Tom Nichols

Today, the immune system of once-healthy democratic societies is compromised. Be it the idea that the moon landings were faked or the attacks on the legitimacy of elections, wild theories have become surprisingly easy for Americans to believe, a sign of a national gullibility that makes the United States an obvious target for outlandish propaganda.

Governments alone cannot solve this problem. Individual citizens have to take the initiative—as exhausting as it might be—to confront one another over bad information. They need to ask questions: Where did you hear that? Why do you trust that source? Do you think that I, as a friend or a family member, am lying to you if I tell you it’s not true? People who have already been captured by propaganda will not believe official disclaimers from authoritative sources, and will see such disclaimers only as further proof of the conspiracy. But when conspiracists and deeply misinformed people encounter people close to them, those whom they care about, who gently but firmly refuse to join them in the maze of misinformation, such discussions can sometimes have a positive effect, at least in the short term.

What I am suggesting is not fun, and should be limited to friends and family. (It’s probably not a strategy to pursue at a bar with strangers after a few drinks.) And it may not change very much. But right now, it’s all any of us can do. https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2024/05/the-plot-to-discredit-democracy/678315/