Memes

It is a weird thing in the US, cause you have people who sorta act like:

• If the democrats are in power (the government is terrible, omg, it's so so terrible, we have to get them out of office)

• If the republicans are in power (omg I love government now, look at how they're sticking it to the libs)

And to some extent, the reverse of that as well. These days I think more are getting frustrated with the gov in general, but you still have some of those loyalists who act like it's the "wrong side" that is the problem with governance, not the system as a whole.

I'm travelling and it constantly comes up. The fact that I've been there, spoken to Uyghurs, and they've either laughed or been straight up horrified at the western narrative is apparently not evidence enough to convince most westerners. There have been exceptions, like this sweet but naive couple from Canada who's world view my girlfriend and I were able to completely change over the course of a couple of weeks.

I think for most they've convinced themselves, with the aid of a huge amount of propaganda in the form of news and TV/movies, that the west are the good guys. The thought that anything else could be the case is simply impossible to contemplate, as it would utterly shatter their world view and morals