if they were U.S. citizens and whether they were registered to vote.
Speaking in Spanish, often peeking from behind half-closed doors, seven people told the men that they were not citizens but that they were registered to vote.
Although the two men claimed to represent a company helping Latinos navigate the election system, they were actually working with the Heritage Foundation and carrying a hidden camera. Days later, the conservative think tank posted a video on the social media platform X containing some of the footage the men had captured, calling it “staggering” evidence that 14 percent of noncitizens in Georgia — which Heritage said extrapolated to more than 47,000 people — were registered to vote.
“Based on our findings,” the video concluded, “the integrity of the 2024 election is in great jeopardy.”
The video was reposted by Elon Musk, X’s owner, who called it “extremely disturbing.” It quickly went viral.
But under scrutiny, those claims do not hold up. Three of the seven people Heritage filmed later said they had misspoken. State investigators found no evidence that any of the seven people on the tape had ever registered to vote. A spokesman for Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, called the video “a stunt.”
It was one of several misleading videos that the Heritage Foundation has pumped into social media feeds this year. While the once-staid think tank has received attention recently for Project 2025, the right-wing blueprint for a future Trump administration that the group funded, it has also made its mark with an aggressive effort to shape public opinion, seeding falsehoods about the integrity of the 2024 election across social media and conservative news outlets.
Wednesday, September 4, 2024
How to Survive Until the Election + Robert Reich
Reich: How to Survive This Election
How to survive the next 60 days (and help America survive beyond them) Putting your outrage to constructive use
Friends, ( See the organizations at the end of this post. ) Fewer days now. The 2024 election is 100 days away. How can we survive until then? How can we help America survive beyond it? Many of you tell me or write in the comments section of this letter that you’re already filled with outrage. I am, too. Trump is still not locked up, although he incited an attack on the U.S. Capitol more than three years ago, which resulted in several deaths and could have cost the lives of many more, including members of Congress. He did it to overturn the results of the 2020 election. If he’s able to delay his trials and he gets elected, he may never be held accountable. He hasn’t stopped lying that the 2020 election was stolen from him, causing Americans to be more divided than at any time since the Civil War. He’s on the way to winning the Republican nomination, and polls (unreliable as early polls are) show him beating Biden. He has turned one of our two major political parties against democracy and toward neofascism. He embodies moral squalor — bragging about sexually assaulting women, being found in a civil trial to have raped a woman, lying constantly about everything, claiming immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of America, calling for a “termination” of the Constitution, describing political opponents as “vermin.” And on and on. All good reasons to be outraged. But do me a favor right this moment. Take a deep breath and consider what you’re doing with your outrage. Outrage on its own is exhausting (take this from someone who’s spent the better part of the last 77 years feeling outraged about one thing or another). It can also lead to two disempowering states: despair and cynicism. I know many who are in despair about the possibility of another Trump presidency. Their despair follows them around during the day and wakes them at night. It is robbing them of most joy in their lives. I know others who have sunk into deep cynicism. The system is rotten to the core, they tell themselves. Why even worry about Trump? Nothing can be done in any event. They’ve stopped listening to or reading the news. Why bother? Maybe you fall into one of these camps. I don’t mean to criticize you. I understand completely. Hell, I’ve been there myself. But despair and cynicism can be self-fulfilling prophesies. They can stop you from taking political action. As such, they make it more likely that Trump will become president — and that neofascism will prevail. Outrage can be a positive force if it fuels activism — if it gets people off their butts to do any number of things that individually don’t seem like much but taken together can have a big impact. What sort of things? Forgive me if I’ve suggested this before, but for example: 1. Becoming even more politically active. For some of us, this will mean taking more time out of our normal lives — up to and including getting out the vote in critical swing states. For others, it will mean phone banking, making political contributions, writing letters to editors, and calling friends and relations in key states. 2. Starting now to organize. Even if you cannot take much time out of your normal life for direct politics, you will need to organize, mobilize, and energize your friends, colleagues, and neighbors. A number of effective groups can help you (I’ve added their names and web addresses at the end). 3. Countering lies with truth. When you hear someone repeating a Trump Republican lie, correct it. This will require that you prepare yourself with facts, logic, analysis, and sources. 4. Not tolerating bigotry and hate. When you come across it, call it out. Stand up to it. Denounce it. Demand that others denounce it, too. 5. Not resorting to name-calling, bullying, intimidation, violence, or any of the other tactics that Trump followers may be using. We cannot save democracy through anti-democratic means. 6. Being compassionate toward hardcore followers of Trump, but remaining firm in your opposition. Understanding why someone might decide to support Trump is fine. But you don’t want to waste your time and energy trying to convert them. Use your time and energy on those who still have open minds. 7. Not wasting your time complaining. Don’t gripe, whine, or kvetch about how awful Trump and his Republican enablers are. Or about how ineffective Biden and the Democrats are in communicating how bad Trump and his Republican enablers are. None of this will get you anything except an upset stomach or worse. 8. Asking everyone you know to vote for Biden and not sit this election out or vote for a third-party candidate. Even if they don’t especially like Biden — even if they’re tired of voting for the “lesser of two evils” or fed up not “voting my conscience” — they still have to vote for Joe Biden. He may not be perfect, but Trump is truly evil. 9. Demonstrating, but not confusing demonstration for political action. You may find it gratifying to stand on a corner in Berkeley or Cambridge or any other liberal precinct with a sign asking drivers to “honk if you hate fascism” and elicit lots of honks. But this is as politically effectual as taking a warm shower. Organize people who don’t normally vote to vote for Biden. Mobilize get-out-the-vote efforts in your community. Get young people involved. 10. Not getting distracted by the latest outrageous Trump post or speech or story. Don’t let Trump’s hunger for immediate attention or the media’s complicity with that hunger divert your eyes from the prize — the survival of American democracy during one of the greatest stress tests it has had to endure, organized by one of the worst demagogues in American history. You probably have many other ideas (please feel free to add them in the comments). My point is to use your outrage. Please don’t let it wear you down. Don’t try to smother it. Using it will make you feel and be powerful. And your power is desperately needed right now. If you’d like more specific guidance on what you might do, check out these organizations: Swing Left: https://swingleft.org/ VoteForward: https://votefwd.org/ MoveOn: https://front.moveon.org/ Indivisible: https://indivisible.org/ Data for Progress: https://www.dataforprogress.org/ Stand Up America: https://standupamerica.com/ Common Cause: https://www.commoncause.org/ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
guidance on what you might do, check out these organizations: Swing Left: https://swingleft.org/ VoteForward: https://votefwd.org/ MoveOn: https://front.moveon.org/ Indivisible: https://indivisible.org/ Data for Progress: https://www.dataforprogress.org/ Stand Up America: https://standupamerica.com/ Common Cause: https://www.commoncause.org/ https://www.mobilize.us/dailykos/ |
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