Deplorable Politics: The Rise of the Far-Right

What are the psychological dynamics that make a person susceptible to propaganda? 

This week, Coup Save America welcomes David Shaw, author of the new book Deplorable Politics: Propaganda for the Brainwashed. David has applied his background in political science and psychotherapy to a career as a consultant for non-profit fundraising, but he joins us today to unravel the mystery of what makes people susceptible to manipulation and outright deception. David defines the term “propaganda” and explains to us how everybody from the media to our political parties will habitually use it to advance their agendas. He maintains that the majority of Republicans are not “deplorable”, and support progressive legislation, but these rational and reachable individuals are internalizing the deceptive messaging that skews their view of the world. He uses the example of the January 6 Capital insurrection to illustrate the four steps that make up an effective propaganda campaign. David bemoans how the word “lie” has morphed into the less accurate term “fact check”, and answers the question “Are far-right wing politics really on the rise?” 

David and Sean discuss how fiscal Republicans no longer exist, and David shares documented information suggesting that the Republican Party has no interest in addressing societal issues… and Democrats aren’t much better. As always, the conversation turns to the distorted priorities of the mainstream media, and David tells us the tips from his book about how to distinguish propaganda from legitimate journalism and talks about the keywords/terms used in headlines that are purposely designed to mislead. 

 Listen to hear the story of the propaganda surrounding global warming, and how it heavily influenced both sides of the issue…how the tobacco industry taught the world how to propagandize…and find out what area of popular science David debunks, even after his friends and family told him, “Don’t put that in your book, because nobody agrees with you!” 

To close the interview, David expands upon the psychology behind susceptibility, answering the questions, “What is recipe to create a person who will be easily influenced by propaganda?” 

and “What we can do as a society to fix people’s brains?” 

Listen to find out why we should all watch Trump’s final rally speech, and to hear the dangers of Trump’s base transferring over to DeSantis. 

Other topics include: Crazy Florida laws, how Trump’s campaign pitch is an exact copy of Hitler’s, Chinese spy balloons, and how and when Christian nationalism took a backseat to a more non-conformist attitude.