I don't really know a lot of right wing people.

[futurebird@sauropods.win]

Public perceptions of crime are wildly disconnected from objective measures of harm. It is possible to create a crime wave in the public imagination simply by reporting on a series of mundane crimes in a sensational way.

Right wing new sources have always presented a steady march of examples of "immigrant crime" each and every petty robbery is reported and linked to a broader pattern and this can make people feel like they are under siege.

2/

[futurebird@sauropods.win]

This can happen on the left too. And it's not always dishonest or manipulative. For example, telling the individual stories, one after another of people snatched by ICE who totally fail to fit the promised stereotype of "worst of the worst" makes the operation look bankrupt. It illustrates the statistics and is absolutely needed to help the public understand what is happening.

But reporting on every guy named Juan who robbed a McDonald's isn't illustrating anything. 3/

[futurebird@sauropods.win]

We understand crime through specific events that we hear about and things that we see not through statistics. Mostly from the former since happily, most people do not experience crime directly.

It has always been a lie to say that there are "millions of criminal illegals" Thus, if ICE will deport, disappear "millions" most of them can not be "criminal."

I can almost understand being fooled into jingoism by news coverage that makes an "immigrant crime wave" seem real. 4/

[gbargoud@masto.nyc]

@futurebird

I haven't found it again but at some point I saw a graph comparing NY Post articles about crimes to crime rates to show that in a "crime wave" they always put in a lot more articles per crime

[futurebird@sauropods.win]

I think about the people in Madison Square Garden with their "Mass Deportation Now" signs. This is what "Mass Deportation" means. Stephen Miller knows that doing Mass Deportation means abusing and vanishing people who your average person would not find at all criminal. He knows what he's signed up to do.

I hope that this isn't true for many of the people holding the signs. I hope that as they see how this MUST work they will recoil in horror.

5/

[ambulocetus@mefi.social]

@futurebird Narrative is a powerful way to affect opinions and beliefs, especially for Right Wingers. If you explain to them that crime is actually down and you show them facts and statistics, it will bounce right off of them. But if you can tell them a story that weaves those facts into a narrative with a conclusion that makes your point, they will be much more open to it.

[dianea@lgbtqia.space]

@futurebird

I work with right wing nuts. They really believe this nonsense. And these people are not known for intelligence. A few might have college degrees, but the degree was in "sports" which a drunk football player can pass. I once dated a college teacher that was forced to pass them. I've seen a few go through the justice system and seen the files, typically have a documented IQ less than 75. But they have strong NPD traits and talk all day how they and trump are geniuses.

I want to escape this country.

[futurebird@sauropods.win]

I'm so proud of the people of Minneapolis.

In your puffer jackets and snow boots your rejection of having your neighbors taken, your unwillingness to just walk by and assume that "while it might look bad the government must have a good reason for doing it"

It makes me proud to be an American with you.

6/6

[whitemice@mastodon.social]

@futurebird I'm in a second tier American mid-west city and chair of the neighborhood association. Public perceptions of crime are indeed completely disconnected from reality, and they are astonishingly static. At this point I believe a belief in pervasive-crime-danger is some kind of psychological need, and one that political leaders know they can jack into [and so they do, even some of the "progressive" ones].

[futurebird@sauropods.win]

@dianea

OK. But do they really think that "crime is down" --is anyone buying that?

Even when crime is *really* down it's hard to get people to agree with that line. The public tends to think "crime is getting worse" regardless of what is really happening with actual crimes.

The fear of crime is an important element in creating permission to excuse state violence. eg. "It is so sad that those poor people were shot but we live in such dangerous times."

[riley@toot.cat]

@futurebird That's the non-courtly people's version of Presumption of Regularity. All gone now, at least in Minnesota (but it kind of seems like also at lest in parts of Texas).

[futurebird@sauropods.win]

@riley

What's "all gone now" I don't know if I follow?

[riley@toot.cat]

@futurebird Well, it certainly seems like the Minnesotans don't expect the federal government to behave in the regular manner. Thus, the presumption has gone away.

[whitemice@mastodon.social]

@futurebird
The perceptions of crime between people is extremely polar; people either believe in pervasive danger or they think its a minor problem.
Seated at a table with some city compatriots, of mixed gender, and public transit users, the consensus was that they all felt the city and neighborhoods were extremely safe. Most had __"never"__ felt unsafe while moving about the city.
And then there are the other conversations I have...

[futurebird@sauropods.win]

@dianea

And I will push back on the idea that education explains this. I know many people without degrees, people who never had the opportunity. They are capable of recognizing that pulling a crying child from his father as they scream in fear isn't the correct way to address a civil matter of incomplete immigration papers.

The violence is unwarranted. The targets are innocent. The spectacle of it is disgusting and brings shame to the American state.

[dianea@lgbtqia.space]

@futurebird

I found educating those from the right are very difficult to educate. They report what I say to their peers, who reaffirm the message they are given. And I become shunned from their peers. Which is good, but they put a lot of organized effort to take over the companies I worked at. They always fail, incompetence usually gets them, sometimes federal prison for embezzlement.

[riley@toot.cat]

@futurebird Now, if there was some reporting on every dude named Steven who stole a biology textbook ...

[run_atalanta@beige.party]

@dianea
There is an amazing disconnect with reality, and "what those words really mean."

Yesterday I was behind this collection of convoluted comprehension (photo).

They obviously are not deep thinkers. They just accept the propaganda. Things that whisper sweet little lies. They happily wear the uniform of christofascism.

And no, I only know what these people have told me, with their chosen appearance.

@futurebird

[happytobe@mastodon.social]

@futurebird The people I know believe crime is way up in other geographic areas. They have that perception based on news entertainment shows that highlite a horrible crime by an immigrant or person of color on a daily basis. Usually, it does not occur to them to wonder why similar crimes don't exist in their own geographic area. When they do notice, they chalk it up to the area's conservative values and strong police force which is not an accurate representation.

[run_atalanta@beige.party]

@futurebird

They only see the crime that is "against white people of acceptable social status."

They absolutely DoNotSee the crimes against the white homeless, white women, and of course, all the violence being perpetrated against BIPOC in the name of "safety."

Black-on-Black violence? Waved off with the hand. It only exists on the news to reinforce their sense of superiority. They cannot see cause and effect. They don't want to examine their own miserable lives, so thinking about the true cause of societal violence is far too much. They'd much rather jail the black man stealing diapers and formula at convenience store and pay for his incarceration at a private profit prision, than have those same dollars help his family have social services.

My broad assumption is that it's a continued abuse cycle. Just like 'rump, spoiled, always been feed & housed, but abused kids with daddy/mommy issues were once the punching bag, now want their turn to be the aggressor.

I honestly believe, if these jerks had grown up risking their life to leave the house, because literal four-legged predators or large winged dinosaurs might snatch them up, they would have learned community and empathy. Or something resembling that.

The best people I've known, have been those who live in poor neighborhoods, and truly care for their literal neighbors. *sigh*

I wish I could be as caring as those I've met, but still have much of my own parental indoctrination to overcome, but I try.

@dianea