Information, or disinformation? That is the question. An acquaintance surprised me with the news that New York City is handing out $10,000 debit cards to migrants. Impossible, I thought, but my acquaintance heard it on the news. At home I checked on the internet. Credible news sources, such as the Associated Press, identified the root of this disinformation on Instagram and set the record straight: yes, debit cards are issued to migrants, but only for $12.52 per day for 28 days to purchase meals, a measure that stretches NYC’s dollars farther (if NYC were to feed the migrants itself) and stimulates the local economy. That sounds reasonable to me.

The Institute for the Study of War has concluded that Russia can only win the war in Ukraine by sapping U.S. and Western resolve to finance aid to Ukraine. Its weapon of choice: disinformation. For example, the Russians would like us to believe that military aid to Ukraine is too expensive given U.S. budget deficits. In reality, that aid in 2023 was less than 0.5% of our defense budget. Much of this gets spent in the U.S., employing U.S. workers. Imagine the cost to us in terms of defense spending and global economic recession if Ukraine falls and the war spreads to Europe.

We are daily being bombarded by dangerous, deliberately divisive disinformation. Much of this, including from the MAGA wing of the Republican Party, is designed to undermine our faith in our democracy. Our ability as citizens to tell information from disinformation is a patriotic act, our country’s first line of defense, and essential to the survival of our democracy. Letting ourselves be swayed by bad foreign and internal actors is a recipe for disaster.

 

John Guarnaccia

Waldoboro

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