Misinformation

This Seems Like a Good Time to Go Over Some Basic Facts

Really basic. Think grade school.

Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash

A fairly large swath of society doesn’t believe in facts. They prefer to believe things that are provably false, patently bullshit, and flagrantly wrong. So this seems like a good time to go over some basic facts.

1. People who are different than you are still people. Someone with different skin color is a person. Someone with a different gender is a person. Someone who worships a different deity, or no deity at all, is a person. Calm the f*** down about people who are different.
2. Speaking of gender, gender, and sex are not the same thing. Sex is biological, gender is fluid. We are all born with a biological sex, but many people feel their gender and sex don’t match. And that’s okay.
3. Reading books will not turn your kids into communists. Reading books will not turn your kids gay or trans. Let your kids learn about the world around them, and encourage their intellectual curiosity. You don’t want them to grow up to be Ted Cruz.
4. Critical Race Theory is not being taught in preschool, contrary to whatever Marjorie Jewish Space Lasers Taylor Greene thinks. CRT is primarily taught in law school which most 5-year-olds aren’t even thinking about yet. Except for that one kid who carries his dad’s old briefcase and argues about everything. He’s thinking about law school.
5. Climate is different than the weather. Climate change is long-term, while the weather is what’s happening today. For example, our weather today is a high of 30 degrees with a 15-MPH wind. Doing the math, this means it feels like we’re living on Uranus. Stop giggling.
6. The Confederacy lost the Civil War. Those stupid flags are a symbol of hate and racism, not “history.”
7. ANTIFA and BLM did not storm the Capitol on January 6. Those angry, violent people were Trump supporters, incited by Trump, emboldened by Trump, and adored by Trump. Oh, and Trump lost the election. He’s going to lose in 2024, too.
8. (TW) The vast majority of pedophiles identify as heterosexual. The LGBTQ+ community is not grooming your children or molesting little kids in public restrooms. You’re thinking of Catholic priests and football coaches and Boy Scout leaders.
9. The VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System) is not monitored by the CDC. Someone who gets hit by a car the day after they receive a flu vaccine can pop over to VAERS and write that the flu vaccine was responsible for them getting hit by a car. Anti-vaxxers use VAERS to lie about the COVID vaccine and to falsely inflate the number of vaccine injuries and deaths.
10. We all need to get our news from reputable sources. Honestly, if we did that, the other nine things on this list wouldn’t be an issue. Don’t just read the headline, read the entire article. When you see something that seems off, research it. Call out clickbait and false claims. Be part of the solution, not the problem. Spread facts, not lies.

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