'Look, #Antifa is so stupid! They can't even set a car on fire!'

'Look, #Antifa is so stupid! They can't even set a car on fire!'

You may have seen a post like this on social media, accompanied by words like 'Just this morning, in my street in Hamburg/Chicago/Birmingham/Zevenaar!' and by this clip:

Besides the fact that 'just setting a car on fire' is not as easy as in the movies - and not everyone learned in school that it's not the gasoline itself that is flammable but the fumes are - this 'news'  is simply false. 

A simple 'image reverse search' teaches us that the woman in the video is so angry at her ex boyfriend that she decided to torch his car in 2020. 

You don't have to be a 'member' of Antifa to wear a hoodie and commit acts of violence. But you can show people a random street and tell them it's in your hometown without them questioning it.

The full clip (and story) is here:

It took me a bit under five minutes to do the research on this. So I find it really strange thousands of people who like to state on social media: 'Do your own research!' simply believe it was 'Antifa being dumb'. And actually believing something is true 'because I saw it on social media!' without doing any research whatsoever is smart?

'Antifa' is not an organised group but consists of thousands of groups and individuals who speak out against fascism. Strange that people who express themselves against 'Antifa' are basically calling themselves fascists. 

These two skills are required when you want to distinguish actual news from fake news, nowedays: some elementary computer skills ('How to type a question in the Google search bar') and the ability to realize that perhaps not everything you see is true.

But luckily for some demagogues quite a few people are actually stupid enough to belief literally anything you present to them as fact. If you know a stupid person (or pick a random stupid person from social media) and you happen to find yourself in one of their 'bubbles' (you both like the same sportsteam, music, conspiracy theory, food or whatever...as long as you are 'on the same team', part of the same 'tribe'), simply state some random made up fact and be amazed how many of them will actually believe what you just made up. 

If you find it difficult to lie, try stating stuff like 'I read somewhere that Oprah Winfrey is Michael Jackson's stepsister'. It won't be actual lying if you had previously written it down...

Of course 'stupid' is a rather harsh word. Let's just say 'gullible'. Or 'uneducated', 'At the back of the line when IQ's were handed out'. Or stick with 'stupid'.

Have you ever believed something someone in your 'bubble' told you to later find out it wasn't true?

 

Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon