No one is forcing people to consume rightwing propaganda as news

[LymphocyteLover]

Why do Americans love it so much? It really is a problem.

Is it just a matter of it being more easy to access and they get used to it over time or is there something deeper about it?

[Oneironaut]

1. Imo, they tapped into racism and angst about the rapidly changing world.

In a world of information overload, they simplify everything into us vs. them. They also provide a sense of identity.

[ck4829]

2. Same reason why people look at train wrecks

Appeals to lower-brain thinking I guess.

[RKP5637]

4. Similar to standing there in a group watching someone get raped, attacked and/or dying on the street

while recording video, no 911 call, not anything.

[C_U_L8R]

3. As pro wrestling is to sports

It's fuels their rages and intolerances.

[Claire Oh Nette]

17. Outrage and hate draw more ratings than reports of collegiality and good news

Ratings drive the news.
Ratings drive ad rates.


OANN lost its contract with DirecTV because they didn't draw enough eyeballs.

Most people don't watch FOX, they watch local news affiliates. They see this Fox crap on the internet like we do.

[abqtommy]

5. It's the difference in human nature that is as old as humans. Some people are willing

to join a cult and some people aren't.

[Midnight Writer]

10. Yep. Political divisions today reflect deep-set personality traits.

Some people are revolted at the thought of kicking a cat.

Some people take enthusiastic pleasure from kicking a cat.

It's not a matter of reason, analysis, profit v. gain, or rational thought.

It's a matter of compulsion, of "scratching that itch".

That itch could be kindness, it could be cruelty, it could be love, it could be hate.

It's what you find when you peel an apple. It may be sweet and juicy inside, or it may be rotten and worm infested.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

28. I would kick the cat kicker enthusiastically

Animal abusers piss me off a lot .

Cat abusers piss me off even more.

[brooklynite]

6. People gravitate to news sources that reinforce their existing beliefs...

...whether on the right or left.

That said, the cable news, podcast, YouTube and blog audiences are actually inconsequentially small. They're granted more influence than they have because they tend to echo each other's messages.

[Pobeka]

7. Decades of brainwashing. The deeper you're in, the harder to admit you were wrong all the time

Humans, in general, don't like to admit they were wrong. And the more consequential the decision, the more the aversion to admitting the wrong decision.

This, I believe is the underlying principle of why it is so hard to change brainwashed people.

But, f*ck our children, they can die on a planet with global warming that can no longer produce the crops necessary to feed us or provide safe places of living. They can die impoverished as they watch insane wealth accumulated by a handful of people, while our children can't afford a loaf of bread.

They don't admit they're wrong about all of that while while watching it happen in front of their eyes.

At least they'll have guns to shoot each other when fighting over the last grain of rice.

[gab13by13]

8. Fox gets the "credit" for doing the brainwashing,

but all of the MSM pushes the right wing talking points. There are only a couple of people here on DU who know the difference between a fence and a wall. Why do people of all persuasions keep calling that barrier on our southern border a wall?

[SKKY]

9. As someone who has many, many family members who are ardent members...

...of "MAGA Nation", I can say it's basically for the same reasons people follow WWE. They don't care it's fake. They don't care they're being lied to. It makes them feel something. Pure and simple. Loving something, or feeling good about something doesn't motivate them. They need the anger to feel fulfilled. Like Rick James once said, "Hate. It's a hell of a drug. Uh huh huh."

[NewHendoLib]

11. They are a cult

[Mosby]

12. Some love it because it supports their racist, xenophobic world view.

[Hoyt]

13. Some people like to live in the 1950s.

[hunter]

14. It's an addiction.

It gets the adrenaline flowing in bigoted incurious people.

Then they keep coming back for more.

[LymphocyteLover]

25. Good point-- I think that explains a lot of it

[c-rational]

15. Great responses all, and once hooked it is addictive.

[Emile]

16. They are programmed to believe all other news stations broadcast fake news!

[pecosbob]

18. Most people in this nation lack critical thinking skills.

There are a number of reasons for this, but in short we're a stupid nation with many openly embracing their own ignorance.

[iemanja]

19. Why do Democrats love it so much?

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/tucker-carlson-secures-most-democratic-223803687.html

[dawg]

20. There's a fundamental sickness in white culture in the U.S..

The propaganda exists (mostly) because there is such a market for it.

I don't know why we are this way, and I don't know how to fix it.

We've probably always been this way, but out "betters" kept it tamped down. The relatively recent move towards democratic presidential primaries and the political realignment of the South took the "betters" out of the way, and opened the door for the takeover of one of only two viable political parties.

As the Democratic Party grew blacker, browner, and freakier (from their point of view), whites continued to abandon the party. Upper Midwest whites were the final straw that broke the camel's back and vomited the bigoted and ignorant TFG into the White House.

Demographics are on our side, but we need help sooner than that.

I'm so disappointed with most of the people who look and sound like me.

[keep_left]

23. It certainly helps to explain all the peculiar bees in their bonnets, so to speak, like Drumpf...

...not only whining about the usual culture war issues, but also unimportant picayune things like low-flow toilets, windmills, dishwashers, and shower heads. A personal favorite of mine was Drumpf's "windmills cause cancer" line. And it finds an audience such that you can talk like this and still be a viable Presidential candidate.

[Cosmocat]

21. It is a GREAT gig being "conservative"

you get to both be a victim and an alpha.

The best of the best christian and patriot and salt of the earth, at the same time every vile thing you do is justified because of the LIBERALS.

It does nothing for me, and most here, and I have given up trying to understand why so many otherwise seemingly decent and good people lap the bullshit up with a shovel and pour into their own heads.

[LymphocyteLover]

24. Perhaps it's not worth thinking about, but I feel if we could solve that puzzle

it could make our country so much better

[moondust]

22. Confirmation bias.

Confirmation bias

Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values.
~

[Spider Jerusalem]

26. Americans mostly don't love it; a narrow subset of Americans (over-50 and white) do, though

America's right-wing propaganda problem is mostly an "old white people" problem.

[LymphocyteLover]

27. True... but that deomgraphic seems to drive and shape the overall political landscape

a lot

[I_UndergroundPanther]

29. Yes and these old white fools

Driving and shaping have way too much influence. Look at all the old conservative white men in our government.
One can hope when they finally die off thier beliefs will die with them. But the 40 and 50,60 year old demographics will eventually die off too. Hopefully we fight for a good education for every kid to blunt the programming from parents and churches.


This is why republicans are trying so hard to control what schools are permitted to teach.They know the majority does not want thier fascist theocratic culture, thier so called values or thier controlling religion.

This is also why faux news and quanon exists. To keep the right wing from dying away.

Imho the right wing cant die quick enough.

[LymphocyteLover]

31. Amen

[uponit7771]

33. True, its and ingroup issue because the M$M is ***LEAD*** by the 50+ yr old white males.

[WarGamer]

30. Many people seek out news that validates their world view.

Best skip ALL the American news and focus on France24, AlJazeera and Reuters.

Just pull up the Reuters home page... just the facts, minus the histrionics and hyperbole.

[uponit7771]

32. True its not that its being "forced" its that the rest of the M$M treat MAGA media as valid.

[peggysue2]

34. It's addictive

The propaganda is entertaining and supports the biases of the viewer/listener. It feeds the anger and fear and gears up images of payback and reprisal.

These are people who have put aside their critical thinking skills for the security of false premises that align with their own. And they get a 'fix' everyday with no other input.

The vicious, dangerous cycle has affected a good 30-40% of the American population.

Mass psychosis. Ask the Germans. They understand it.