this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2024

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politics

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181

Russia is relying on unwitting Americans to spread election disinformation, US officials say (apnews.com)

submitted 1 month ago by Rapidcreek@lemmy.world to c/politics@lemmy.world

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[–] Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world 37 points 1 month ago (1 children)

And it's working. I spent last weekend in Kansas visiting family, and it's mind boggling. They live in a world dictated propaganda that is so easy to disprove, yet they cannot be swayed otherwise, despite any evidence to the contrary.

[–] NarrativeBear@lemmy.world 20 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

You need to do your own research! That aligns with my point of view!!!

All jokes aside, the amount of misinformation on social platforms is mindbogglingly.

For example parents used to tell us when growing up TV would rott our brains. Now our parents have gotten older and they believe everything online is 100% true and fact.

Parts of the internet like TV are for entertainment.

[–] AshMan85@lemmy.world 13 points 1 month ago (1 children)

s/ are you sure? cause when i brought this same subject up in a political thread on here, i was mocked and told i was "afraid of the straw man" lol

[–] vzq@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 1 month ago

And the “everyone is a Russian bot” image macro. Always a favorite.

[–] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago

But mods will be all over your ass if you point out a specific example of it because somehow that rule exists

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago

Some of them wittingly, I’m sure.

[–] MediaBiasFactChecker@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

Associated Press Media Bias Fact Check Credibility: [High] (Click to view Full Report)

Associated Press is rated with High Creditability by Media Bias Fact Check.

Bias: Left-Center
Factual Reporting: High
Country: United States of America
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[+] BlackLaZoR@kbin.run -27 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Not surprising considering US has a neverending supply of communists, tankies, LGBT activists, weird religious cults and so on. All these people get exploited via their biases one way or another

[–] Carrolade@lemmy.world 19 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Don't confuse online populations with irl populations.

Also, LGBT activists are working for their liberty and pursuit of happiness. Activism will become unnecessary when their liberties to be as they wish with themselves are no longer under attack. In the meantime, they are not generally pro-Russian or pro-CCP.

[–] BlackLaZoR@kbin.run -5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Don't confuse online populations with irl populations.

Online popultions do have some equivalent IRL. Outside of English speaking part of the internet, structure of these populations is completely different - neither socialism, tankies or LGBT have as much online presence as in US

[–] Carrolade@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

Yeah, real tankies are actually very rare in the US, unless you're getting all your facts from Tucker or something.

[+] HomerianSymphony@lemmy.world -10 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Also, LGBT activists are working for their liberty and pursuit of happiness.

So are the tankies.

In a very real sense, a person who works two minimum wage jobs and spends almost all their income on rent and transport is not free. They are a virtual slave to the wealthy.

[–] Carrolade@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Eh, I kinda doubt that, I think it's important to draw a line between a socialist and a tankie. But sure, if you want think that.

[–] HomerianSymphony@lemmy.world -5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

A socialist wants to improve the lives of the poor.

A Communist (or “tankie”) wants there to be no more poor.

[–] Carrolade@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Eh, they also tend to support using tanks to accomplish that, which creates massive poverty and suffering with a very poor track record of success.

[–] HomerianSymphony@lemmy.world -5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

they also tend to support using tanks to accomplish that

As if Western liberal democracies never use tanks.

[–] Carrolade@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Sure. But you can't say you're against poverty and then advocate for things that create poverty, that's a strong sign you're dealing with a propagandist or some sort of twisted-up mentality.

Being a neo-lib leaning capitalist society, (here in the US at least) we're clearly not against poverty, are we? We are not claiming we are trying to solve poverty and then sending tanks that create more poverty. It's consistent and straight-forward.

[+] HomerianSymphony@lemmy.world -6 points 1 month ago (2 children)

So, do you own a house?

Are you ever going to be able to own a house?

[–] Carrolade@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I do not discuss specific personal details on the internet, just out of general principle.

I thought we were talking about tankies anyway. Do they have a realistic plan for how tanks can address rising housing prices in the US?

[–] HomerianSymphony@lemmy.world -5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

I do not discuss specific personal details on the internet, just out of general principle.

Well, if you don’t own a house, you must realize it’s unlikely you’ll ever own a house, and I’m wondering why you’re so keen to defend a system that cares so little about you.

And if you do own a house… well, I guess I can see why you would defend this system. But aren’t you concerned about your kids or grandkids?

I don’t own a house. I’ve been looking, and I don’t think I’ll even be able to own a two-bedroom apartment. I might qualify for a one-bedroom apartment if I act quickly.

My field of work keeps me tied to a fairly expensive city. I was actually hoping to go back to school and maybe change into a better industry. But now I’m worried that if I do that, housing prices will rise again and I won’t even manage to get a one-bedroom.

