How the oil industry and growing political divides turned climate change into a partisan issue

Joe Árvai, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences (from The Conversation) After four years of U.S. progress on efforts to deal with climate change under Joe Biden, Donald Trump’s return to the White House is swiftly swinging the pendulum in the opposite direction. On his first day back, Trump declared a national energy emergency, directing agencies to use any emergency powers available to…

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Knowledge and understanding can overcome fear and anxiety

If you believe social media or follow certain politically-aligned media outlets, we live in a particularly scary and dark world. Yet, many people throughout history have felt the same at the times they lived. War, disease, natural disasters, famine, political upheaval, economic crashes, and on and on. It may seem to us that we are living in especially perilous times with the world literally at…

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Can Voters Tell When Politicians are Lying?

“… Dishonesty in politics is a long-standing tradition. Many politicians have clearly benefitted from telling voters what they want to hear or what they want to believe, and history is filled with examples of politicians lying to cover up crime and corruption.” “Dishonesty in politics is important because it poses a threat to electoral accountability. Citizens who can detect political lies are more safeguarded against…

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Should information be free?

Should information be shared freely? That is, should content (text, images, videos, etc.) be shared without external control? Shared at no additional cost? Or, should information be controlled, manipulated, and limited–in the name of profit and/or ideology? There is no purity in this debate. All information has a cost, and often it is quite expensive. Producers of information may choose to give it away, others…

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Propaganda and deception in politics

Propaganda “is communication that is deliberately designed by one group in society to influence the attitudes and behavior of others. It often uses symbolism and rhetoric and appeals to the emotional and irrational aspects of our sensibility” (Propaganda. (2006). In D. G. Lilleker, Key concepts in political communication. Sage UK.). Propaganda has been around for thousands of years, since at least the time of the…

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The power of propaganda

Propaganda “is communication that is deliberately designed by one group in society to influence the attitudes and behavior of others. It often uses symbolism and rhetoric and appeals to the emotional and irrational aspects of our sensibility” (Propaganda. (2006). In D. G. Lilleker, Key concepts in political communication. Sage UK.). Propaganda has been around for thousands of years, since at least the time of the Pharoahs…

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