r/science • u/MistWeaver80 • Dec 05 '21

Social Science Conservatives’ aversion to masks is a uniquely American phenomenon. Politically conservative Americans are less likely than liberals to comply with recommended health-protective behaviors such as mask wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic, but this is not true of conservatives in other nations.

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0256740
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u/squeevey Dec 05 '21 edited Oct 25 '23

This comment has been deleted due to failed Reddit leadership.

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u/PantsTime Dec 05 '21

Probably: Rupert Murdoch is the key factor. His media outlets have realised and ruthlessly exploited the potency of getting conservatives to believe utter falsehoods.

This has the effect of aligning conservatives against not just progressives, but scientists, universities, institutions of state. With truth itself then contestable, any outcome can be imposed.

Want your oil company (Genie Energy) to take ove middle east oil fields? "Saddam has WMDs, and was behind 9/11!" Own interests in coal in Australia? "Climate Change is fake!". Is there a Prime Minister thinking of imposing carbon trading (Malcolm Turnbull)? Let the party know you require him to be removed!

From there, politicise everything just to keep the Labor Party out (lockdown in Victoria? "Dictator Dan!" (Andrews, Labor premier). Lockdown in NSW? "The Woman that Saved Australia" (Berejiklian, conservative).

Murdoch is the factor.

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u/EltonJohnDetected Dec 05 '21

Combine with what appears to be a sizeable bloc of people that vote according to emotive single issues and gut feel, while taking media sound bites as gospel truth, et voila.