The problem here, in short, is elitism. Unchecked, presumed to have been neutralized in some way by the adoption of a counter-cultural ethos, it festers. The way to solve it, however, is not to shy away from studying or exposing bourgeois propaganda, but to delve even deeper and radicalize our understanding of it. In my view, this entails accepting that the main way propaganda safeguards power today — whether patriarchal or anticommunist or white supremacist or environmental — is through licensing people to embrace resignation as the smartest choice. This is achieved by demoralization, and the ruling class has received a lot of support from radical thinkers in this endeavor ever since “brainwashing” as political theory went mainstream.

I’ve seen this attitude and arguments made from the “smart” position of resignation here on Hexbear many times. :disgost:

The people of the US state apparatus are not immune to propaganda.

The biggest issue with America’s incredible power to propagandise people these days is that this propaganda works on itself. These people believe their own media. They believe their own propaganda. And it influences poor policy decision making internally.

Seems that way, but TikTok is eating away at Facebook and Youtube in the global south. I know more kids in Guatemala that use TikTok than Youtube nowadays and see young women filming TikToks constantly. Haven’t seen anything like this since the early days of Youtube. Only Twitch comes close to TikTok’s popularity and that’s only because of the Spanish streamers being as big as they are.