Untwisting Reality

Backfire Effect: Biting The Hand that Feeds You

• By Poetry X
• 5 August, 2015
• No Comments

By owning most of the media they [the wealthy elite] have expertly convinced many Americans of few means to buy their version of the American Dream and to vote for their politicians . . . They will play these stories for you over and over again all day long so that the last thing you will want to do is upset the apple cart — because you — yes, you, too! — might be rich/president/an Oscar-winner some day! The message is clear . . . be sure to vote for the party that protects the rich man that you might be some day.

Michael Moore – America is not broke – March 5th 2011

That Michael Moore’s quote we can easily apply it in the situation of Latin America. These groups in Latin America are no necessarily only conservatives, but have a tendency in that direction. Just take into account Ecuador’s protests against two reforms that will affect only the upper 2% of the population. However, some people from the middle class are protesting to protect those who always have been their oppressors. In addition, one of the main characters leading the violent protests is andres paez, a politician who in the past leaded the most important social leftist party in Ecuador. It’ is important to know andres paez is a Cheveron’s representative in Ecuador and receives payments to act on their behalf.

However, let’s examine this phenomenon of people in the middle class reacting against their own interests. It was Philosopher David Hume who said “Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions.” Hence, studies reveal we cannot expect people to be rational. There is always a sizable portion of the population that guides their belief system based on fears, hate and prejudices – these people will fight for their “safe” reduced comfort zones. It is at this population that the media and power entities aim with their rhetoric [Motivated Numeracy and Enlightened Self-Government].

A better way to understand this phenomenon in Latin America we can relate it to the expression “the house negro” as described by Malcolm X when a person who is victim of injustice feels identified with his own oppressor. We also could refer to the “souther strategy” since the media induces the middle class to feel identified with the fears of the elites, which is what is happening in Ecuador with the new reforms that affect only the supper rich but some people of the middle class have taken the streets to protest those laws.

There are multiple experiments with various wedge issues such as health care reform, gun control, gay marriage, climate change, sex education, the drug war, stem cell research and tax reform, and corrections tended to increase the strength of the participants’ misconceptions if corrections contradicted their ideologies [AlterNet Mar 3-2015].

As we can see, cognitive dissonance is prevalent effect on conservative groups, so they are an easier and more dependable target on coined issues. That’s why advertising dedicates its resources in taking advantage of this situation. But beyond that, the people in control of those industries being promoted by advertising tend to have a political agenda against the common good – the owners defend only their common interest. We can see how social media and advertising implant data that generate cognitive dissonance ins what is called “the backfire effect.”

The media use of what psychologists call “narrative scripts” which are stories for people to confirm their misbeliefs based on fear and even hate. The scientific studies are clear – people simply believe stupid stuff, even when they’re confronted with the truth. In this way the “backfire effect” causes, when people’s convictions are challenged by contradictory evidence, their beliefs get rather stronger.

Coming back to the violent protest in Ecuador. By no means I am accusing the so called conservatives, victims of the backfire effect, to be the violent part of those protests. Those provoking violences are at times hired mercenaries to cause destabilization.