It's not the dumb people who are the problem. It's the midwits, the redditors, IQ 90-120. These people are dumb enough to fall for the same scams over and over and smart enough to convince themselves being scammed is virtuous.
I don't think it's intelligence that is the issue here. I know some really really dumb people who see right through the COVID narrative. Many just have so much narcissistic confidence that they don't care what anyone thinks of them whatsoever and trust their instincts. I doubt that I'm of any exceptional intelligence. I just grew up with a big brother who taught me to recognize propoganda and question authority. He's lost now unfortunately. I think the problem is people completely disregarding everything they feel, think, and see because they believe so strongly that "the experts know better." And caring so much what their neighbor thinks that they will put their life and dignity on the back burner to please them.
Nope, the midwit is easiest to con. When I was a salesmen there was a running "joke" that salesmen were the easiest to sell to. I didn't get it at the time, but it's because people who settle into a career as a salesmen are midwits. The are smart enough to do emotional manipulation, but rarely smart enough to resist it.
Dumb people are often see through propaganda because they can't follow the convoluted logic necessary for it to work. Take Fent Floyd. The dumb guy says "That nigger was resisting. You don't resist. They'll just beat you until you comply." This is how he interacts with the world. The midwit tries to be clever. "How do I make myself seem smart and enlightened by lionizing this crimenigger?" he thinks. "The police should have been able to subdue him by quoting Marx and making appeals to the solidarity of the working man and his oppression by evil capitalists." The other midwits are impressed because they can't poke holes in this novel solution. They all cheer and put #BLM in their bio to show how superior they are to the dumb man. The smart man says, "You don't quote Marx to a crimenigger who is resisting, that wont work. You beat his retarded monkey ass until he complies."
A key component to the reddit/mitwit mindset is they want to be superior. Especially to the strawman of "dumb" right-wing Christians from flyover country. It's not just that they are of middling intelligence, there are plenty of average right wing Christians from flyover country. It's the midwittery mixed with arrogance that makes liberals so stupid and easy to fool. The have to "trust the experts" because they can't verify and trusting your gut is what dumb people do. They have to 100% agree with the brainwashed herd, because without constant validation their beliefs fall apart. The smart and the stupid have no use for consensus, they care about what's true.
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