07-11-2021, 09:47 PM
(07-11-2021, 09:06 PM)ac3r Wrote:(07-11-2021, 06:55 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: In Canada we don't have any mainstream news networks that are full on crazy like Fox. But we have plenty of fringe groups. And we have basically the same social media and talk radio nonsense going on.
Thankfully. The closest we had was Sun News Network and their ratings were abysmally bad - an average of 8000 per night. They lasted something like 4 years before the plug was pulled. I think we can be glad Canadians are pretty fair people, even when they are conservative. We have some fringe online media like Rebel News but their viewership is very low as well. Rupert Murdoch was never able to successfully penetrate the Canadian media market AFAIK which helps as well, though Tucker Carlson on Fox News has a hardon for Canada at the moment. The last few episodes of his shit TV show have had segments dedicated to whining about the loss of conservative values, made up attacks on Christians (due to <12 arsons that recently happened), some BS about how China apparently owns us and some more BS about Trudeau. It probably riles up his American viewers and maybe some Canadian Qanon types, but I don't think most Canadians would fall for his shit.
But that's the thing...most Americans were sane and rational too. ANYONE is susceptible to cult-like brainwashing if the right propaganda is applied. And the same monied interests that have been active in the US exist here also. We're just 30 years behind the US, and technology can accelerate that timeline.
We'll be out of the pandemic by then...but it's still a real risk. Keeping our policies and our parties and our politics away from that should be a top priority. It's a shame that we didn't reform our electoral system, as that would have been a significant step towards that.