A letter to non-readers of RT

by Tom J. Wellbrock

I am still addressing you directly because I would like to ask you to forward my little letter to people who believe that they are fully and truthfully informed by public and comparable media. It is you who we need to reach, and I know that you could potentially get yourself into trouble because you didn’t write this letter, but the “messenger” will be shot at, that is, you. Blame everything on me!

If you think that reading the following letter can make a small difference, I would be happy if you would pass it on.

Thank you!

Dear media users,

Maybe you know the Asch experiment. It consists of a group of subjects who are shown a vertical line. At a short distance to the right, three more lines are shown, one of which has the same length as the reference line. The participants in the group are asked which of the lines on the right corresponds to the length of the one on the left. Their answers are identical.

The point is that one of the test subjects does not know that the others were previously initiated. Their job is to initially give correct answers, but after a few runs to suddenly declare the wrong line to be correct. At first glance, this line is wrong and clearly not the one with the right length, but the informed test subjects give the wrong answer with full conviction.

The unwitting test subject is now in a bind. On the one hand, she recognizes that her colleagues’ answers are wrong. On the other hand, she is reluctant to step out of the group’s conformity. There are people who do not bow to this kind of social pressure and do not let their perception dissuade them. But there are also those who choose the wrong answer because they don’t want to attract attention within the group or even think that there is something wrong with their perception.

And what does that have to do with you?

You probably already suspect or know it. This is about peer pressure, which can seem anywhere from harmless to massive. I want to write to you about massive peer pressure, pressure that has been built up in the context of the current Ukraine war.

You may already stumble over the term “current Ukraine war”. Is there anyone other than the one that is talked about and written about every day? I will answer this question for you now, but not in the detail that is actually necessary. I’ll also explain why I’m not giving this long version of the answer.

First of all: yes. The current war in Ukraine is not the starting point of Ukraine’s big problem. It is terrible (all wars are terrible!), it must be ended, it leads to daily deaths and more suffering the longer it lasts. But it started back in 2014. Well, you may have heard or read that. But you’ve probably been told that the Russians attacked Ukraine back then. Let me put it this way: This is wrong, it’s a lie!

What you also hear and read every day is that only military gain for Ukraine is a solution. Because if Russia wins, Russia (Putin, of course Putin) would continue with its imperial policy and invade more countries, possibly even Germany.

You probably hear and read every day that our freedom is being defended in Ukraine, that a defeat for Ukraine would also mean a defeat for us, for democracy, for human rights and freedom.

You certainly hear and read that more weapons would lead to peace, that people die every day that Germany doesn’t deliver Taurus missiles.

I would like to ask you a few questions in connection with these allegations. Instead, I could of course talk with a little condescension about what’s wrong with the claims, I’m pretty deep into the topic, so that would be possible. But what would it do for you? Probably nothing. You might feel patronized, you might think that this is a “Putin troll” speaking who is paid from Moscow anyway (which, by the way, is not the case). Something like that would be possible.

I would like to ask you the following questions:

1. Why was the outbreak of war not prevented in advance?

2. How can a war with its constant prolongation through arms deliveries be shortened?

3. How can Russia (Putin) invade other countries when he still hasn’t managed to win in Ukraine?

4. Why was Ukraine forced to choose between a partnership with Russia or the West in 2014, when mutual cooperation would have been just as conceivable?

5. After the change of government in Ukraine in 2014, why was the Russian language almost immediately banned in the country?

6. Why was that change of government in Ukraine illegitimate (keyword: coup)?

7. Why have negotiations not taken place to date, even though a negotiated solution was already on the table in March after the current outbreak of war?

8. Why is the investigation into the blowing up of the Nord Stream pipelines not being pursued in Germany?

9. Why are people who support peace negotiations defamed in Germany?

10.Why does our Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (the Greens) only know the language of escalation, even though she is the country’s chief diplomat?

Of course, it is possible that not all questions seem useful to you or that you consider them unimportant or already answered. I would like to ask you not to assume this, but instead to do your own research. Which media you use for this research is of course up to you, but my recommendation would be to choose the broadest possible spectrum from which you can then form an idea.

Finally, I would like to return to the Asch experiment. In this experiment, it was the group that caused the individual to abandon his or her belief. What we – and you too – experience through politics and the media is comparable to the psychological experiment mentioned above. However, there is something more.

A group of influential and opinionated personalities have decided – in consultation or not, that’s not relevant – to present you with a line that is the right length, but which, upon closer inspection, turns out to be shorter or longer. The longer you look at this line and the more people confirm that it is the right one, the more willing you are to accept this deception.

In the case of reporting on Ukraine, there is an additional aspect that ultimately makes it impossible for you to deviate from what is being told: repetition. In addition to the pressure to classify a wrong line as the right one, the constant repetition of this request renders resistance somewhat futile.

Finally, I would like to encourage you to look at my little letter critically and look for errors or contradictions. Critical media literacy begins right here, with this letter. If you discover errors or contradictions, talk about it with people you trust. I don’t claim to be completely correct.

But I would also like to ask you not to stop your critical assessment with this letter, but – on the contrary – to really get started now. Because interest, curiosity and the recognition of new perspectives and facts are a deeply exciting matter.

And the smallest thing we can all agree on is that this war must end as quickly as possible.

Tom J. Wellbrock is a journalist, speaker, copywriter, podcaster, moderator and co-editor of the blog new territory rebels.

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