Adult Americans, while also preconditioned by a purposefully weak education system, could know better if they chose to seek out more perspectives.

Ever heard of the term “manufacturing consent?”

Additionally, thanks to - as you succinctly put - the lack of education - I’d argue even more specifically in regards to media literacy - it is quite hard for many folks to realize what is and is not true, as well as how to figure out how to tell which is which using critical thinking skills.

True it’s not the same as North Korea, but the issue is similar. Cult-like thinking that should not be taken as “fake” or “under duress” necessarily… but as a result of generational propaganda effectively radicalizing a populace for what you’d otherwise call absolute lunacy.

The Germans weren’t faking their love of ol’ Dolph… and the Italians didn’t fake their love of “el duce.”

They genuinely worshipped them.

Dude, none of those people have to be told to like him. It’s a cult.

It’s strange to believe because we like the think none of us are susceptible to it… but these people love him in the same way a significant number of people of North Korea love Kim Jong-un.

Yes, he’s a dictator. Yes, he’s horrible to them…

But watch that documentary about the eye surgeons who came in to North Korea to literally gave them a cure for hundreds of people who basically were blind… who then cry and thank a picture of KJU rather than the doctors.

It’s bizarre.

Dude… she was in the Capitol when the Jan 6th insurectionists showed up ready to lynch her.

She knows what will happen if his people win. They took to a hammer to her husband‘s head and Trump joked about it. She’s finally realizing that this whole capitulating to capital in order to stave off the left - resulting in economic stratification and consequent ripening of the populace for demagoguery might spell the death of the Republic, but possibly also her very life as well.

It’s probably a grand bougie conspiracy.

Sarcasm detected loud and clear… but uhh… I kinda think it’s not really that grand a conspiracy to think many people in power are just fucking dragons wanting to sleep on piles of gold motivated purely by greed.

There’s no collaboration or grand plotting needed. Lobbyists just walk up and say “money to not do the thing.”

…And then they say “ok” and take the money.

AI in Real Life: “Dave, I see you only have beer, soda, and cheese in your fridge. I am concerned for your health. I can write you a reminder to purchase better food choices.” Dave: “THESE AI ARE EVIL, I WILL NEVER SUBMIT TO YOUR POWER!”

More like :

“Dave, I see you have beer, soda, and cheese in your fridge. Have you thought about ordering PRIME energy drink? There’s a sale.”

No.

“36 count case of PRIME energy drink ordered!”

I said no.

“changed PRIME energy drink 36 count case shipping to next-day air for $150.79!”

GODDAMNIT!

It’s because Biden and the rest of the octogenarian neo-liberals have been used to hanging out with their political rivals and playing like it’s a game TV wrestling.

I kept thinking Jan 6th almost resulting in their literal lynchings by that insurrectionist mob would have snapped the beltway folks into focusing immediately on what they need to be doing right now, but Biden and the rest still act like Mitt Romney, John McCain, and even Mitch McConnell are the overwhelming majority of Rs in power. I don’t think Biden and many of these other old fucks realize how many Marjorie Taylor Greene’s and Lauren Boebert’s and Matt Gates there are in positions of power now.

They will literally end their political enemies’ lives if they get back in full control of all 3 branches this time.

Dude, you are preaching to someone who gets what will happen if folks don’t vote for Biden. Please do vote for him for the love of all that is decent and stable and a chance at an actual future for democracy.

I’m not here to point out how it’s great that human brains are like this… I’m just trying to paint reality for you.

Dumb monkey brain. Immediate simple reward. No complex means-tested mazes of garbage to wade through.

Cancel all student debt. Make college tuition-free. Cancel medical debt.

Do it, even if the Rs scream it’s illegal. Do it. And when they stop it with their corrupt rich-asshole appointed Supreme Court, point at the Rs and yell “SEE?! THEY DON’T YOU TO HAVE GOOD THINGS! THEY HATE YOU!” And expand the court. And then you win elections.

