Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

keep_left

(2,696 posts)
10. This is basically the "mainstreaming" of alt-right fascism...
Sat Jan 18, 2025, 05:33 PM
Jan 18

...the kind of thing one more typically sees on internet cesspools like 4chan/8chan/8kun/whatever-the-hell-they-call-it-now. But over time, even fringe ideas become more acceptable, particularly when such ideas are deliberately made more palatable for the masses. Consequently, alt-right "thought" (such as it is) has now become sufficiently familiar and acceptable to MAGA chuds that it is often now consumed nearly full-strength, with only a minimum of dilution. Far-right "intellectuals" are now emboldened to say what they really think, with only modest editing (e.g. overt anti-Semitism is still largely taboo in MAGA world).

Journalist David Neiwert has written about this process--how really whacked-out ideas start out on the lunatic fringe, but over many months (or more typically, years), the rough edges get filed down as these ideas are passed along to more "respectable" cultural outposts...

...[JD Vance] has been caught essentially plagiarizing alt-right rhetoric, delivering it directly to Trump fans in his speeches. This also serves to short-circuit the "mainstreaming" process that normally goes on in the culture...[it is] the cultural equivalent of injecting uncut hard drugs into the veins of the body politic.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219415111#post1
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219405707#post87
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217833385#post6

Recommendations

2 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»The NY Times just publish...»Reply #10