The root problem of American politics is that delusional people now have the means to communicate with stupid people. Unfortunately, societal gatekeepers still haven't realized this and changed their actions in response. (1/n)

Operationally, fascist politicking is based on creating a fake populism in which the "elites" are people who think clearly rather than corporate billionaires.

It evades accountability because results don't matter, only identity. And it can pretend to be populist.

Many people have proven that lower educational attainment & higher religious fundamentalist beliefs are linked to Trump support, but there's something even more fundamental at work.

People w lower cognitive abilities, regardless of other attributes, like Trump. And vice versa.

In his most recent column, @chaunceydevega discusses some of this research, showing that people with lower demonstrated intelligence are more likely to support Trump https://www.salon.com/2022/03/23/new-research-on-voters-theyre-not-the-sharpest-tools-in-the-box/

Unfortunately, stupidity is metastasizing.

Smart people with broken cognitive processes thanks to religious or political delusions are, because of social media, finally able to build mass audiences.

Unfortunately, the opposition is deeply divided.

Our tech and media elites only care about money and so they refuse to reform systems that enable the monetization of stupidity and hate.

And because of consolidation, it's almost impossible for new organizations with better values to compete with them.

On the political side, there's a desperate need for real populism in this country.

"Opportunity hoarding" has effectively shut out millions of people due to their background, race, and region. But the centrist Democratic party refuses to do what's necessary in response.

We need universal health care, a living wage, monopoly breakups, drastically lower educational costs, & personal development offices to correspond w business development ones.

But Dem elites don't want such things. They think that inertia can defeat fascism. They're wrong.

We also need drastically overhauled curricula which emphasize critical thinking, sound reasoning, and how to recognize and protect oneself from one's own ignorance.

These ideas must be pushed to testing standards so that private and home schooled kids don't get left out.

I've had to take some time off to recover from some family and personal medical issues but am now getting back into things.

I need your help spreading this message and expanding it. If you're interested, please contact your favorite podcast hosts to request that I be on.