I don't think most observers, even those who understand the importance of propaganda to the rise of Trumpism in US political life, understand how important the establishment of a state of false "unreality" is to an ongoing fascist project. You can learn a lot about how this works by studying interwar Germany and the rise of the Nazi party, but since mainstream understanding of Nazism in broader US society pretty much doesn't start until Hitler invaded Poland, or worse, the Nazi regime started conducting the Holocaust, the extreme lengths fascists in Germany went to propagandize to and indoctrinate people, young people in particular, is rarely examined to provide context to our modern "fascist moment" under Trump. This has created a media environment where even the most crass, pro-Trump cult of personality propaganda efforts are reported mostly in the context of flattering Downmarket Mussolini's massive ego, with little focus on the downstream cultural effects of these efforts to mainstream fascist ideology, glorify a would-be dictator, and alter the understood historical record of our society.
This lack of attention to historically documented details is also exacerbated by the very human tendency to externalize our experiences; because most adult observers in our discourse understand Trump cultists are lying, even folks who continue to actively support the regime, the assumption is that other people also know that these distortions, lies, and revisions are propaganda too. The problem with this theory is that is presumes a well informed US public, and in particular it totally ignores young people who are not necessarily equipped with the baseline knowledge and lived experience that allows them to identify propaganda, fascist or otherwise.
You know who doesn't ignore the malleability of young people's opinions when they don't have the knowledge or lived experience to know they're being manipulated? Fascist regimes, including fascist regimes like the one Trump is running. In fact, they're actively relying on indoctrinating young people to generate long term support for their enforced unreality and a permanently-fascist society. Which is of course why recent reports that the GOP controlled government of Oklahoma will begin teaching Trump's "big lie" about the 2020 election being stolen (among many other ahistorical obscenities') as fact, should alarm the crap out of you.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/17/oklahoma-high-schools-election-conspiracy-theories
Oklahoma high schools to teach 2020 election conspiracy theories as fact
"After a group of parents, educators and other Oklahoma school officials worked to develop the new social studies standards, Walters assembled an executive committee consisting mostly of out-of-state pundits from conservative thinktanks to revise them. He said he wanted to focus more on American exceptionalism and incorporate the Bible as an instructional resource.
Among those Walters appointed to the review committee were Kevin Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation and a key figure in its Project 2025 blueprint for a conservative presidential administration, and Dennis Prager, a radio talkshow host who founded Prager U, a conservative non-profit that offers “pro-American” educational materials for children that some critics say are not accurate or objective.
In a statement to the Associated Press, Walters defended teaching students about “unprecedented and historically significant” elements of the 2020 presidential election."
Folks who aren't familiar with politics in Oklahoma or unhinged fascist cultists who worship Trump may not be familiar with state school superintendent Ryan Walters, but calling him an "ideologue" really doesn't cover how committed to the Trump regime's enforced unreality he is. This is the guy behind Oklahoma's wasteful and corrupt purchase of Trump-branded Bibles, as well as a Project 2025 style plan to restore "religious education" to Oklahoma public schools; he's also a big proponent of new innovations in making taxpayers support religious charter schools.
As the article notes, in addition to teaching the Big Lie as fact in Oklahoma schools, Walters also wants to teach kids that Covid came from a lab in China and "remove education about Black Lives Matter and George Floyd’s murder," just in case you were worried he might not be racist enough. In other words, it's safe to say that indoctrinating kids with horrifying reactionary ideas that support an objectively fascist agenda, is pretty much Ryan's jam.
Finally it should be noted that teachers in Oklahoma told The Guardian that these guidelines still leave room to teach kids the truth; but I think that's a rather naïve position that ignores the purpose of this project. Fascists in Oklahoma are establishing an official narrative for reality, and you can bet your ass that they're not going to tolerate public workers teaching in opposition to that "reality" for long.
