I saw some very dangerous and absolutely crazy ideologies take hold in education - I work in a school. I was given lesson plans showing that if girls wanted to cut their hair they were boys, and that George Floyd was murdered because he was black. Noone said a word when kids started to come into school wearing cat ears and pony tails, and despite there being readily available evidence that Iamne Khalif was a man he was still being reported by the BBC as a woman, and a marginalised one at that.
I blundered quite unsuspectingly into a conversation on Gaza - no expert am I, but I was amazed at how people were angrily and vehemently calling me a Nazi at the same time as supporting people who kidnapped and murdered Israelis. Honestly, it was baffling to me.
And we aren't chained to the BBC or the guardian or even the times or the mail now for information on which to form our opinions. I read, and listened, and frankly I think they are all a bunch of liars. I have faith and confidence in a very few independent journalists and commentators. They inform, present evidence, listen and consider, they don't align strongly with a tribe, they are respectful to people with opposite views and challenge those who they do agree with.
People change their minds when given decent arguments that hold water after respectful debate, they change their minds when given evidence and facts, and I see a lot of lying, obverscation and downright bullying from people I previously aligned with.
The same as millions of others, I will bet.
You want the pendulum to start swinging back the other way? Bloody well listen. Don't call me an idiot. Even if I didn't have an elevated IQ, I won't be won over by people telling me I am stupid and I should shit up and just think and do what they tell me.