To be blunt, media today is poison. Mainstream media, social media, television, radio... the majority of it is complete garbage. It falls upon YOU to be discerning, curious, find the contradictions, catch the flip-flops, read the underlying motivations, and try to seek out factual and EVIDENCE-based information. I know it's hard and inconvenient... but I'm sure you all see what is happening to truth and reason today... it's evaporating.
The main way people fall into this trap is just consuming whatever someone puts in front of them. The church, their social media feed, their partisan news station... NO, seek out information beyond what is FED to you and what is easy. "Strongman" your opponents arguments and try to find honest actors who disagree with you. Only then can you know that what you believe holds up to scrutiny.
Lastly, we need to teach our children about MEDIA LITERACY, who produces information, motivations, finding multiple sources for information, consulting experts, verifying consistency, and learn to navigate the propaganda and marketing battlefields that pollute information.
Until we get to a place where we agree on what's true and real, we can't evaluate priorities or create plans of action for the URGENT problems we face. No change can be made until people can critically think and reason and work towards a common good.
