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The biggest take-away from the US election:

The fourth estate is dead. Without a free press, democracy cannot exist.

EDIT: Not only do we not have a free press, we have a propaganda press.

#fourthestate
#FreePress
#USPolitics

#uspolitics #freepress #fourthestate
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Nicole Parsons
Nicole Parsons
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#KochNetwork also spent decades sabotaging the public education system.
washingtonpost.com/education/2…

laprogressive.com/education-re…

democrats-appropriations.house…

The average literacy level in the USA has plummeted as a consequence.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litera…

wyliecomm.com/2021/08/whats-th…

crossrivertherapy.com/research…

usafacts.org/articles/which-st…

datapandas.org/ranking/literac…

After Trump eliminates the Dept of Education, even these limited statistics will vanish.


What’s the latest U.S. literacy rate?

Can they read you now? Half of Americans have basic or below-basic skills.
Ann Wylie (Wylie Communications Inc.)
#kochnetwork
in reply to Nicole Parsons

Nazani
Nazani
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@Npars01
New book about this-
youtube.com/watch?v=WzusYhrvGU…

The School Vouchers Scam ft. Josh Cowen | Freethought Matters

This week on Freethought Matters, Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor discuss the effectiveness of taxpayer-funded vouchers for private and religious schools ...
YouTube
@Nicole Parsons

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Nicole Parsons
Nicole Parsons
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School vouchers have a number of goals:
1. State funding for white Christian nationalist schools. Making taxpayers pay for Nazi schools

2. Re-instituting segregation

3. Lucrative no bid contracts to reward Republican donors

4. Molding young minds to be fascist

5. Robbing funding for schools that benefit POC

6. Degrading standards & decreasing literacy & numeracy

7. Destroying teachers unions

8. Eliminating a stable source of employment for educated women

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lin11c
lin11c
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Project 2025 will destroy DEI to indoctrinate the next generation into their sick ideology. This must be stopped. It's the Russian playbook.
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Nicole Parsons
Nicole Parsons
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@lin11c @Nazani
As the mainstream media platforms disingenuous "Blame Democrats" narratives for Trump's re-election, remember that #KochNetwork torpedoed literacy levels for 50 years.

Pollsters miss the 30% of the electorate with difficulty reading. Limited social media because they can't read. A postcard or a pamphlet lacks meaning.

They rely on friends & family for news.

Mainstream news is pundits talking to other pundits about their feelz and vibes, not facts or data.

#kochnetwork @lin11c @Nazani

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lin11c
lin11c
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@Npars01 @Nazani
Now we know!! New messaging platforms are necessary that speak to a 5th grade level. Or ones that don't read at all! 20% of voters!!
@Nicole Parsons @Nazani

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David J. Atkinson
David J. Atkinson
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@Npars01 @lin11c @Nazani Is it true that 20% of voters are illiterate? I’m starting to get a feel for what it must have like before the printing press was invented. Before written language was invented.
@Nicole Parsons @lin11c @Nazani
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lin11c
lin11c
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@meltedcheese @Npars01 @Nazani
That's why podcasts and social media hold such influence. I don't know what the statistic is exactly but Gen Z can't or won't read books. They don't have the attention span. They wildly swung to #DonTheCon. The young will certainly NOT save the world it looks like.
#donthecon @Nicole Parsons @David J. Atkinson @Nazani
in reply to David J. Atkinson

Nazani
Nazani
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@meltedcheese @Npars01 @lin11c I'm not sure how "illiterate" was defined. I do know in a lot of red state schools there are no specialists to diagnose or provide help for learning disabilities. And I've met many who avoid reading anything longer than a simple set of instructions. As @Npars said, they operate on vibes & sound bites.
@Nicole Parsons @lin11c @David J. Atkinson
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Nicole Parsons
Nicole Parsons
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@Nazani @meltedcheese @lin11c

Republicans in red states blame female teacher unions, instead of racism & defunding, for rising illiteracy
nytimes.com/2023/04/16/us/scie…

fee.org/articles/did-public-sc…

usafacts.org/articles/which-st…


Which US states have the highest and lowest adult literacy rates?

Although literacy varies across states, the average literacy rate of the US hasn’t changed since 2012.
USAFacts
@lin11c @David J. Atkinson @Nazani

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Nicole Parsons
Nicole Parsons
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@Nazani @meltedcheese @lin11c

A culture of literacy values reading for its own sake

A conversational icebreaker with a new acquaintance used to begin with the weather & a discussion of books read recently

Surprised how often I see rage-filled microexpressions now when the topic of books starts

Young men especially boast about not reading anything willingly after high school or college

They feel literacy was something inflicted on them instead of the engine of their future

@lin11c @David J. Atkinson @Nazani

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Glitzersachen.de
Glitzersachen.de
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@Npars01 @Nazani @meltedcheese @lin11c

"Young men especially boast about not reading anything willingly after high school or college"

So it's gotten worse. In my generation it was just, that (except for me and my SOs) all stopped reading after school. That hardly ever got explained, people just didn't read. Ok, I know people who continued reading, but this was a minority.

