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I've thought a lot about the sheep--and I don't mean the hopeless ones who think Jesus put Bush in the White House. I mean Kerry voters and other intelligent people who can't seem to awaken from the delusion of 11/2.
I know a really smart and dear person, close to me, who believed Colin Powell's B.S. at the U.N. She thought there was reason to invade Iraq. They managed to scare her. So I sent her a few articles, and pretty much left her alone. She's a very busy and committed educational administrator. It took time. But she eventually saw through it.
Very busy. That's one of the problems with some people. So they try to keep up with the news (being good citizens) by grabbing bits off TV and scanning headlines. And they DO NOT understand what this does to their perception of the world.
In denial--that's another problem. They just can't bring themselves to believe that things are that bad--fascist coup, second stolen election (and they always say, "but Kerry conceded"!). If they DID believe it, then they would feel compelled to become nutso activists like we are, but they have other responsibilities, so can't do that (or don't think they can). It's almost as if their personal sense of responsibility (that they would have to act) prevents them from seeing the problem or believing (or even wanting to know) the facts.
Illusion. Self-delusion. Deliberate blindness. And (I think) outright, literal brainwashing.
Now, the kind of people I just described--and many other kinds of people (less educated, less civic-minded)--eventually saw through ALL the BushCon B.S. The scare tactics. The lies. The propaganda. And broke through the brainwashing, and voted Bush out. But it did take them time.
On Iraq, it took most people a year. A year! (--from before the invasion when most people wanted diplomacy first and U.N. approval, through the invasion when many put doubts aside and "supported our troops," to the slow revelation, almost by word of mouth, that it was all lies and falsehood, which is now common knowledge).
They worked it through. They "got" it. And they've done that on every issue.
But the problem is, they don't realize what the source of the disinformation is--the TV news, mostly. They forget HOW they were misinformed--and thus are vulnerable to being misinformed again.
I think that's the heart of the problem: This way that people have of relinquishing their sense of reality to television. (The "if it's not on TV, it's not real" syndrome.)
So, all I'm saying is: Know what you're dealing with. You're dealing with BRAINWASHING.
And what do you do with a brainwashed person? Treat them gently. Give them reality in small doses. Reinforce their sense of integrity, intelligence and personal power. Don't attack them! Give them information. Let them figure it out.
And anything we can do to undermine the TV news delusion would be very useful, I think.
Maybe it's that people WANT to feel they are part of the whole, part of a national community, so they project that need on to the TV, and don't realize what a false, delusional, and entirely manipulated thing it is that they are getting back.
A lot of people don't HAVE community any more, so they look to the TV to create that sense of belonging.
Actually, I remember that feeling--before I got rid of the TV. Plugged in. A part of things. A part of a bigger thing, the city, the nation, the world. It is very seductive--even to people who don't watch that much TV. It's more how they regard it, than how much of it they watch.
One more bit of advice: If they start overcoming the brainwashing (say, on election fraud), then give them some simple things to do (sign a petition, email an official, donate money where it's needed). Nothing like action to fend off despair and fear regarding the real situation our country is in.
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