Why should I care about this system?

I thought we were talking about tankies anyway. Do they have a realistic plan for how tanks can address rising housing prices in the US?

Communists want to eliminate rent.

The general principle of Communism is that rent is morally unjust and economically unproductive and unsustainable.

Rent is the primary mechanism by which the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and that simply can’t go on forever, unless you want us to return to serfdom one day.

But whenever Communists manage to attain power somewhere in the world, the forces of capitalism, spearheaded by the United States, find some excuse to militarily intervene. (Well, nowadays they have to make excuses. Back during the Vietnam War, they were just honest about the fact that they were bombing a third-world nation to stop the spread of Communism.)

Hence the need for tanks.

[–] Carrolade@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I see. So, when people speak about tankies, they're not talking about all people that support communism. If someone wants to peacefully advocate for communist ideas that's one thing, and I have absolutely nothing against that.

Tankies are specifically militaristic communists, usually very fond of Stalin and speaking fondly of the CCP military. It's the tank part, it's how they got the name. That's why I ask if there's any realistic way that tanks can address US housing prices. It's not just to defend themselves either, the USSR did plenty of offensive tank rolling over the years. If the idea is a CCP invasion of the mainland US with said tanks, I do not find that very credible. If it's the US rising up and seizing the means of production, I find that similarly unlikely.

Whether communism is actually viable in the modern world is an entirely separate discussion as well. The US did not bring down every communist regime worldwide. China even instituted some reforms away from it with no US interference, not that long ago.

[–] HomerianSymphony@lemmy.world -5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

If the idea is a CCP invasion of the mainland US with said tanks, I do not find that very credible.

It would be nice if they did. Because when capitalism collapses here, it won’t be pretty.

[–] Carrolade@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You know you could always just emigrate there.

[–] HomerianSymphony@lemmy.world -4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

No. There’s no way I would qualify for an immigration visa.

[–] Carrolade@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Sorry to hear that. How about Venezuela? I doubt they're quite as stringent.

[–] HomerianSymphony@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Venezuela doesn’t currently have diplomatic relations with the USA. I’m pretty sure it’s impossible for me to even apply for a visa.

[–] Carrolade@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Sure we do. Here's their contact information:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/consularnotification/ConsularNotificationandAccess/VenezuelaBolivarianRepublicof.html

Here's our embassy in Bogota too:

https://ve.usembassy.gov/

Though I'll note it's probably actually not a good idea currently. But could always visit once things calm down a little bit over there.

[–] HomerianSymphony@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Sure we do. Here's their contact information:

Firstly, that information is out of date. (And I have a feeling the state department won’t be updating the information anytime soon.) I googled that guy’s name, and he describes himself as the “former” director of consular affairs.

Secondly, that was never a real consulate. You see, after Madeiro shut down Venezuela’s consulates in the US, the US established its own fake consulate for Venuzuela allied with Juan Guaido. That guy must have “worked” for that place. Notice that it doesn’t even have a physical address or phone number.

The fake consulate shut down last year. Even when it was running, it was probably useless for actually getting a visa to enter Venezuela.

[–] Carrolade@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

Interesting, it seems you are correct. Thanks for taking the time to explain that all, I appreciate it.

[–] BlackLaZoR@kbin.run -1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I own an apartment. I don't plan to own a house - as I understand it's an american dream, but I neither live in US nor am I US citizen. Expectations are different in other parts of the world.

Also the housing economy is very different here in Poland - its all about mass produced apartments, that cost equivalent of ~200-250k USD for 60m2 in a large city.

[–] HomerianSymphony@lemmy.world -2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

its all about mass produced apartments, that cost equivalent of ~200-250k USD for 60m2 in a large city.

Were they built by the Soviets?

[–] BlackLaZoR@kbin.run -2 points 1 month ago

These are prices for brand new ones

Soviet era apartments are still in use, we call them 'The Great Plate'. Their pricing is variable

[–] riskable@programming.dev 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

US has a neverending supply of communists, tankies, LGBT activists, weird religious cults and so on.

That's called Freedom of Speech. Every country has these things it's just that in some countries they face (legal or just plain authoritarian oppression style) retaliation for speaking out.

I'm an atheist and certainly not a Tankie but I respect the right of religious nuts and Tankies to proudly proclaim their foolishness. I do not respect the right of bots to do this though. Automations have no rights and should not be allowed to impersonate people in order to spread propaganda.

We need an international treaty where every country agrees to make it illegal for bots to operate online without declaring themselves as such (bots). Then at least we could still have useful bots and have an excuse to ban the fakes and punish those that utilize them to push propaganda (as hard as that may be).