Upside Down, Inside Out

Exhausted just trying to find out what's happening

Photo by Dean Gibbons on Unsplash

I must admit, when I read an article that eloquently captures my own views about this mire and muck of capitalism that 99% of us slog our way though each day, I am tempted to share said article with my family members and friends.

“Oh yes,” I think, “once they read these words they will finally understand!”

Hahahahahahahaha!

You see, with the exception of one person, everyone I know IRL is still NOT questioning the status quo. They still believe what the MSM reports. They still believe in a capitalist system. They don’t understand that our system thrives on oppression, abuse, and incarceration. And they still believe that our current problems began with Donald J. Trump.

They are still going about their days as if life is sorta normal, and comforting themselves by dreaming of the day when the Democrats again have the majority. And, it is easy for them to find media that encourages those views.

. . . the impulse of liberals and “progressives” to lay all that is currently afflicting the U.S. at the feet of Trump. The fact of the matter is that Trump is a profound pronouncement of what the U.S. has been since its inception - a settler colonial state that will utilize draconian imperialism, both domestically and internationally, to sustain a global order of white “supremacy” ideology, colonialism, and patriarchal violence in service to the higher order of racial capitalism. (Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright)

Very few people are open to even discussing the quote above. And that’s the problem. Our nation’s woes are systemic, not situational. The underlying problems exist no matter which party is in office.

In 2026, we have the additional challenges that AI generates: false narratives that seem very convincing. Finding the truth of a situation is hard work. Those who trust the media will have plenty of video clips to share that “prove their point.” They don’t question that the clips may well be AI fakes. They don’t care, as long as “their” version of events is something they can live with, or otherwise they turn cynical.

Faking It ‘Til We Break It

One study found that AI bot summaries of news content were inaccurate 45% of the time. Other studies have found AI fabricating information from 66% to over 80% of the time.

Beyond deploying bots that circulate misinformation, Big-Tech has released AI tools that empower average users to produce highly convincing, yet entirely fabricated, content with ease. For example, more than 20 percent of videos shown to new YouTube users are “AI slop,” meaning low-quality, mass-produced, algorithmically generated content designed to maximize clicks and watch time rather than inform. These types of deepfakes shaped audience interpretations of recent conflicts such as Israel-Gaza and Russia-Ukraine. (see article above)

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Fascist power grows daily. More money for endless wars, no money for the vulnerable. The local news covers the weather and sports, and not the news that really affects our lives. The national news is highly self-censored. If you don’t hear about it, does it exist?

The MSM will not focus on the root of our nation’s problems. No time is allowed for in-depth analysis. Short attention spans have been nourished by decades of sensation:

“The U.S. wouldn’t be able to hide its empire in plain sight were it not for the subservient ‘free’ press. United States of Distraction [Nolan Higdon and Micky Huff] shows, in chilling detail, America’s major media dysfunction–how the gutting of the fourth estate paved the road for fascism and what tools are critical to salvage our democracy.”–Abby Martin, The Empire Files

We have a tough road ahead of us. We have a steep learning curve. Elections won’t solve our problems. It’s time to dig much deeper.

Democracy is not just a system of government. It is a way of thinking, of arguing, of living together. It rests on habits of mind — about truth, responsibility, evidence, dissent, and the limits of power. Once those habits are degraded, they are not easily restored.

The United States now risks a similar fate. Even if authoritarian leadership is removed through elections or legal action, the damage will persist. Institutions that learned to comply will not automatically relearn courage. Citizens who learned that politics is dangerous, rigged, or pointless will not suddenly reengage. A public culture trained to reward cruelty, spectacle, and domination does not revert on its own to one grounded in deliberation and care.

This is why focusing solely on an individual villainous leader misses the deeper problem. Authoritarianism is not just a personality; it is a political project that reshapes institutions and habits alike. When it recedes, what remains are organizations that survived by accommodating power, and citizens unsure of what democracy is for. Without a deliberate effort to rebuild democratic culture, post-authoritarian societies risk becoming democracies in name only. Elections return, but fear and distrust remain. Free speech exists on paper, but silence persists in practice. (link)

Are we up to the challenge?