What do we do when we don't agree with reality?
The intersection of fear, politics, and Taylor Swift.
I didn’t want to write about this election. Frankly, no one wants another short essay about this soap opera/ M. Night Shyamalan mess, which is U.S. politics, but some thoughts keep coming back to me, and when that happens, I write them down and press “publish.”
Most Americans agree that misinformation is a major issue, but the irony is that this is a bipartisan agreement. But how can that be when it feels like the “other side” is spewing lies? Societally, we are developing different definitions of facts. Sometimes, a fact is a fact, or it’s fiction, or it's just what we are feeling.
Merriam-Webster defines a fact as “something that has actual existence: a matter of objective reality.” We know this already, but there's a flaw in this definition as we’ve collectively strayed. It’s centered around the word “reality.” We all personally know people living in a different “reality” than we are. And let's be honest. There are people in your lives who think you’re the one in an alternate reality. We see strange AI images of Taylor Swift with a goose and a melted hand endorsing Trump being shared on Facebook as if it is real life. Is it worth telling your aunts that those images are fake? We still have people convinced that the election was stolen, and that continues to be a significant component of the Trump platform. Do we tell them it’s not true? Will they listen? Of course not.
It’s a post-fact society, and there’s not much that can be done about it in the immediate future. We are correctly attempting to address misinformation, but emphasizing media literacy isn’t going to change things quickly enough. Besides, those students are a generation away from voting.
If someone is living in an alternate reality, you’re not going to change their mind by presenting them with facts. When people are emotional, facts get you nowhere. There is a need to go deeper and ask what makes people so emotional and stubborn (we should ask the same question about ourselves, too.) Why are people attracted to misinformation and dogma? It’s fear-based. They fear loss and change because the present is all they know.
The best way to combat misinformation isn't through pure fact but through diffusing their fear. If a massive part of Trump’s base is convinced that Harris wants to massively raise taxes on the working class, responding with the simple fact that it isn't true isn’t going to do anything. But what are they afraid of? Of being unable to afford their home, feed their children, sustain, and build for retirement? Once we speak to those fears, we can bring facts into the room.
Unfortunately, that means crossing the aisle, having some challenging discussions, and listening from a place of compassion. There needs to be a greater acknowledgment of the fear and pain that many people hold. Fear is dangerous. It makes people susceptible to fascism and populism. It convinces people that minority groups are the enemy. If we want our movements to make progress, we can’t just chat amongst our echo chambers, sharing the facts that we’ve all discovered through reading quality journalism (or swiping on TikTok.) This is all easier said than done, but we need to move past the smug SNL era of the mid-2000s and remember these are all real people with dimensional experiences who are going to vote.