In the conflict between Russia and Ukraine it is clear to much of the world that Russia is the aggressor. It is a shock that many Russians believe the absurd lie that Ukraine is the aggressor! How is this possible?
While we may look at this and be shocked that so many Russians can believe Ukraine is the aggressor, a closer look shows that the same thing is happening in the U.S. Many Americans still believe that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.
These lies have two important things in common. First, both the supporters of Trump and Putin are being fed the lies by closed information systems. In Russia it is difficult to get truthful information because the information system is heavily controlled by the Russian propaganda machine which supports Putin’s war lie about Ukraine. In the U.S. Trump supporters chose media sources that support Trump’s lie about the stolen election.
The second thing in common is the blind support of both Trump and Putin because their supporters want to believe them. To their followers both men speak the truth. Both groups of followers want a strong authoritarian leader who supports their already strongly held beliefs and find it difficult to be objective about these beliefs.
These two human characteristics are found in us all. We all tend to gravitate to and believe sources that support already strongly held beliefs. We all also want to avoid the emotional pain and work that questioning these beliefs requires. Connecting these beliefs is the desire to have leaders we can trust so that we can just take them at their word.
Avoiding these traps takes the work to know the bias of your sources and to avoid feel-good answers.
David Hart, Torrey