Digging into Russia’s interference in the US election, Trump’s collusion with said interference, TOS violations of Cambridge Analytica, or the role of FB’s ads and news feed products in creating perverse incentives and outcomes in our lives - is all worthwhile.
However they’re all sideshows.
Trump is our fault.
All these other actors simply exploited fundamental flaws in our thinking and our society.
Money in politics, gerrymandering, failed education and healthcare systems, massive and growing economic disparity, tabloid journalism, glorification of celebrity, spineless leaders, pernicious voter ID laws, mass incarceration, an inactive liberal voter base that’s more interested in fighting amongst themselves than the true enemies of progressive society - on and on.
These are the real enemies and the true root causes. Everything else is basically just scapegoating.
In short: Trump didn’t win because of the Russians or Facebook. He won because of a decades long campaign against empathy, fairness and rational thinking in America.