In the past two decades, the internet has induced a general dislocation from reality the likes of which has never been seen before. While all parts of the political spectrum suffer from it to a certain degree, the trend is obviously more pronounced on the right and more liable to produce violence, as evidenced by the fact that it already has several times.
Sure some people might share some erroneous memes from the Occupy Democrats Facebook page, but liberals are nowhere near as susceptible to these kinds of hoaxes as conservatives. Back when “fake news” was a big story, NPR interviewed this guy in Florida who made fake news for profit. He was a registered Democrat. He said he tried to make fake news for liberals but they just never took the bait.
When liberals demonize conservatives, it takes a classist form. They call them rednecks, white trash, bigots, etc. Conservatives are more likely to conceive of liberals as literal demons, “spirit cooking,” the Bohemian Grove, infanticide, etc. Both are bad, but one is a lot more dangerous than the other.
Take the Tree of Life shooting. It happened a month after the MAGA Bomber. While the shooter was a white nationalist, and thus outside of the conservative mainstream, he was operating under a perception of reality that was validated and reinforced by the President, Fox News and several conservative congresspeople, i.e. that the migrant caravan was an invasion being funded by Soros and the “deep state.”
Then there’s the thwarted bomb plot in Kansas City by Trump-supporting militia members who wanted to murder an apartment building full of Somali immigrants. Go to the pro-Trump subreddit, which has 750,000 subscribers, you’ll find tons of examples of calls for violence, either overt or thinly veiled using memes like “remove kebab”—the exact same slogan the Christchurch murderer wrote on his gun when he massacred 50 Muslims in New Zealand.
Yes, there have always been crazies, but never before has the center of American politics been so close to the fringe.
Of course, you’re not concerned about it, because if violence does happen, they’re obviously not going to be targeting you.
