https://newslit.org/ Before you go on, an article in the May 8 & May 22 issue of Science News ran with a cover "Awash in Deception: How science can help us avoid being duped by misinformation." In the lead article titled: "The Battle Against Fake News," Alexandra Witze presents five suggestions on how to debunk bad information. They come from the News Literacy Project (see the above link). How to Debunk: 1. Arm yourself with media literacy skills, at sites such as the News Literacy Project (newslit.org), to better understand how to spot hoax videos and stories. 2. Don't stigmatize people for holding inaccurate beliefs. Show empathy and respect, or you're more likely to alienate your audience than successfully share accurate information. 3. Translate complicated but true ideas into simple messages that are easy to grasp. Videos, graphics and other visual aids can help. 4. When possible, once you provide a factual alternative to the misinformation, explain the underlying fallacies (such as cherry- picking information, a common tactic of climate change deniers. 5. Mobilize when you see misinformation being shared on social media as soon as possible. If you see something, say something.
"Misinformation is any information that is incorrect, whether due to error or fake news. "Disinformation is deliberately intended to deceive." "Propaganda is disinformation with a political agenda." Sander van der Linden Social Psychologist University of Cambridge Source: Science News/May 8, 2021 & May 22, 2021
Brace yourselves, the levels of disinformation and propaganda will reach new lows in this final week leading up to the 2022 Mid-term elections. And who, by and large, (besides Mehmet Oz who is self funding his own campaign and Elon Musk who is now the owner of his own social media machine) are funding the steady stream of misleading, confusing, numbing and hateful stream of politically motivated wack speech that makes it all possible?
Look no further than the folks who bring you climate change denial and record profits. Wanna take a guess?
If you guessed the global petrochemical industry, you win today’s prize. Russia, Saudi Arabia and Texas. Russia’s interestingly timed invasion of Ukraine, Saudi controlled OPEC deciding to cut production of it’s oil (also interestingly timed) and Texas based Exxon-Mobil making record profits. Exxon-Mobil, Chevron, Shell, British Petroleum (BP) and Total energy have earned over $100 Billion in profits in the first two quarters of this year.
That is more than they collectively earned all of last year and 2 1/2 times what they made in 2021. Combine the cutting of global oil supplies to fuel inflation, the obscene level of profits of these oil interests and you have a good starting point for holding them responsible for tilting the upcoming elections in favor of the Republican Party, hereafter to be referred to as the “Party That Shall not be Defined ” (PTSD).
These numbers are facts. The actions of Russia and Saudi Arabia are facts. My insinuation that they are funding disinformation leading up to the all important U.S. mid-term elections is not a fact. But there is plenty of circumstantial evidence to support it.
Why should Big Oil go to such lengths to support PTSD? It shouldn’t come as any great surprise that maintaining wealth and power are likely the two main reasons for spreading The Big Lie. Climate Change Denial is equally easy to attach to Big Oil. But why the resistance to solving COVID19? Why the White Nationalism? Why the attack on women? Why the political hatred? Why culture wars? Why the attack on the strongest democracy in the world? Why are we in the United States turning on our own Constitution? Why the love affair with the religious right? Why are we messaging that elections are not to be trusted?
The answers to these questions I don’t have. But, I suspect that Big Oil knows the answers to all of those questions.
I have considered several metaphors to use to illustrate my point that Big Oil is the main driving force behind the great American societal mess . The lobster in the pot is the one I have chosen to drive home my point.
Lobsters are cooked by throwing them into a large pot or vat of tepid over a burner. The lobsters are relatively content at the start. After all, they are in water and that is a comfortable environment for them.
The water starts to get a little warmer which certainly must get their attention, but not enough to get too excited.
Then, however, it starts to become uncomfortably hot and they get agitated and try to get out of the water. That’s when the lid goes on and offers them no escape. Eventually the lobsters die and become a lifeless main course on someone’s dinner plate.
That is precisely what Big Oil is doing to the United States. The metaphorical pot of heating water has been poured on us in the form of massive disinformation and propaganda in an all out attempt to end Democracy once and for all.
One of the oil interests has a long standing ideological axe to grind against Democracy. One wants to see us continue to be dependent on their oil to fuel our overconsumption because that is their only attachment to global power and influence.
We bicker and batter each other literally and figuratively, but the reality is that we are all a part of that metaphorical lobster. The lobster that is cooking is all of us and not just metaphorically if you think in terms of climate change. PTSD will not be spared from this fate. They will cook right along with us liberals whom they have been conditioned to hate. Why? Because Big Oil “will fiddle while Rome burns.”
So, you should be afraid. Afraid but not powerless. The upcoming electoral races will all be close. They are close only because of massive amounts of dirty oil money both foreign and domestic. What can you do with only a week remaining before a pivital vote where the choice is Democracy or not Democracy at the local, state and federal levels. Hear me, it is not a choice between Democrat or PTSD. It is the choice between Democracy or some alternative. We’ve seen some signs of what the alternative might look like. I don’t like what I see in the alternative.
Vote, encourage others to vote, donate to candidates of your choice if you are able, look for ways to make phone calls or send text messages and most importantly, don’t let the Big Oil Bullies intimidate you into submission. Fight back. Not with guns, but with facts.