Great article and a very worthwhile read especially if, like me, you're not totally up to speed with this particular branch of craziness. I've read a few short articles about the Boogaloo movement but hadn't even heard of many of the specific examples of recent domestic terrorism. The Steven Carrillo story is particularly disturbing.
So much to unpack from this one. I advise everyone to not start their day with this one, as it is quite alarming, yet important to understand... as the fringe continues to become more mainstream.
“Stewart is now a fixture at right-wing rallies like this one, and as she spoke, she got at something undeniably true about these gatherings: This is where everyday people like her can be reborn, leaving their world behind and subscribing to a new collective truth. This is where they find fellowship with other people who are upset enough about the same things, who hold the same fears and frustrations. This is where isolation ends, where communion begins.”
The amount of variables that intertwines with the growing concern of conspiracy theories taking the hold on our sense-making abilities in the US is insurmountable. There is a peculiar idealism that seems to run thick and thin through these 'ideologies', and it is hard to delineate even what it is.
However, I believe due to the increasing personalization online (filter bubbles) when individuals navigate the web certainly does not help. The growing need/urge for community is more apparent now than ever, due to our present state, having to quarantine, social distance and so on... creating a situation where people are clinging to any source of idealism they can.
I mean to find meaning in one's life in our times, is increasingly challenging. And it is now apparent more than ever that the social architectures which dominate our informational platforms are pushing us more and more to the extreme.
So my final question then becomes what happens when the extreme, then becomes mainstream? Are we already at that point?
A sad state of affairs...
Mind blowing. This is when I think ignorance is bliss.
Great article and a very worthwhile read especially if, like me, you're not totally up to speed with this particular branch of craziness. I've read a few short articles about the Boogaloo movement but hadn't even heard of many of the specific examples of recent domestic terrorism. The Steven Carrillo story is particularly disturbing.
So much to unpack from this one. I advise everyone to not start their day with this one, as it is quite alarming, yet important to understand... as the fringe continues to become more mainstream.
The amount of variables that intertwines with the growing concern of conspiracy theories taking the hold on our sense-making abilities in the US is insurmountable. There is a peculiar idealism that seems to run thick and thin through these 'ideologies', and it is hard to delineate even what it is.
However, I believe due to the increasing personalization online (filter bubbles) when individuals navigate the web certainly does not help. The growing need/urge for community is more apparent now than ever, due to our present state, having to quarantine, social distance and so on... creating a situation where people are clinging to any source of idealism they can.
I mean to find meaning in one's life in our times, is increasingly challenging. And it is now apparent more than ever that the social architectures which dominate our informational platforms are pushing us more and more to the extreme.
So my final question then becomes what happens when the extreme, then becomes mainstream? Are we already at that point?