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December 15th is Bill of Rights Day.
There are some great resources here provided by Larry Ferlazzo. As the USA moves further from democracy to autocracy a reminder about the Bill Of Rights is especially relevant and timely.
Disinformation can contribute to avoidable harm and death
Disinformation is prolific in our age of digital media when publishing can occur without any editing. It seems ironic that I am writing this when I engage in this activity myself. However, what distinguishes my publication is that I have taken the Pro Truth pledge and promise my readers to publish only what I have vetted and know to be true to the best of my ability.
Some people hold the value of honesty, accuracy, and validity very highly while others, motivated by any number of incentives, are selling something based on explicit and implicit agendas. It behooves the consumer of media to insist on honesty and accuracy and to discern the motivations and incentives of the communicator. The question “Why is this person communicating this to me can be very illuminating.” In everyday language we should ask “What is this communicator up to and hoping will happen as a result of communicating this message”?
Just as people can spread infectious bacteria and viruses, they can spread false information. Just as infectious diseases can harm and kill so can toxic disinformation.
For more from Hayden Godfrey’s article, “Doctors Who Put Lives At Risk With Covid Misinformation Rarely Punished? click here.
Autocracies, Inc by Anne Applebaum
As the US has slipped further from democracy to autocracy with the re-election of Donald Trump as president, knowledge of the signs and symptoms of autocracy as a form of government and the consequences of this development has become much more important. This shift in governance processes have highly significant influence on the daily events described in the media.
From Autocracy, Inc. by Anne Applebaum
"Nowadays, autocracies are run not by one bad guy but by sophisticated networks relying on kleptocratic financial structures, a complex of security services—military, paramilitary, police—and technological experts who provide surveillance, propaganda, and disinformation. p. 1
"Unlike military or political alliances from other times and places, this group operates not like a bloc but rather like an agglomeration of companies, bound not by ideology but rather by a ruthless, single-minded determination to preserve their personal wealth and power: Autocracy, Inc. p. 2
"Instead of ideas, the strongmen who lead Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Angola, Myanmar, Cuba, Syria, Zimbabwe, Mali, Belarus, Sudan, Azerbaijan, and perhaps three dozen others share a determination to preserve their personal wealth and power; Autocracy, inc. p.3
The world is run by corporations which the US supreme court has deemed as persons for constitutional purposes. What's up with that?
Capitalism where the profit motive is the only legitimate value system for corporations to pursue furthers the power of the oligarchs who can buy the political policies they prefer by financing elections.
What do you think Elon Musk is doing working with Trump heading a concocted government agency called the “Department of Efficiency”? The billionaires run the US.
Our US motto, instead of "In God We Trust" should be "Money Talks and Bullshit Walks."
So, I think Applebaum is on to something in the introduction. And now I am very interested in reading the rest of the book to see what she has to say.
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