• TheTechnician27@lemmy.worldOPM
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    10 days ago

    Some people unfortunately genuinely are that short-sighted. An older relative of mine voted for Trump, but her gynecologist shortly after the election told her about what’s been happening with abortion laws basically forcing medical malpractice. She heavily trusts her GYN, and she was extremely distraught after hearing this, because she thought these were strictly targeting elective abortions (which would still be completely gross).

    Still didn’t outright regret her Trump vote, but she absolutely was shaken, especially after I sent her the ProPublica exposé on the young woman from Texas. She seems a lot more open now to listening to things she previously would confidently dismiss as a lie/exaggeration by journalists or as a misunderstanding by me.

    • John Richard@lemmy.world
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      10 days ago

      Let’s be honest… people that don’t know an Indian IRS agent demanding gift cards and Bitcoin is a scam shouldn’t be voting. There are a lot of people in America, whether is is some medication they are on, or undiagnosed mental health issues, that are highly susceptible to misinformation and scams. I’m sure people at the mall selling $500 miracle face cure love them though.

      • brucethemoose@lemmy.world
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        10 days ago

        Maybe we shouldn’t worry about their eligibility to vote, but us allowing them to live in such a toxic information environment.

        • John Richard@lemmy.world
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          10 days ago

          Things like toxic information environment are often defined by those who are in control and monetary interests. People inherently have biases in almost everything they do and what they spend their money on. If you want to get rid of these biases and misinformation, you pretty much have to do away with money entirely.

          Since that likely will never happen, I think it is upon voters… especially Democrats, to not demonize everyone. People might not remember every policy of a previous President, but they sure as hell remember when they are attacked nonstop. Heck, they may even “forget” some things about who they might be voting for because subconsciously they don’t want to remember the trauma for being attacked when they legitimately didn’t know.

          I’m not saying you’re advocating for censorship, but I want to be clear that I don’t think it is a good idea to have a single authority telling you what you should and shouldn’t trust. The MSM already tried that and it failed miserably this election.

          • brucethemoose@lemmy.world
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            10 days ago

            We can take basic protections. Hyper engagement optimization should be illegal because it makes hate and bait float to the top, and there’s nothing “biased” about that. Even tech giants would probably swallow it, as their competition would be on a level playing field.