I ask myself this question as a first-level defense against propaganda.
The first correct answer is “because I put myself in a position where this message became physically visible to me.”
Take ownership. Of everything. Yes, meteors fall out of the sky and can bonk you on the head. But the reality is that almost always I did something to put myself in the metaphorical line of fire.
I kept seeing shitbags be shitbags on Twitter. And I would get agitated, which means that my life was worsened by some unknown person’s bloviation.“Why am I seeing this?” gave me a simple answer: because I installed the Twitter app on my phone, logged in, and started scrolling.
What’s in my control? The existence of a Twitter app on my phone. What’s not in my control? Shitbags shitbagging.
Obvious problem solved with the obvious solution. Far, far more effective than telling shitbags they are wrong and that they should stop shitbagging. Yeah, good luck with that.
The second step in anti-propaganda is to listen to the statement made and say, “Well, that’s a thought.”
As soon as I remind myself that the random shitbag’s utterance is just a thought, and there are many other possible thoughts, I remove the urge to agree or disagree with the statement.
That gives me permission to leave the topic undetermined and unsettled. I don’t have to choose amongst an infinite number of possible thoughts, and I certainly do not have to agree/disagree with the propaganda presented to me.
Deflect by taking yourself out of the line of fire. Disengage by realizing that this is just one of many ideas.
Carry on with your day. Take care of what you control. Ignore the stuff outside your control. Life gets better.
And no. It isn’t necessary for you to “keep up with the news and everything that is going on.” Because what you think is “the news” is not what’s going on. It’s propaganda presented to you for a specific reason that probably doesn’t affect you at all.
What is necessary is your character and integrity. That’s in your control. Own that task and pursue it in your daily life.
That’s my speech to myself today. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk to myself. (Picturing me on stage talking to one person in the audience in a vast auditorium, also me).