I genuinely think we need to start a campaign/trend of GenX and Millennials going to their parents and showing them how easy it is to get rid of cable or satellite tv, and how much money they will save by getting rid of it. Explain to them how the money they pay for their cable inevitably funds/supports propaganda that is directed back at them to fuck with their brains. Show them how it is created to trick them and it is not a secret, nor hidden. It's a nasty thing everyone knows, but does little to stop. I'm old enough to remember when junk mailers used to have scams directed at people like my Keepaw and Meemaw, where they'd mail in a check or money order for some dumb shit after not reading the fine print. Then, they'd get some sort of "certificate" or a cheap figurine that was worthless in return. I don't think they were all that religious, but there was a time when she worshiped Jerry Falwell and gave him a lot of money and bought his stupid shit. From the mid-90s to the early 2000s it was the Nigerian Prince scams and the "are you really safe?" alarm industry scams. All of that shit was directed at old folks in the same way phishing, virus and SPAM email is today. Now everything is a fucking scam because we elevated all the scammers to the richest people on earth. We're all in this together, there's nothing to be ashamed of.
Show them they can get news that is more fact-based than opinion from independent media and IT'S FREE (pay for their subscriptions if you can). Show them videos about how and why they are deliberately manipulated and lied to. It'll make 'em so mad they'll email their second cousin and their 4th grade baseball buddies to let them know about this crazy conspiracy they just learned of. Explain how it's nothing new, they've been absorbing misinformation their entire life, and tell them about the history of using fear and coercion to control a population's perspective and keep them in line. Then, setup a mini-pc or raspberrypi on their big screen tv, so they can use a mouse in the same way they would a remote. Block the Nazi/nazi websites. Do NOT buy "SMART" tvs or anything else that has unavoidable ads. In spite of the market being fucked, mini PCs are still pretty cheap and since they won't be playing GTA6 on it, you shouldn't have to worry about them frying it.
Am I being serious? I think so?
ALSO - get the FUCKING NEW YORK STUPID FUCKING TIMES OUT OF THEIR HANDS!! I have very smart, reasonable people in my life who are tricked into thinking they're apathetic liberals because of that garbage rag. You are for universal human rights, no? You're against apartheid/genocide, yes? For Medicare for All, right? Free school for all for life, yeah? You're anti the military/prison/human trafficking industrial complex? YEAH??!! YOU ARE NOT A FUCKING LIBERAL, SO STOP MAKING EXCUSES FOR THEM!!! Goddamn fucking NYT.
