Since the US election I’ve been trying to understand what happened and how we ended up here. I don’t buy many of the arguments being discussed, especially from mainstream media, because they are not recognizing their own failure in this outcome. This is important, because it is the lack of trust in mainstream media that’s a big part of the result and it’s not being discussed – you can read more in this Gallup Poll. Essentially, nearly 70% of Americans have no trust in mainstream media.
So, hearing mainstream media rip this result apart in its tedious post-mortem commentary, feels very disingenuous when they are not factoring in their role, or even their lack of ability to influence the outcome.
The other side of the media discussion is data shows that those who pay attention to political news voted for Harris and those who don’t pay attention to political news voted for Trump. Insightful in its own right!
If you want to understand the media bias landscape in the US, check out the work of Ad Fontes Media. Below is a simpler image, but on the site, it goes deeper and wider. The group in the top green box, on either side of the left/right split, are the more fact-based and reliable media, versus the bottom, which is more propaganda, misleading or mis-/disinformation.
So, if the media aren’t playing a dominant role in how elections are decided – who is? This image popped up this week and I can’t credit it, because it wasn’t shared with any credit. Also it’s not fully representative, because as you can see, Joe Rogan isn’t in the mix and definitely should be, as he has massive influence on popular culture today, which is not just in the US, it’s global.
When looking across all opinions, discussions, and arguments, the conclusion I’ve come to is this is where Donald Trump won the election, in the manosphere, and as you can see with the blue dots representing the left, they don’t come even close to having the same level of influence.
Want to see what people believed when they voted? This pretty much sums it up, and it wasn’t in the media. Proves this point, no?
As I was pulling my thoughts together on this for The Know Show on Thursday, I found that I wasn’t alone in my thinking, and recommend these three articles to dig further into this new reality:
- Trump campaigned against reality and won
- Why Trump won: Democrats have a coalition, Republicans have an ecosystem
- ‘The intellectual dark web just won the election!’: meet the coalition of Joe Rogan, RFK Jr, Tulsi Gabbard and Elon Musk
So, what are we going to do about it?
- Get back in the fight! So many people who sit on the left are sick and tired of the ugly discourse – I get it. It’s revolting out there. But I also know it’s important to be in the mix and that is why I never left. Yes, it’s bloody horrible to be part of it, but by stepping away, guess what happens? The red influence continues to dominate the global conversation. If we don’t like where things are going, or what they’re saying, then we must be part of the conversation where the conversation is happening! This election has been positioned as a war against woke and woke lost. How can we accept that kindness, fairness, balance, human rights, caring for the poor, and on I could go, is something to willingly give up? I hate the word woke, it’s complete gaslighting, but we’ve got to fight for the world we want – and that means being in the fight. A side note here, if your mental health is not strong enough to be part of this, I get it. But if you’re strong and resilient, then please, don’t abandon us. We can’t look away. Our future is being defined by people who do not represent us.
- Support the blue dots or build your own. This is absolutely critical. The red has built an information ecosystem, and the blue have not. So either get going with your own content, or support the people who are speaking up if they resonate with you. Spend time listening to them. Share their work. Subscribe to their channels. If they’re trying to raise money, pay for their work if you can. Millions of dollars is pouring into the red ecosystem, but that is not happening on the blue side, and people need to eat. Equally, spend time with the information that matters. Apparently, people DO love long-form three-hour unedited conversations people like Joe Rogan are publishing, but whenever I speak to people about the work I’m doing, they tell me it’s too long. So, we’re going to lose the information war because we can’t spend time investing in people who are fighting for us? Honestly, I’ve spent years doing this work and I often wonder why I bother (my numbers are pathetic), but I know what I’m doing is important. I know that being in the melee is important, even if I get hate thrown my way or when so few are paying attention.
- Stay on the platforms where the whole conversation is happening. There’s been a massive exodus from Twitter, but guess what? We must be in the fight where the fight is happening. We can’t escape into echo chambers where everyone agrees with us, because we won’t be equipped to understand the world we live in. If we don’t know what “they” think or what’s influencing them, then we can’t change anything. It’s what got us into this mess in the first place.
- Men, we need you. The US election result is predominantly because men voted in higher numbers for Trump. The tech bros are part of this too. If you don’t like where the world is going, or how women and minorities are being spoken about or treated, then build a blue dot and start changing it. But it’s not just digitally where the work needs to be done. In your workplace, in your community, everywhere, start doing the work to help men become the kind of people we need them to be, to ensure our future societies are not an ugly dystopia. We need the great men of the world standing up and speaking up, and we need to support them in this work. I’m raising two boys, and my focus is on making sure they are great men. Parents have a massive responsibility here too.
