BYLINE SUPPLEMENT — Countering Musk’s Unreality
My latest report in Byline Supplement shows how we go on a counter messaging offensive to defeat the dullness of lies by propagandists
I love doing this work, it makes me feel useful.
Super grateful to all the new Bette Dangerous members and to all the Founding Members who have spread the word. All I want for Christmas is to make my goal of 500 paid members — I keep the annual subscription affordable in the hopes of Santa delivering. Here is a reminder of our upcoming Founder’s Day event with Paul Conroy.
I am particularly proud of today’s report in Byline Supplement — many of you have a membership, and for those who do not, I am allowed to offer Bette members my paywalled reports upon request via email at bettedangerous/gmail. Thanks to a tip from Ruth Ben-Ghiat, who pulled me out of despair by reminding me to focus on counter messaging, I was able to share some critical suggestions in combatting unreality.
Here is an excerpt:
I have often said that despair is the enemy of action. In an information war, it is our duty to rise above the curated unreality, to remain a staunch ally of truth. And yet, propaganda affects everyone.
Consider this, it is being promoted as a coup that such a high-profile attendee as Elon Musk will be joining Rishi Sunak’s AI Safety Summit in Bletchley Park on Thursday, at the end of which a live conversation between the two will be broadcast live from Downing Street on Musk’s social media platform.
But Musk, whose platform formerly known as Twitter is worth less than half what he paid for it a year ago, is being continually exposed as a frontman for disaster in his destruction of Twitter, all while being the subject of escalating legal challenges.
As Sunak celebrates his “coup” with a strange GIF, the truth is more grim. And you see, the truth is thing. The reality distortion field is big business.
Canadian Academic Michael MacKay told Byline Supplement that the summit “is sure to be a disaster”
“Both men are clueless about artificial intelligence. They can provide no insight, but only obscure the real issue – which is the opportunity but also the threat that artificial intelligence presents to a free and open civil society,” he said.
Dr Charles Kriel, a filmmaker and digital rights activist, was equally scathing: “A gathering on any topic hosted by two of the world’s most tone-deaf men is unlikely to produce anything of value for working families, nor to keep their children safe. Perhaps they should have invited Trump along as well.”
The Business of Unreality
I made the mistake of reading an October 26 post on the platform now known as X.com by its CEO Linda Yaccarino, and storm clouds immediately formed in my mind.
She wrote:
“One year into a bold vision. We have accelerated the future of this platform as @X. From promoting free expression to welcoming the creator economy to our incredible brand partnerships. Here's why the future of X is bright! 👇”
It wasn’t just her Orwellian newspeak that affected my psyche, it was the comments — post after post by blue-check propagandists, giving her phoney atta girls…
…The next day, I confessed to Ruth Ben-Ghiat that I still had the blues — propaganda affects everyone. I had looked up Yaccarino’s salary — six million dollars annually — her background: a mother of two, a Catholic, a successful career in entertainment before reputation washing for Elon Musk. I scanned the list of who she follows — a lot of haute couture fashion brands.
Ruth sent me a note with two words: “Counter message”.
I thought about that. I also thought about a Goebbels quote I learned while reading her book Strongmen, that “in propaganda as in love, anything is permissible which is successful.”
So I got back in the virtual ring, quote-tweeting Yaccarino’s post with these words: “Goebbels in Prada”.
Shots fired…
… Michael MacKay counsels resilience and persistence: “Goodness and truth may still be out there, but it is awash in a sea of hatred, violence and nihilism that makes people of conscience lose hope. Which is the point.
“We fight back by being the voice in the wilderness. Speak truth to power, even if the algorithm has been warped so fewer people hear.”
Indeed. I hold out hope that the dullness of propaganda — the dreary onslaught of simplistic repetition, the ugliness of lies — will be replaced by intellectual curiosity, a deeper desire to know and embrace the light of truth.
That last paragraph was only made possible by having invited Jack Bryan to be our most recent featured guest at our Bette Dangerous ‘Speakeasy.’ Bryan, the producer of the whipsmart new podcast Lawyers, Guns, and Money, also gave me a life raft in a moment of despair.
I was mulling over how we counter message the pernicious, targeted feeble-minded simplicity of repetition, frequency, and catchphrases. Bryan said he thinks moronic lies are beginning to backfire, and that it will be replaced with intellectual curiosity.
My cynical side says, “Isn’t it pretty to think so?”
My optimist side says, “It must be so.”
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“We just have to see that the battle for democracy is broader. It's deeper.”—David Pepper
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“The message should be a fair deal… fairness everywhere.”—Martin Sheil
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“I say a silent prayer of thanksgiving as I walk upon the earth.”-Audrey Peterman.
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