02-02-2018, 06:53 PM
(02-02-2018, 06:42 PM)michaelsean Wrote: I gotta admit, I really don't get your signature. It sounds intelligent, and maybe it is and i'm the dumb one, but to me it makes no sense.
The context is that throughout the twentieth century, tyrants (fascists and communists) utilized disinformation campaigns to gain power. Relying on the ignorance of the people due to their willingness to accept what they wanted to hear rather than actual facts. We've seen it time and time again. It happened in Italy, in Germany, in the Soviet Union, and then again when Putin rose to power. It's continued to be a weapon used by tyrants to gain power and assert their will on the world, and so being able to discern this disinformation is an important tool in fighting tyranny. If we allow it to progress it is a direct road to a fascist state.
At least this is the argument by Snyder, who is a scholar on Eastern Europe and the rise and fall of democracies, as well as the Holocaust.
"A great democracy has got to be progressive, or it will soon cease to be either great or a democracy..." - TR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
