• Candelestine@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    No, he’s not a cause. He’s a symptom. This is an example of “great man history”, where Murdoch is seen as somehow special, and if we had prevented him from fucking shit up, things would be fine.

    I would argue that if he didn’t do it, someone else would’ve, because it’s a systemic problem, and he is just one example of it, just like Trump. They are not the cause of illness, but a symptom of illness.

    • _cerpin_taxt_@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Dude literally created the 24 hour news cycle and the dogshit that has been destroying the US for the last few decades. You think all those people would have gathered on January 6th without Faux News telling them the election was stolen?

      • Candelestine@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I’m not really confident enough to say. Like all things with society, its very complex, an equation with dozens or hundreds of variables, not just a few.

        There’s a lot of theories though, income inequality and expanding corporate influence are commonly attributed factors. It’s really the rise of populism that we’re looking at, and that’s ultimately rooted in citizen dissatisfaction. That’s what opens the door for people like Murdoch and Trump in the first place.

        • NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Yes Murdoch and Trump, two billionaires that use media to manipulate people into thinking billionaires are their friends; “job creators”. You’re right that if it wasn’t Murdoch it may have been someone else, but it was him and he objectively moved public discourse further towards the pro-business, pro-wealth hoarding, anti-union world we live in.