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- Photo, Shutterstock. Helen's Place LLC Analyzes what's Working in America going into the 2024 election season
Helen’s Place LLC Update: February 15, 2024
At the end of 2023, many Americans wondered when the veil of lies would be removed, or if America was destined to remain a culture in a trash heap.
But all is not lost, because people are carrying on everywhere, from all walks of life and doing great things. It’s just that good news is underreported and you have to look for it.
This article is about salvaging what’s still working in America as the foundation to build on in 2024 and beyond – which includes where to find people with honesty and integrity, and reliable sources of information.
Marking the End of 2023 is:
- The hideous suffering and ongoing destruction, from the Ukrainian-Russian and Israeli-Hamas Wars – with no end in sight for either war.
- Gun violence in America at an all-time high including the shooting of children, minorities, and immigrants, and by self-inflicted wounds.
- Facts blurred by people around the world accepting false information, without caring as long as it fit their narrative – and thereby making the “unreal” become “real.”
- Trends accelerating the disinformation age, with artificial intelligence entering the mainstream in the form of Microsoft application ChatGPT in March 2023, as well as hard to detect AI audio/visual deep fakes by the end of the year.
- Women threatened because of personal choices to have abortions and fight for reproductive rights.
The Future and What’s Consistently True
Fairness will always be tested. Those on the middle path will insist on finding solutions to impossible problems that require bravery. Frequently, fair-minded people will be ridiculed and considered naïve.
Narrowminded, black and white type people with an “eye for an eye” mentality, will always try to marginalize and/or persecute others who don’t agree with them.
As the decades churn by, many things will be invented that require humans to adjust, like the use of artificial intelligence (AI) applications.
Societies haven’t even begun to catch up with how to deal with artificial intelligence, let alone future technology.
Fact checking social media applications to identify and label false information and propaganda (without impinging on free speech rights), will continue to get worked out.
Hopefully in the future, legitimate media sources will get better at rooting out fraud and alerting the public – especially reaching those without the skills and discernment to tell fact from fiction on their own – like the very young and elderly.
Just as President Lincoln prevailed at preserving democracy and ending slavery, so too will the U.S. stay on its path toward freedom and justice for all – while adapting to change.
In this vane:
It’s just as important to discuss the successes at preserving our democracy, as it is our failures, because we need hope to remain in action toward the future.
Takeaways from 2023: What Worked in America
- Americans watched and read a lot, and gathered with friends and family to discuss it. Some focused on striking a balance between time spent online and in personal activities like hiking, walking, and being in nature. Unplugging from social media became something worth doing.
- Independent writers and journalists alerted us to the efforts being made to bring down our democracy, and saving it became an important issue.
- Experts on authoritarianism like Anne Applebaum and Timothy Snyder were frequent guests on news shows. Their books including Twilight of Democracy, and On Tyranny respectively, were mentioned frequently.
- Social media platforms were created to take the place of Twitter, after its format was changed from its original form by new owner Elon Must. New social media platforms included Thread, Jack Dorsey’s Bluesky, and Tribal, to name a few.
- Historians like Michael Beschloss, gave us perspective through historical comparisons with present day America and past history.
- Publications like The Atlantic, New York Times and ProPublica, provided reliable news and watchdog reporting on multiple subjects affecting America, including democracy, politics and the 2024 election.
- Traditional networks provided old fashioned news coverage on ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS and CNN. Here journalists made an effort to sort out what was true and false in the news, and provided fact checks and tips to protect people from scams.
- Accurate analysis of political news was delivered by Rachel Maddow and Jen Psaki on MSNBC. Alex Witt provided in depth news coverage on her weekend MSNBC news program.
- Shows like CNN’s “Reliable Sources” with Brian Stelter – morphed into other forms like a Vanity Fair podcast – “In the Hive.” Another podcast, “The Daily” from the New York Times kept up with in depth reporting about topics that matter.
- Law enforcement agencies worked overtime to identify and diffuse terrorist threats. The military protected American interests around the world, while reminding us that freedom is not free.
- Legal scholars and judges like Michael Luttig, talked about the dangers Trump posed to our democracy. Legal experts like Andrew Weissmann and Mary McCord discussed the lawsuits against Donald Trump and other right-wing conspiracy theorists.
Tolerant Religious leaders reminded people to remain open minded toward those with differing viewpoints.
The Dalai Lama, for example, for years has showed kindness and respect toward Chinese American journalists and the Chinese people. Pope Francis allowed blessings to LGTBQ unions for the first time.
2024 and Beyond – Democracy Improvement List:
1. Support the free press, government institutions, and the judicial system because although these systems aren’t perfect, they’re the foundation American democracy stands on.
2. Improve the social media world to include labeling AI generated content as “computer generated.”
3. Support efforts to identify Facebook, Instagram, Fox News and other unreliable sources of information, in the “tabloid journalism” category that is entertaining but not taken seriously. Instead, focus on fact-based platforms for discussing humanitarian solutions to real problems.
4. Promote responsible actions to preserve free speech while discouraging book banning, hate speech, disinformation and misinformation.
5. Defend human rights and identify work arounds to support people whose rights are being violated. This includes women doing whatever they can to control their own bodies including stockpiling contraceptives and abortion pills just in case, or moving to communities and states supportive of women’s rights.
6. Figure out constructive solution to problems like immigration, poverty, violence and mental illness – holding that:
We shouldn’t allow people to harm themselves or each other physically or mentally; we find housing for people rather than let them live and die on the streets; and we provide resources to counteract addiction.
7. Spend less time and money on irresponsible or unimportant actions – like trying to defund the IRS when we need revenue to pay for society’s needs, or defunding the police when we need security.
8. Keep the faith that America will prevail because although it isn’t a Utopia, we know through our hard fought wars, that democracy and human rights are worth fighting for.
9. Hope that accurate information gets through the social media noise, and Americans make good decisions at the polls in 2024 to pick the best of the available candidates to lead America.
Related audio/video recording:
Interview pointing out the difficulty in choosing a president in 2024.“Katie Couric talks with Laurence Tribe, professor emeritus of constitutional law at Harvard University, about whether the 14th Amendment prevents Donald Trump from running for president. They also discuss the state and federal trials that Trump is facing.”
YouTube, Katie Couric, November 18, 2023, “Does the 14th Amendment Prohibit Donald Trump from Running for President?”
Other related articles you may be interested in:
What to do about combating the negative impacts from social media.
Helen’s Place LLC, May 11, 2022, “How To Develop Independent Thinkers.”
Pope Francis exemplifying religious tolerance of all people to make a better world.
Reuters, Philip Pullela, December 18, 2023, “Vatican approves blessings for same-sex couples in landmark ruling.”
Helen’s Place LLC is an information and educational materials company celebrating English Language Arts, Cognitive Science and the love of birds.
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