We Americans face two big issues at the moment: what to do about gun violence and what to do about Russia’s interference in our democracy. One originates close to home, the other in a far away land. Early in the 2016 election I read about former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort’s ties to Russia and found myself saying, “We need to keep our eyes and ears on Russia. Something’s not right.”
In this Washington Post interview we meet a Russian troll, a man paid approximately $700/month by the Kremlin. He talks about the factory of lies where he worked 12 hour shifts, two days on, two days off. We learn how the lies he and his co-workers wrote began to shape and influence us Americans as early as 2014. And sadly, we learn how easily we Americans were duped during the 2016 election.
He warns that these false accounts on social media continue to multiply and reproduce minute by minute. The result is blatant lies, untruths, and misinformation directly aimed at eroding our democracy. Because the words cause an emotional reaction, we then comment and share, further spreading these lies.
When asked how it felt to work inside the propaganda factory (yes, they call it a factory), he responds:
“I arrived there, and I immediately felt like a character in the book 1984 by George Orwell — a place where you have to write that white is black and black is white. Your first feeling, when you ended up there, was that you were in some kind of factory that turned lying, telling untruths, into an industrial assembly line. The volumes were colossal — there were huge numbers of people, 300 to 400, and they were all writing absolute untruths. It was like being in Orwell’s world.” Marat Mindiyarov, a 43 year old teacher by training.
I know our hearts are heavy as we mourn the latest school shooting in Parkland, Florida (and yes, there will be others if we don’t take action and work hard to understand and eliminate gun violence in America). But today, I focus on this, this chipping away at our democracy by Russia.
Americans are particularly vulnerable to propaganda. We live in virtual bubbles; we thrive on drama and seek it out at the risk of living in feigned realities (think about the stream of reality TV shows that are, in truth, staged and not real at all).
As a former teacher, I am deeply concerned about the future of our democracy. I will dig deep to uncover as much propaganda as I can. I will not back down. I will not flee from the problems we face. I will fight for America and I will never stop fighting for our children.
Regardless of which party we align ourselves with, we must admit and understand that Russia’s interference undermines democracy for all of us. Please take a few minutes and read the words of this Russian troll who eventually quit his job because he knew spreading lies was wrong. He assures us the factory is alive and well, busily spreading lies that we believe.
I beg of you — let’s do our homework and be discerning readers. Let’s be curious and ask questions. Let’s identify this misinformation aimed at destroying our beautiful country.
We’ve been warned by a former Russian troll: something’s not right, it’s very, very wrong.
Thank you Lynda. Yes, we must pay attention and be immune to activist fatigue. Another resource that might interest your readers is the podcast Lawfair.They delve deeply into issues – the latest concerned the 13 indictments recorded February 16.
Thank you, Jacquie. I will look at Lawfair and pass it along.
So glad your blog is back, Lynda. Thanks for your gentle style…and wisdom.
Thank you, Carol. It’s good to back at it.
Nice to see Wise Tide again. I’ve missed your writing, Lynda.
Thank you, Terri. I appreciate your support.
Nice to see you back Lynda, always interesting reading with a different perspective. Thank you
Thank you, Phil. It’s good to hear from you!