Some people here just don’t seem to get it.

The people passionate enough to post here ARE going to vote for Biden… but we’re not the ones that need CONVINCING. It’s the normies who are not terminally online like you and me and everyone else here constantly scrolling Lemmy.

And NO… what the Ds are doing now isn’t enough. FDR’s GI bill was. The New Deal was. Passing Civil Rights legislation that let black people vote was. The Rural Electrification Act - which provided safe and reliable electricity to every single neighborhood in America no matter how rural for the first time in history for many people who’d never even seen light outside of a candle… that was enough.

Let me give you a story to explain our dumb monkey brains and why it’s on our REPRESENTATIVES to convince the masses to show up :

Every year, Denny’s - a shitty breakfast joint in the US that’s been around all over the place for decades - does (or at least used to do - I haven’t checked in a while) a “free breakfast day” where they allow anyone who gets in the door that day free breakfast until they run out of food.

…And people go fucking nuts for it.

In every instance you search on Google for “Denny’s free breakfast day crowd” you can see that people lined up for BLOCKS for a shitty Denny’s breakfast.

Simple, popular, and a good enough thing that people will stand for an hour outside a shitty food place for a $10 plate of lukewarm pancakes, dry powdered eggs, and soggy bacon.

Now let’s pretend that the Democratic Party now runs Denny’s for some reason. First off they’d never do a “free breakfast.” They’d have a “bring a coupon” or a “if you show your ID that proves you’re below X% of the current median salary or X% of the current poverty level adjusted for inflation” or a “mail in your receipt and in 5 weeks we’ll give you a tax write-off you can get to reduce your tax debt as long as you itemize” day. Also you’d only get to do it once per decade or some other bullshit.

So no one would show up. Because all the bullshit instead of just “free breakfast.”

But they don’t even do that. Let’s pretend the abortion issue is Denny’s free breakfast day. Democrats would be saying “IF you don’t come wait in line outside the Denny’s for 2 hours in high enough numbers, we’re going to cancel the ‘bring a coupon for free breakfast that day’ event we do every year.”

…And people don’t show up for that as much… because we have dumb monkey brains that want a candy bar or pancake right now.

Now do you see why it’s not really helpful to tell voters THEY have a responsibility? If you do a good job by telling people what you are going to do and its simple and tangibly beneficial, and then you DO it… or at least LOUDLY proclaim every moment you’re in front of the bully pulpit why you aren’t able to do so by righteously pointing out when the Rs and even the Joe Manchin types blocking it at every moment, turns out people DO show up.

TL;DR - YOU MUST OFFER SOMETHING TANGIBLE TO MOTIVATE THE COMMON MASSES TO WAIT OUTSIDE THEIR 1 REMAINING POLLING STATION FOR 8 HOURS… NOT JUST SCOLD THEM AND TELL THEM THEY’RE GOING TO LOSE <X> IF THEY DON’T OR THEY WON’T SHOW UP… BECAUSE WE ARE ALL DUMB MONKEYS THAT WANT A BANANA RIGHT NOW AND NOT A “ONE-TIME MAIL-IN PARTIAL-REBATE ON OUR MONKEY TAXES, BUT ALSO ONLY FOR MONKEYS WHO HAVEN’T HAD MORE THAN 3 BANAN…”

Yes… overall regular people cause about 1/5th of it…

…But like 57 companies do ALL the rest. Seems a lot more simple we just stop electing Rs and neo-libs, and get laws passed that stop the major contributors, rather than preach to people who - if asked to sacrifice more than they already do (and shouldn’t have to if we first just target the major contributors who can afford to sacrifice much more easily) - will be easier for reactionaries to preach to (for example, see what happened with the Carter administration asking for regular folks to “sacrifice” driving their cars then paving the way for Reagan to de-regulate further)

So both strategically and more effectively, we should target those companies with legislative efforts rather than shitting on Bon Jovi for telling people “let’s save the environment” right before he belts out another rendition of “It’s my life.”