That it seems now an act of emancipation not to read: Wow.

@Nicole Parsons @lin11c @David J. Atkinson @Nazani
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Glitzersachen.de
Glitzersachen.de
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@Npars01 @Nazani @meltedcheese @lin11c

The sad thing is: These will be the movers and shakers of society when I am old(er) and drawing my pension...

So we won't have any libraries then, no culture, etc. It will considered not economical.

@Nicole Parsons @lin11c @David J. Atkinson @Nazani
in reply to Glitzersachen.de

David J. Atkinson
David J. Atkinson
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@lin11c @Npars01 @Nazani @glitzersachen Bad news friend, they are the movers and shakers right now. The illiteratie have been working hard to eliminate public libraries for many years, with some success. Culture? 😂
@Nicole Parsons @Glitzersachen.de @lin11c @Nazani
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Jimbo :trek:
Jimbo :trek:
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@meltedcheese

“Imagine the people who believe such things and who are not ashamed to ignore, totally, all the patient findings of thinking minds through all the centuries since the Bible was written. And it is these ignorant people, the most uneducated, the most unimaginative, the most unthinking among us, who would make themselves the guides and leaders of us all; who would force their feeble and childish beliefs on us; who would invade our schools and libraries and homes. I personally resent it bitterly.”

Isaac Asimov
"The Blind Who Would Lead". "The Roving Mind". Book by Isaac Asimov, 1983.

@lisagetspolitik @lin11c @Npars01 @Nazani @glitzersachen

@Nicole Parsons @Glitzersachen.de @lin11c @Lisa Gets Politik @David J. Atkinson @Nazani
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David J. Atkinson
David J. Atkinson
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@glitzersachen @BootedUp @Npars01 @Nazani @lin11c Great quote. Seemingly undemocratic, but those it is the truth. The great task for the educated, socially-invested person is to figure out how to lead the rabble in the right direction. That is a tenuous proposition, as we have learned.
@Nicole Parsons @Glitzersachen.de @lin11c @Jimbo :trek: @Nazani
in reply to David J. Atkinson

Nicole Parsons
Nicole Parsons
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I understand the sentiment but it's being weaponized against the literate.

Describing the disaffected as "rabble" is a habit that has backfired.

How can one persuade someone while demeaning them?

No one ever went broke in America by encouraging people to look down on the less fortunate or the new or the different.

“No one’s ever gone broke in America serving up a woman who makes other women feel superior.”

1/2

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Nicole Parsons
Nicole Parsons
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2/2

White women voted for Trump for a reason. Status & dominance games.

vulture.com/2012/08/newsroom-r…

Beware narratives that ramp up arrogance & decreases humility

It's emotional & psychological manipulation being used in disinformation "Divide & Conquer" tactics.

Four Horsemen of Relationship destruction: Contempt, Criticism, Defensiveness & Stonewalling.

gottman.com/blog/the-four-hors…

Barbara F. Walter's & Heather McGhee's books describe how status preservation undermines democracy & economics.


The Gottman Four Horsemen

Identify Gottman Four Horsemen in your conflict discussions, eliminate them and replace them with healthy, productive communication patterns.
Ellie Lisitsa (The Gottman Institute)
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Nicole Parsons
Nicole Parsons
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Barbara F Walter describes how a shrinking elite, upon feeling threatened, will seek outside malign allies. Like Russia or Saudi Arabia or China.

newyorker.com/contributors/bar…

barbarafwalter.com/

Heather McGhee describes how high a price bigots will pay to keep a status-affirming hierarchy alive.
heathermcghee.com/

penguinrandomhouse.com/authors…

osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/5jpg…


Barbara F. Walter

Barbara F. Walter teaches at the University of California, San Diego. She is the author of “How Civil Wars Start,” and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Council on Foreign Relations.
Barbara F. Walter (The New Yorker)
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David J. Atkinson
David J. Atkinson
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@Nazani @lin11c @glitzersachen @Npars01 @BootedUp Agreed. “Rabble” is a poor word choice. I thought about saying “deplorables” but that didn’t work out so well before.
@Nicole Parsons @Glitzersachen.de @lin11c @Jimbo :trek: @Nazani
in reply to David J. Atkinson

Glitzersachen.de
Glitzersachen.de
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@meltedcheese @BootedUp @Npars01 @Nazani @lin11c

It's also elitist AF. I am pretty sure I have read something like "The ... task for the educated ... person is to figure out how to lead the rabble in the right direction" somewhere in the NSDAP adjacent field.

Personally I have now solution for this: Elitist AF is bad. But as we see, just letting things run can lead to democracy corroding. We need to educate. But this on the other side can be seen as manipulation.

@Nicole Parsons @lin11c @Jimbo :trek: @David J. Atkinson @Nazani
in reply to Glitzersachen.de

Jimbo :trek:
Jimbo :trek:
• •

@glitzersachen
It’s an honest expression of dismay based on real observations, it’s not meant to be a political campaign slogan. If calling it elitist makes you feel better or any of your followers feel better I could really care less.

