Before you go on, an article in the May 8 & May 22, 2021 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
Update: September 22, 2023: This is more important now than ever. Be vigilant and speak in your own way. Love Wins.
Update: McQuade, Barbara, "Attack From Within," 2024. New York Times best seller.
Somewhere back in my blogospheric past, I tasked myself with documenting my personal goals and objectives. I made a really big deal about being so clear that there was good and evil in the world. Surprise, I’m not so clear about that anymore.
In fact, if you believe the Hollywood version of how Elfaba became the Wicked witch of the West in Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz tale, you could easily begin to doubt where the good or the evil actually do reside. Certainly good and evil is always as clear as black and white, light and dark, rich and poor, hot and cold…
Yet, if you let yourself float free from the regimentation of your own self dogma and see the world from outside your limited mental, spiritual and physical space, you will see things differently.
I’m not going to get into the allegory the Wizard of Oz story. You can read that for yourself. What I am going to get into is that the story opens up how the complex issues of the adult world can be delivered to the masses in the form of stories that appear to be for children.
I recently saw the film version of Wicked, Part 1. My true confession is that I always had believed that Glinda, all dressed in white, pretty and always smiling represented good and that Elphaba, dressed in black, ugly and scowling represented evil.
Now I’m a bit confused. Is the story trying to tell me that good and evil don’t exist? Or perhaps it’s trying to tell me that good and evil do exist and that they are not always where you are taught to look for them.
This debate will continue for me, but one thing that I believe is above question is the existence of Love and Hate. And by Love, I am referring the Biblical concept of Agape love. Hate is a bit harder to define. Part of one definition of hate that I found refers to Biblical references equating hate with evil. The question of whether there is good and evil in the world is one that I now am deeply questioning. Yet, the dichotomy of love and hate seems crystal clear to me.
It’s that crystal that the world is filtered through for me. It’s the crystal that brings clarity to words and images coming at me that make no sense to me and quite possibly make no sense to you either.
The wizard in The Wizard of Oz is a fraud. He’s a fake. He appears to represent good, but in the end, the wizard has evil intentions. When confronted with real goodness in the form of Elphaba, the wizard’s true self is exposed. He tricks her and then demonizes her. She becomes the object of scorn and retribution from the common people that he holds sway over.
The parallels between the Wizard of Oz and the world of the 21st Century United States of America is painfully clear to me. Like Oz, we have an all powerful ruling being, let’s call it the Corporate class. henceforth to be called the wizard. Since the late 19th Century the wizard has presented itself as the benevolent father figure that is there to take care of his people. He will be benevolent until he is questioned or has his authority challenged. Then his true colors come out.
Our veneer of Democracy, a model that has given us common folk the illusion that we actually have a say in how our country is managed, is now in danger of being totally wiped clean clearing the way for the rich and powerful to add total control over the political system to their control of the vast majority of the wealth and power. Removing the election process saves them money. In a system free from the limitations of representative democracy, no longer will they have to pay off politicians to do their bidding, they will simply bypass the people and make up the rules that best suit them at our collective expense.
Where was I? Oh yeah, the allegory of the wizard. Well, it looks like the wizard is winning. The Golden city on the hill is not the world of goodness, righteous and justice that we were (are?) being taught about in school. It is the home of the rich and powerful corporate billionaire class of thieves. Just like the ones in Russia. It’s not surprising that the wizard glorifies Russia. It’s Oligarchy, or as I prefer to call it “Oilagarchy” is what he wants to create here. Having those corporate thieves Musk an Ramaswamy parading around the halls of Congress before they are in power is a sham. They are doing the wizards work.
Just in: Christopher Wray is also doing the wizard’s work. In his book “On Tyranny,” Timothy Snyder outlined twenty lessons from the 20th Century. The first lesson:
"Do Not Obey in Advance."
That’s what Chris Wray, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Lindsay Graham, John Roberts and Aileen Cannon, among many others, have not yet learned. They are doing exactly the opposite. They are obeying the wizard without question. Shame on them. Let it be known how history will view them when MAGA and Trump and all of us are long dead and gone. Those that could have directly prevented the wizard from consolidating his power and didn’t will have our children’s blood on their hands
Let’s not be lulled to sleep in this interim period before the the handoff to the wizard becomes complete. In this holiday season keep your eyes on the prize and channel your inner Elphaba.
A Glimmer of Sunshine
When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will be at peace.
J. Hendrix
