Show them.

When our country went through one of its last great divides in the Civil War there were reconstruction efforts, selective pardons, blind eyes turned, and eventually capitulations made to the confederate grass roots groups such as the sons or daughters of the confederacy.

Reeducation was met with propaganda much like the propaganda and hose of falsification that the internet provides has following the uprising on January 6th.

The tides of regressive behavior, fascism, and infantile religious perspectives have not been cancelled out.

Recently on DU, Applegrove posted a link which I now use as my signature line here, because the World War II Army Education pamphlets, meant to educate the general infantry on the basics of what they were going to war for and what they faced abroad and at home or in the service, are still valid today and have become a critical foundation we can rely on.

It is my belief that when corporate and political bodies paid and worked to distribute clear falsehoods they became responsible for reparations owed to the American people and to their own constituents they lied to and used, and one of the ways is to show them. Not just quick bytes. Show them- what the lies were, how they drafted the deceptive alterations, how they countered messaging attempting to slow or remand the toxic spread, the chain of approvals and hubs, and show them the historical foundation which they violated. Show them how to discern the validity of the evidence and the invalid nature of the propagandistic channels eroding the idea that there are facts or basic truths or a history other than the fantasies they want or dwell on. They programmed millions to create and spread disinformation, it is only fair that they contribute to de-programming them using the same mediums and mechanisms that spread the poison.

Germany in the past generation created a model for this to address the aftermath of Naziism and the Berlin Wall reunification; let them learn from the recovered. Let us all find what works wherever it may be and make that part of the platform for Democracy.