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IDK, I think there are a lot of pretentious idiots who refuse to engage in good faith discussions without any direct ties to any foreign governments. People adamantly hold on to all kinds of stupid opinions and argue fervently for them.
So it's hard to tell who the foreign operatives are if regular people are willing to spread disinformation without any kind of compensation.
True, but the people funding disinformation operations believe they're making a difference, and anti-disinformation operations like Bellingcat agree with them.
I think a better way to view is that malicious actors have managed to weaponize the "pretentious idiots" you referred to, making them an integral part of their propaganda strategy. They're useful idiots working for foreign governments without even knowing it, and the way they're manipulated and amplifying deliberate propaganda makes them far more influential than they would be if they were just spewing their own personal idiocy.
That's fair. My point is that the person you're talking to is unlikely to be a foreign operative, so calling them on their BS (if you do it well) could have enough of a ripple effect to get others to ignore them.
It's a huge pain, and it's not something anyone will ever win, but I think it's important. It's a lot easier to neutralize an idiot than a professional.
I prefer to add a dose of spicey humour or sweet idiocy to my conspiracies to keep the real spies off my tail