Opinion | Stop choosing to be dumb

Did you know that Hurricane Helene victims in North Carolina and Tennessee can only get $750 relief from FEMA because we’ve given too much money to migrants here illegally? 

Did you hear that FEMA is confiscating food donated to the flood victims? 

And what about the federal gub’ment condemning people’s lands after the floods so they can strip mine it for lithium? 

Hell, that’s the only reason “they” directed that hurricane up there Smoky Mountains anyway – because they wanted those people’s property for the minerals underneath – and you know “they” can control the weather, right? 

Did you know that there are bodies stacked on top of bodies up there in those mountains and ain’t nobody even doing anything? 

Oh, and another thing: did you know that the moon has disappeared … mysteriously? 

<Oy!>

It has been quite a few days on social media for the “I saw on Facebook where …” crowd. And not in a good way. 

A serious disinformation campaign – likely pushed by some foreign adversarial government – has been churning out some doozies concerning the devastation after Helene, and our army of people who will believe the government can control the weather have gobbled it up and regurgitated it all over the interwebs via angry memes, sarcastic TikToks or outraged selfie videos. 

The ridiculousness reached a fever pitch around Friday, when Alabama’s favorite weather man, James Spann, was forced to delete a Facebook post in which he simply shared a link to a FEMA fact check that refuted many of the most outrageous claims. (In a separate post, Spann later said that he also had been inundated with messages from people asking why the moon has disappeared and treating it as a conspiracy. Apparently, they were unaware of the lunar phases.)

While all of this is disgusting and embarrassing and sad, I also can’t help but marvel at the ability of those spreading disinformation in situations like this to drill down to a single, easy-to-sell point that can spread like wildfire among the dopes. 

In this case, it was the $750 thing. 

By now, you’ve probably seen it on your social media feeds at least a dozen times. It will be some version of: “American storm victims can only get $750 but there’s free hotel rooms and debit cards for illegal immigrants.” Sometimes, there’s a reference to FEMA being out of money because too much went to “illegals.” There might also be a reference to foreign aid, specifically Ukraine, or questioning if any of the countries we’ve helped in the past have offered their assistance to the people in North Carolina. 

(You know, you’d think the constant references to Ukraine, and the consistent efforts to stop American support for Ukraine, would give these people who so obviously love conspiracies a bit of pause, and maybe push them to consider who might be pushing such propaganda. But maybe they need a Russian to spell it out for them.) 

Of course, it would take less time to Google facts about the $750 payment than it does to post or share the erroneous information. I know this because I did it. And since my Google works, I found this rather easily: The $750 payments are immediate relief provided by FEMA to people in dire situations. It is a relatively new program designed to get money to people quickly so they can purchase necessities in a time of great need. 

Other assistance through FEMA-initiated programs is also available. But those programs require additional verifications and can take time to process. The $750 is nearly immediate. Some people started seeing the deposits within a couple of hours of applying. 

All of that is in addition to the thousands of people – some estimates place the total at nearly 15,000 – who have been deployed through FEMA, the National Guard, state and local agencies and qualified volunteers who have descended upon the region to offer support and assist with recovery and rescue operations. The first FEMA officials were on the ground within hours. 

Politicians from both sides of the aisle have stated publicly that the support and willingness to help and provide resources have been more than thorough at all levels. It actually appears to be a situation that Americans should take some pride in – a nation as politically divided as ever, but here, an example of everyone setting aside those differences (not even considering them, actually) in order to get aid to fellow Americans in a bad spot. 

But then, there is one guy who isn’t doing that – hasn’t been doing it from the start. He’s the Republican nominee for president and since the day he dropped into Georgia to get some PR ops with the storm victims, he’s been spreading lies about the federal government’s response – lies that even Republican governors and officials have publicly (in a rare rebuke of Trump) refuted in clear terms. 

But as much as I’d love to blame ol’ 34-felonies for the massive spreading of disinformation, it’s not on him. It’s not even on the Russians or Iranians or whoever’s pushing this BS. 

It’s on you. 

It’s on you for believing such easily disprovable horse guano. It’s on you for sharing it. It’s on you for not taking a second to look into stuff you sign your name to. It’s on you for choosing to believe the absolute worst about your fellow Americans before even bothering to see if it’s true. 

I mean, who do you think “government” is? Who do you think FEMA is? 

They’re people. Americans. Mostly Americans who live and work around you, in your communities. You know them. They know you. Hell, you probably like each other. 

But as soon as you sign into that social media account, the “government” becomes a dark cabal of America-hatin’ commies who are hell bent on evil. And the only thing standing in their way is your meme. 

It’s pathetic to watch y’all be consistently fooled by this stuff, especially when the accurate information is literally on the same device, a couple of clicks away, and you choose not to seek it out. Because in the end, all of this really comes down to choice. 

And too many people are choosing to be really, really dumb.