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20 Oct, 4 tweets, 4 min read
For decades, Rupert Murdoch & a bunch of other unaccountable libertarian billionaires, have used their wealth, power, media empires & other manipulation techniques to subvert democracy & install divisive leaders who represent their interests. #GBNews will accelerate this process.
The 'Fox News Effect': after a local cable system adds Fox News, voters in the area tend to shift toward Republican candidates, & communities with higher numbers of Fox News viewers are less likely to comply with stay-at-home orders to fight #coronavirus.

nber.org/papers/w12169
Oh look, as if by magic, here's EXACTLY what I'm talking about: executive editor of Rupert Murdoch's The Sun newspaper, Dan Wootton, now also of Rupert Murdoch's @talkradio, spreading dangerous misinformation about #COVID19.

Add to the nefarious libertarian billionaires conspiracy theorists like #QAnon, and we have a perfect storm of #disinformation.

We need to urgently tool up future generations with educated critical thinkers.

"Is #QAnon a game gone wrong?" from @FT Film.

ft.com/video/372cac40…

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More from @docrussjackson

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21 Oct
#Neoliberal deregulation & pure free-market #greed caused the 2008 financial crash, leading to a decade of #austerity which left Britain vulnerable to #COVID19.

Yet since 2009, Britain's richest 1,000 people INCREASED their wealth by nearly £500 BILLION.

#IStandWithManchester Image
British cities (home to 55% of the population) shouldered 74% of the #austerity cuts, even though care costs have increased year on year, & 99.9% of the UK population did not contribute to the financial crash IN ANY WAY.

Northern English cities were - OF COURSE - hardest hit. ImageImageImage
Under the guise of #austerity, successive Governments introduced: crippling student debt; the collapse of affordable housing; the absence of secure jobs; outsourcing; MORE privatisation; unprecedented cuts to disability support & the introduction of the sadistic Universal Credit. Image
Read 8 tweets
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20 Oct
The UK & USA are in the middle of a catastrophic public-health crisis caused by #coronavirus.

They are also in the midst of an information crisis caused by the spread of viral #disinformation, defined as falsehoods aimed at achieving a political goal.

nytimes.com/2020/10/13/mag…
The conspiracy theories, lies, distortions, the overwhelming amount of information & the anger encoded in it all serve to create chaos & confusion and make people, even nonpartisans, exhausted, skeptical & cynical about politics.
But the deliberate & relentless spewing of falsehoods isn’t meant to win any 'battle of ideas'.

Its goal is to prevent the actual battle from being fought, by causing us to simply give up.
Read 28 tweets
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19 Oct
VICTIM-PERPETRATOR REVERSAL:

The powerful verbalise their ‘fear’ of a dangerous ‘other’, provoking resentment in those demonised, then use their privileged media access to describe how ‘fearful’ they feel as a result, thus encouraging & legitimising the same emotions in others.
Boris Johnson's 'letter boxes’ & 'bank robbers' comments were classic ‘dogwhistles’: racist & provocative language designed to encourage others to express their disapproval & prejudice, & feel legitimised by his description of the item of clothing as ‘oppressive & ridiculous’.
In 2001, asylum seekers were targeted by Tony Blair to try & neutralise the appeal of the far-right BNP, but the political climate shifted to the right as New @UKLabour sought to maintain popularity, in the process bringing marginal & bigoted opinions into the mainstream.
Read 5 tweets
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18 Oct
Old-school Libertarian "flag-fanatic" Andy supports the death penalty & the detention of asylum seekers, is a member of Hard-Right crank outfit The Freedom Association & was a member of the Monday Club - which even IDS thought made "distasteful" remarks on race & immigration!
Andy LOVES Blue passports, has consistently voted against bills furthering #LGBT rights, including equalising the age of consent. About same-sex marriage, he said: "Where would it end? You could finish up at a stage where the monarchy in this country is in a same-sex marriage!
Andy was Shadow Minister for Animal Welfare & repeatedly blocked a bill banning the use of wild animals in circuses from progressing through Parliament, arguing the circus is a "Great British institution…[that] deserves to be defended against the propaganda & exaggerations!"
Read 6 tweets
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15 Oct
One of the scariest things I've read.

Respected historian Nancy MacLean contends that James McGill Buchanan's influential philosophy is behind the dramatic, unnerving & profound changes we're seeing played out in real time.

Please, read the article.

ineteconomics.org/perspectives/b…
If Americans really knew what Buchanan thought & promoted, & how destructively his vision is manifesting under their noses, it would dawn on them how close the country is to a transformation most would not even want to imagine, much less accept.

Britain is heading the same way.
MacLean makes her case in a meticulously researched book, 'Democracy in Chains', a finalist for the National Book Award.

While Americans grapple with Trump’s chaos, we may be missing key changes, which once locked into place, there may be no going back.

penguinrandomhouse.com/books/533763/d…
Read 26 tweets
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14 Oct
Questions you will NEVER hear asked on any @BBCNews or @BBCPolitics shows:
Here's another question you will NEVER hear asked on any @BBCNews or @BBCPolitics shows:

When things go wrong in a socialist or a communist country, #socialism & #communism are blamed, so why is it that when things go wrong in a capitalist country, #capitalism is NEVER blamed?
Here's another question you will NEVER hear asked on any
@BBCNews or @BBCPolitics shows:

What role do the influential state broadcaster's news & political shows play in shaping public opinion about #neoliberal free-market #capitalism?
Read 7 tweets

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