- Ladies, we need you too. I don’t think this is just a male issue. Since the #MeToo movement ricocheted around the world, creating positive and necessary change, there has been a backlash, and it’s devolved into something not in our interest. Good men don’t know how to be in the world anymore, fearing they could be accused of something just by being in the presence of a woman, or saying the wrong thing and risk being cancelled. Cancel culture has always been a bad idea – it leaves no room for grace and growth. But the bigger challenge is, when men are in fear to be in the presence of a woman, guess what happens? What we are seeing right now. So, we need to be much more focused in any discussion on this topic. Every woman knows when a man is a creep – EVERY woman. We also know when a man is not a creep. We need to rectify this situation and focus on the real outcome we want, that no woman or girl is put in a vulnerable position with creeps. Men are our allies in this, but they are scared and that HAS to change, because scared men is not good for society. We need to address this negative outcome, and we need to show our girls how to be strong, powerful women – which we do by being the sort of women we need to see in the world, just as we are asking the same of our men. We have big challenges ahead, let’s get to work and part of that work is speaking up, loudly, proudly and with integrity – regardless of what it attracts. If we all speak up, they can’t attack all of us.
- Stop playing nice. I absolutely encourage everyone to be kind in everything they do – I am 100% committed to this every single day. BUT we’ve got to stop playing nice with those who don’t play by the same rules. Those who do not agree with us never hold back, and we can sit in shock every single day about the next outrageous comment, or we can say NO! I’m sick of this bullshit and I do not accept it. If there’s one thing the Democrats got wrong (in my opinion), it’s that they played too nice, but when Kamala did start attacking Trump, pundits said she shouldn’t do that. Look how that turned out! People are looking for straight talkers and that’s why Bernie Sanders gets such high props. You don’t have to go to the same level as those you disagree with, but you’ve got to speak up with strength, courage and integrity. That’s what’s required. So please, speak up, be brave, take no shit, block anyone you just can’t deal with and be very very courageous. The time for half measures is over. The future is going to be extremely challenging to face, not just because of who is sitting in the White House, but because all aspects of the polycrisis are moving into chaos. We’re in tough times, we’ve got to start being tough!
Want some motivation on how we go about this? Read this: How to Stop the Billionaire Takeover: Democrats Must Declare Class Warfare
A couple of observations from the social media-sphere
Before I finish, I wanted to share these observations on The Know Show, but we ran out of time. These are two discussions I’ve seen since the election that could have profound consequences. This isn’t happening in the media, so no references are supplied, but that’s the point of what’s been happening – we need to pay attention to what is being said in the red sphere of influence.
- ANTIFA – which is a decentralised idea versus an actual movement – is going to be labelled a terrorist group under the Trump administration. The risk here is that anyone who speaks up against the government could be labelled ANTIFA – think anyone fighting for the climate, women’s rights, minority rights, etc… Keep an eye on this. It’s dangerous and if you are an activist, you need to be aware. A prison sentence as a terrorist is much more significant than just being an activist
- Musk and others are calling into account the validity of the United Nations. He said something like, I don’t recall voting for it? Well Musk, the US didn’t vote for you either, but here we are. Whether you love or hate the UN, a surge of support to make it null and void in today’s geopolitical landscape would be a disaster. That is a fight we cannot let them win. We need the UN now more than we ever have, in all its imperfections
Conclusion
If you know me, you know I’ve been banging this drum for years and I’ve definitely played too nice, so that’s over now. I am fighting for all our futures, and I’ll be damned if I accept a dystopian future, where those with the least suffer the most because I didn’t have the guts to stand up and fight for them. I’ll be damned if I stand by when future generations of females have less rights than I did. No, screw that. I won’t accept it, and I hope you won’t either. An unequal world is a poorer world for everyone, because everyone wins with equality.
If women, minority groups, and our indigenous brothers and sisters, are not at every table where decisions are being made, the wrong decisions will be made, and at this moment in time for humanity, we can’t afford that.
When Elon Musk is proposing a new world order, dominated by high status males, guess what? None of us are going to be OK, because the situation we are in right now is because high status males got us here. We need to change the status quo, urgently and permanently, but as allies, not as antagonists. We must come together, because if we don’t, we will remain in this dark place.
The gloves are off. We’ve got a war to win – the information war. Will you join me in the fight of our lives? And if you don’t have the strength to be a voice in this fight, will you commit to supporting those who are on the front lines, in whatever way you can?
Favorite visual
Well, it’s been a pretty good week on the meme front, so for the first time, here’s four that stood out!
Friends content and my own
It was The Know Show yesterday, and it was an absolute delight to have Dr. Damini Chawla join us. We didn’t get through everything we wanted to discuss, but it was a wide discussion on a lot of issues, focusing on a non-US take of the US elections all the way through to the climate emergency and what we need to do about it. Even at two hours, we had so much more to say.
Dig into the news
Plenty more to read, listen to or watch, so do click through to the reads at the image below, and a reminder, this platform (elink.io) means the articles go back weeks, so have a scan and read/watch/listen to whatever jumps out at you.
Let me know what caught your attention? Or share with me what has your attention now? There’s a lot going on, which means none of us can cover everything. Besides, it’s always great to get feedback so I know I’m delivering something of value.
Cheers
Andrea
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