Woozle/2021/10/30

Note

This is being crossposted from Nextdoor.

Post

subject: Nextdoor disinformation log

I don't know why this didn't occur to me before: every time I run across a false or misleading statement in the pol groups here on Nextdoor, I'm going to log it in this post.

Please feel free to add your own in the comments, but please remember to follow the argumentation guidelines (https://issuepedia.org/Issuepedia:Arguing/guidelines) when making counterclaims. If call-outs are themselves found to be wrong or misleading, I will log them here as well (and possibly remove the comment or the commenter, as I see fit) -- so be sure to present your case clearly.

Also, if any of these statements have been retracted, let me know and I will move the claim to a "retracted" area. It's okay to make mistakes; what's not okay is willfully ignoring the evidence against your position.

So far, newest to oldest:

2021-12-10 Philip M

repeated the old capitalist propaganda claim that capitalism helps people out of poverty. https://nextdoor.com/p/3pQQPq_6PgRz/c/697642633?utm_source=share

In reality, it does the opposite: it creates wealth for the few. When a lot of new resources enter the system (as in the opening up of new territory, or discovery of a new technology), sometimes that wealth can "trickle down" -- but capitalism increases inequality while that is happening, and reverts to upward redistribution of wealth as those new inputs begin to dry up.

2021-12-02 Dennis Sharp

claimed that (1) leaving a right up to the states is not the same as ending it nationally, and that (2) protecting a right puts the decision in government's hands, while removing it leaves it up to the individual.

claims: https://nextdoor.com/p/LkT5M-ShmGBT/c/694057395?utm_source=share
reality:
- 1. Leaving a right up to the states is removing that right nationally, because any state can choose not to respect it.
- 2. This is the exact opposite of reality. If you have a right to do something, then the choice is yours; if you don't have that right, then it's up to others (including but not limited to the government) to decide whether you're allowed to.

Both of these claims of Dennis's demonstrate a complete misunderstanding of the concept of "rights".

Local copy of the post: Woozle/2021/12/02

2021-12-01 Dennis Sharp

claimed that Antifa uses tactics no different from Hitler's brownshirts, except in who the "scapegoats" are.

claim: https://nextdoor.com/p/sc2NZ9x578Qd/c/693483890?utm_source=share
reality:
- 1. one is a legitimate target for anger and the other is not
- 2. in one, the violence was directed against individuals and places of worship, while the other was directed only against corporate-owned business property
- 3. one is a spontaneous expression of rage and the other is an organized effort by literal fascists that is part of a larger plan for genocide
- 4. one is punching up, the other punching down

A point of clarification: "antifa" is short for "anti-fascism". If you are fighting against fascism, you are antifa; if you are behaving in a fascistic way, you are are by definition not antifa. It's not an organization.

2021-10-30 Jeff Dorscher

claimed that CNN didn't cover a thing that they did in fact cover:

claim: https://nextdoor.com/p/3XnggC45wys3?view=detail
reality: https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2021/10/30/youngkin-rally-tiki-stunt-lincoln-project-cpt-sot-vpx.cnn (this link is easily findable by searching the web for "CNN Lincoln Project stunt")

2021-10-29 Dennis Sharp

claimed that the inventor of the gerrymander was a Democrat; this is factually wrong, *and* would be irrelevant even if there had been a Democratic Party in 1812 and Gerry had belonged to it.

2021-09-17 Debbie Balch

posted a screenshot of OANN's "FDA fetal heads" nonsense:

Comments

Meg C:

A river of disinformation throughout https://nextdoor.com/p/jmHj59dT_PgP?utm_source=share&extras=MTI3NjkyOA%3D%3D