Voters wait in line to cast their ballots at Scranton High School in Scranton, Pa., on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
If anything, the 2024 election has proved that propaganda and confirmation bias can be a heady cocktail.
By Amy V. Simmons
So, slightly over half of the country who chose to cast a ballot in this year’s election decided that authoritarian leadership was what they wanted, proving that if they had a vote, a significant number of turkeys could probably be persuaded to vote for Thanksgiving if you could persuade them that most Americans were vegetarians or on a diet through the manipulation of those turkeys’ social media algorithms.
Americans who voted for the GOP presidential ticket were willing to outsource their free will — and in some cases, the evidence of their own eyes and ears — to those who told them not to worry their pretty little heads about anything like immigration and “wokeness,” because “The Party” would handle it for them.
About the evidence of their own eyes and ears part — it was never about lack of information.
Anyone possessing a smartphone — which is pretty much the entire world — has access to more information than society has ever known.
People have plenty of information. What they need is education…and discernment.
In general, everyone needs a good overall academic education when it comes to becoming a fully functioning member of society.
But in addition to that, Americans need to learn about how the mind works in an era where technology can interfere with perception and reality.
The nation needs to learn how to think again (relatively speaking, of course, because critical thinking has always been problematic here).
In some cases, many have always relinquished their autonomy willfully, even before social media and disinformation clouded the water.
But for others, especially when it comes to participating in our elections, it has been way too convenient to outsource the thought process, and the communication process along with it.
For decades.
And when you present yourself as an open book with blank pages, you shouldn’t be surprised when someone else feels entitled to write your story — whether it’s true or not.
But, that’s a lesson that the voters who chose authoritarianism will need to learn by experience.
Now, for the rest of American society.
A lot of post-election discourse has pointed to something that has also contributed to this result — the lack of meaningful community engagement in real life.
It’s harder to fall victim to authoritarianism, pat solutions and disinformation if you actually know your neighbors, colleagues, representatives and leaders.
I’m not discounting the value of online communications. They have made a tremendous difference in my life. I’m just saying that part of the whole “How did this happen?” dilemma was due to our detachment from one another.
So, about the pages in those books, and the 2024 election slogan from the Democratic Party about turning them.
A majority of American voters apparently were not only interested in remaining on the Donald Trump page, but they are anxiously looking forward to the sequel — the abridged, audiobook version adapted for shorter 21st-century attention spans, of course.
After all, the book of American exceptionalism, racism, sexism, misogyny and xenophobia is a perennial best seller.
But maybe for those who voted for the Democratic ticket, other candidates, or the couch, it isn’t about that book at all, which frankly has been in circulation since the nation was founded.
Maybe it’s more about the rest of the library, full of books that haven’t been checked out recently but which still contain valuable information that society needs now more than ever — the library of basic respect, critical thinking, and honest human dialogue.
Time for Americans to renew their cards.
Disclaimer: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the article belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author’s employer, The Philadelphia Sunday SUN, the author’s organization, committee or other group or individual.
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