This idea that we can somehow appeal to those that have subjugated themselves to a true narcissistic billionaire elitist, is nonsense. They don’t listen to or care what scientists say.

The ones that do pay some attention and voted poorly were just pissed off at the last 4 years.

@meltedcheese @Npars01 @lisagetspolitik @Nazani @lin11c

@Nicole Parsons @Glitzersachen.de @lin11c @Lisa Gets Politik @David J. Atkinson @Nazani
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Glitzersachen.de
Glitzersachen.de
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@BootedUp @meltedcheese @Npars01 @Nazani @lin11c

You first paragraph: Seems you didn't listen carefully enough.

Look: It is elitist, and while I share the sentiment deep inside (after all I haven't been this literate for so long because I don't think it makes be a better person ...), I also have to say that this doesn't get us anywhere in terms of changing the situation.

...

@Nicole Parsons @lin11c @Jimbo :trek: @David J. Atkinson @Nazani
in reply to Glitzersachen.de

Glitzersachen.de
Glitzersachen.de
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@BootedUp @meltedcheese @Npars01 @Nazani @lin11c

"This idea that we can somehow appeal to those that have subjugated themselves to a true narcissistic billionaire elitist, is nonsense."

If that is true, the democratic cause is lost. We cannot do anything. Anything we might be able to do is not democratic (e.g. toppling the a fascist government elected by a majority).

This is the paradox of 21st century politics: Democracy cannot be saved by democratic means.

...

@Nicole Parsons @lin11c @Jimbo :trek: @David J. Atkinson @Nazani
in reply to Glitzersachen.de

Glitzersachen.de
Glitzersachen.de
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@BootedUp @meltedcheese @Npars01 @Nazani @lin11c

... Mind you, I wish had different conclusiions. Perhaps we can with your "... is nonsense" statement.

"The ones that do pay some attention and voted poorly were just pissed off at the last 4 years."

Which might be a cause, but not a justification. Trump was not a unknown factor, he was fully known.

....

@Nicole Parsons @lin11c @Jimbo :trek: @David J. Atkinson @Nazani
in reply to Glitzersachen.de

Jimbo :trek:
Jimbo :trek:
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@glitzersachen

What the faithful know about Trump and will admit about Trump might be interesting to discuss. But if you are not in their club they won’t really discuss it with you.

@meltedcheese @Npars01 @lisagetspolitik @Nazani @lin11c

@Nicole Parsons @Glitzersachen.de @lin11c @Lisa Gets Politik @David J. Atkinson @Nazani
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Glitzersachen.de
Glitzersachen.de
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@BootedUp @meltedcheese @Npars01 @Nazani @lin11c

I am struggling with this statement. He has advertised everything clearly and repeatedly he now prepares to implement. Whether people realized he meant it or not is IMHO not relevant for the question of culpability. But frankly I don't think half of the US-American electorate could totally miss out on his talking points.

@Nicole Parsons @lin11c @Jimbo :trek: @David J. Atkinson @Nazani
in reply to Glitzersachen.de

Jimbo :trek:
Jimbo :trek:
• •

@glitzersachen

The article I mentioned is posted here. It is a gift link

universeodon.com/@BootedUp/113…

@meltedcheese @Npars01 @lisagetspolitik @Nazani @lin11c

Jimbo :trek: (@BootedUp@universeodon.com)

Better than sticking your head in the sand. Will Bunch’s election 2024 analysis. https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/trust-mainstream-media-2024-election-20241110.html #uspol
Universeodon Social Media
@Nicole Parsons @Glitzersachen.de @lin11c @Lisa Gets Politik @David J. Atkinson @Nazani
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David J. Atkinson
David J. Atkinson
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@Npars01 @lin11c @Nazani Don’t forget the parents who do not read to their children, do not value reading, and are not seen by children as reading role models. If what is taught at school is not valued and reinforced at home, then much critical education — life skills — will fail. Many parents would flip that argument, with some justification. Again, the Divide.
@Nicole Parsons @lin11c @Nazani
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lin11c
lin11c
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@Npars01 @Nazani
That's why talk radio and podcasts have an oversized influence. A friend who drives around a lot in the NYS area has told me that upstate NY has been blanketed with ugly RW radio propaganda owned by a huge corporation the last few years. Immigrants listen to it. It demonizes democrats. NYS went +16 to #DonTheCon this election!!! Rush Limbaugh re-imagined for a new fascist state.
#donthecon @Nicole Parsons @Nazani

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Ned Hamson
Ned Hamson
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@Npars01 @Nazani #1&2 the same thing. Charter schools are the resegregation of schools in US over the last decade where they are supported.
@Nicole Parsons @Nazani
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Ned Hamson
Ned Hamson
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@Npars01 He cannot do it on his own... House and Senate will have to agree. If they think about it a bit, they have to know that a lot of their voters will be pissed that they cannot go to college or send kids to pre-school.
@Nicole Parsons
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