I’m Tired of Debunking MAGA
I started this blog because I want to post about history and science. I have dozens of text documents with partially written posts and lots of notes about those subjects, and for debunking conspiracy theories and pseudoscience, and other interesting topics. But I can’t concentrate on any of that when my country is crashing and burning around me.
So I find myself spending my already limited time trying to discredit Trump’s solipsistic foibles, which are exacerbated by MAGAs repeating everything he says like it’s the gospel truth. From his outright lies to his fundamental misunderstandings of how things work, MAGAs praise him for actions that will destroy this country. I’ll probably never convince a MAGA of their folly, but I have to try.
One way MAGAs reinforce each other’s misinformation is to share memes that are either outright lies, or taken completely out of context, making them look like something they’re not. A couple examples follow.
Your kneejerk reaction upon seeing this image is, “Aha! USAid is helping Hamas!”. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
That image is a screenshot from a 2013 Video* taken during the Syrian Civil War. Someone circled USAid to make it look like something it’s not. (*Google Translated Version)
The civil war was destroying the country. Innocent people were getting burned out or run out of their homes and retreating to refugee camps. USAid was helping, and so were many NGOs.
Then ISIS came. Surely you remember that. It dominated the news. That was when aid workers had to flee for their lives. The United States and other countries were flying aid workers out of the country as fast as possible. ISIS took over the facilities left behind, because why not? They were stocked with food, medical supplies and all kinds of goodies.
Then there are variations of these Social Security memes that are beyond ridiculous. There is no truth to these at all. The best I can figure, the various fake stats in these memes are coming from Social Security’s dead files.
When a person receiving SS dies, the family is supposed to notify the SSA. The funeral director will usually also notify them. The checks are immediately stopped. When a person receiving SS gets way up there in years, the SSA starts keeping close tabs on them to make sure they know when the checks need to stop.
When a recipient dies, their SS number goes into a dead file. These files are distributed to various agencies to feed into their systems so that if someones tries to use an inactivated number, a red flag alerts.
Social Security benefits went into effect in the 1930s. The first recipients were born as far back as the 1870s. SSA didn’t start keeping their records by electronic means until the 1970s. Before that, everything was recorded on paper.
A few years ago, an effort was made to get these papers sorted out and categorized. For statistical purposes, many were grouped by the birthdates of the (long deceased) recipients. One group comprised those born in 1899 and before. Those people would certainly be more than 150 years old if they were still alive, but of course they are dead, and no checks have been mailed to them for decades.
Those are only two examples. It’s impossible for me to keep up. I can’t debunk everything.
In closing, I want to address those who are also trying to debunk some of the nonsense. Be extremely careful that the information you share is accurate. If you try to debunk a falsehood with a fact that isn’t precisely true, MAGAs will turn it back on you, then they won’t listen to anything you have to say.
