Clearly, the qualities Poles admire in a secretary of state - foreign languages, diplomatic experience, even sense of humor - are emphatically not those desired in a head of state: So be it.
Anne ApplebaumRead
Birtherism surely increased Americans' distrust of politics, though in ways that are hard to pin down. By contrast, when anti-vaxxers persuade parents not to vaccinate children, the result can be sickness and even death.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote illustrates how misinformation can damage public trust and lead to severe consequences.
Anne Applebaum's quote highlights the detrimental effects of political misinformation, using the concept of 'Birtherism' to exemplify how such beliefs erode trust in political processes and figures. She contrasts this with the anti-vaccination movement, pointing out that the consequences of misleading beliefs about health can be dire, resulting in illness and death. This serves as a reminder of the power and responsibility of information in shaping societal trust and public health outcomes.
Themes
BirtherismDistrustPoliticsMisinformationVaccination
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about current political issues, this quote can highlight the dangers of misinformation.
More from Anne Applebaum
All quotes →At times when people fear death, they go along with measures that they believe, rightly or wrongly, will save them - even if that means a loss of freedom. Such measures have been popular in the past.
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Quite a lot has been written, including by me, about the effect of social media on politics, and in particular the way in which the algorithms built into Facebook and YouTube are more likely to spread angry, extremist and deliberately provocative political language.
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As a journalist, I know what it is like to incur the self-righteous wrath of people who denounce you for things you didn't say or didn't mean.
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If we can't have a public debate because the information space is so polluted, or because people are afraid of the reactions of organized trolls, then we can't really have meaningful elections anymore, either.
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Elections are always a Rorschach test - people look at the results and see what they want to see.
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