I know this might be hard to understand:
But a lot of us Republicans (or ex-Republican in my case) were lied to, and are still being lied to, by our leaders.
If anything, Republicans are way way way too trusting of their own. Republicans trust Republicans without question. We didn't question our own. We didn't critique our own.
It's still happening.
My Republican family believes babies are aborted after being born, they are told so by Republican leaders. That's why they want abortion bans.
But if you could actually sit down and talk with all my family. With the exception of a few, they all believe abortion is okay for rape, incest, or if you are in a situation where you can't have a child.
There's fringe ones who are all no abortions ever, but they are not many.
And surprisingly enough, they don't ever fight each other on that difference of that either, because they are Republicans.
But they all believe Democrats want to abort fully grown babies.
The propaganda is strong.
@PeaceMob It shouldn't be. At all.
Propaganda, the social media algorithms, and the people abusing it, are making it contentious.
@quinnsentialOne The mainstream media helps as well. It's manipulation, straight up, and the way it intersects with social control makes it downright evil, if you ask me. It's proof that the people we elect are not going to Washington to do our work, they are just concerned with power.
@PeaceMob I would love to put a ban on social media algorithms.
A lot on the right say, "Show everything and pick what is real!"
And they, like me awhile ago, have no idea how influential the algorithms are in giving you exactly what you see and hear and just reinforcing it more.
There's zero freedom in algorithm-based social media.
@PeaceMob It's a self-reinforcing information prison.
@quinnsentialOne You are 100% right about algorithms, and AI. That's not the most terrifying aspect by far, but very, very dangerous as you point out.
One can not "Pick" what is real. At the end of the day, we rely on experts to tell us most things that we consider fact. If we move everything into the realm of "opinion", when we are not really talking about opinions, the whole web of trust dissolves.
@PeaceMob Yes.
And the biggest problem of this, there are so many sites out there now that appear to give you objective data.
They look legitimate, they look scientific, they look professional.
If you're in the red bubble, good look telling one from the other. You can't.
It's a little frustrating sometimes to be insistently told that you believe one thing when you actually believe another, and to have your ability to define your own opinions denied. It would be fine if people would just listen to the actual variety of opinions out there, instead of somebody else's representation of them.
@DavidSalo That is the evil of the red bubble.
To the majority of moderate Republicans, there's no dissenting opinions to be seen. The algorithm perfectly defines what they see and hear.
You would think they see it via social media, but they don't.
@quinnsentialOne I'm really glad to hear you share that there are similar opinions, AND misconceptions on BOTH sides of that particular (and very personal) issue. The data shows, strongly, that most Americans agree on the basics. This honestly shouldn't be a contentious issue, but it has such a way of energizing voters, that they will continue to use it politically rather that letting the people have the legislation we actually want and agree on.