The Ugly Result of Extremist Rhetoric
Aside from my middle class grievances with the Trump administration and the near daily reports of either corruption or incompetence in our government, I can see that there is a much more terrible problem cropping up in communities around the nation. With armed vigilantes now roaming the streets, supposedly counter-protesting what are, in my opinion, extremely valid and justified protests against police brutality, the situation was bound to escalate to violence. The dehumanizing rhetoric being slung from either side of this ideological divide is now culminating in a way that prevents constructive dialogue and encourages violence.
With the 17-year-old kid armed with an AR-15 rifle killing two people and injuring another the other day, it seems that the chance for malice and ill-content to become widespread in this country is only increasing. What really went down in that moment is still being deliberated on by the armchair experts all over the internet, but I think that people in the real world can agree that this should have never happened in the first place. Unfortunately, situations like that will continue to happen for a variety of reasons. The main one being that it is far too easy for extreme rhetoric to take hold in the minds of a poorly educated and ill-informed population. And though my imagery may skew a certain way, this applies to all groups, who’s members at the bottom of their hierarchy are all just as likely to be reactionary at best, and rash and prone to escalation at worst.
The meme I posted to grab your attention and rustle the conservative’s jimmies as I like to do is simply my one-sided example of how people are deluded into believing their own insulated group’s version of reality. When we go on the internet, it is all too easy to find places where our viewpoints are validated, and back when I was growing up that was actually the the best thing about it. From the nineties well into the aughts, anonymous people could find places to share common interests and contribute to discussion on just about anything. Perhaps it is my sense of nostalgia talking, but there was really no such thing as mainstream on the world wide web, and it felt a lot friendlier without people’s names and faces in front of everything they post. Now that the internet itself has grown up, I find it increasingly easy to see the negative aspects resulting from this enabling of validation seeking behavior. It comes in many forms, such as Facebook groups based on discrimination, YouTube videos that push all manner of conspiracy theories, and even pointless ideological battles being fought in the comments section on Instagram. There are also much darker places that the ‘normies’ like you and I do not go. Those would include 4chan, some particular IRC (internet relay chat) rooms, and other invite-only servers where people essentially try to one up each other in being edgy and dark in their rhetoric or humor. If you have ever heard of incels, they, along with neo-Nazis and other pathetic people, spawn from these kinds of cesspools in the deepest recesses of the internet.
So why is everyone so damn opinionated these days? The answer is that anyone can reach through the internet and plant their ideas in the minds of anyone who will listen, and they can do it as openly or secretively as they like. People who already have a propensity for spouting extreme rhetoric can gather in these digital spaces and wind each other up even more. For example, take the Q-Anon proto-fascist conspiracy theorists that have infected the Republican party recently, the Tea Partiers that came before them, or alternatively the Boogaloo Boys accelerationist movement. They have come up with a number of bizarre claims with the primary purpose of instilling fear and hatred of the left wing, which has resulted in a conflation in the minds of the right; that all left wing activists are actively trying to dismantle the United States and therefore their way of life. I won’t even attempt to address that convoluted logic, suffice to say that it takes a lot of effort to cut through the cognitive dissonance of thinking in that way. A non-political example could be the anti-vaccination movement, where a bunch of wine-moms have reached a consensus that vaccinations are harming children, despite all fact-based evidence to the contrary. Therein lies the problem, because people that are looking for validation of their insularly formed ideas can reach a consensus with like-minded individuals without anyone grounded in reality getting in the way. And to them, since they have found so many people that agree, everyone who disagrees must be either ignorant, manipulated, or wrong!
That is how we ended up with a seventeen-year-old child gunning down three protesters the other day. The kid, who will be tried as an adult, was led to believe that the BLM movement is synonymous with rioters coming to loot and destroy small businesses and towns by some back page internet rhetoric. This resulted in these armed vigilantes displaying a show of force with their rifles and tactical gear, which of course escalated in the form of a particularly impressionable member of their group actually doing what they were all clamoring for. I won’t go into the details of the exact situation because that was on camera for the world to see and it is very visceral and ugly. However, let this serve a warning to everyone participating in their respective echo-chambers on the internet. The more that we let the extremists shape our dialogue, the more divided this once great nation will become.
As I see every time I log onto one of my own thought validating websites, there are some posts which will make you upset with no way of resolving that emotional disturbance. All of the commentary from others who are upset will erode your faith in the goodwill of the people in this country, because all you will gather from these places is mal-content and disdain for those who have been convinced to feel the same way about your group in some other echo-chamber. All this does is fester inside of you, and as is evidenced, it can potentially result in the horrible incident that occurred recently. While it is probably impossible to reconcile these grievances once they start happening more regularly, the majority of people who are still just trying to live their lives can grow to understand how all of this got started, and how to prevent things from becoming worse.
In order for peace to persist throughout this country we have to find a way to connect more in this post-truth world. As it stands now, there is this woefully naïve notion that average people can do effective, meaningful research in order to reach a rational conclusion. While that will probably never actually be the case given our awful education system combined with people’s desperate need to feel validated against all evidence to the contrary, we can do our best to reconcile the detached realities people on either side perceive to be true. We can do this by understanding how this nasty rhetoric takes shape, and by making a concerted effort to not characterize the other side by their most extreme members. It won’t stop the protests or the riots. People will still have grievances, some of them for good reason. But to the rest of us trying to get on with our lives, it may result in a culture of tranquility, so that when there is potential for a situation to escalate, cooler heads will prevail.
With this essay I am not proposing that we embrace those who hold the truth in contempt or those who rabidly support them. I am merely suggesting that the people you encounter on the internet or in real life are not actually your enemy. So do not dwell in places where people argue in bad faith, it will only serve to distract you from the real enemy. Whether an individual perceives this to be true or not, that enemy is the tyrant in chief and his Republican enablers desperately trying to pit us against each other so that he and they can maintain their white-knuckled grip on power. It is basically self evident at this point that the fabric of our society is being torn to shreds under the current administration, because they simply do not care to maintain it so long as their post-policy administration holds power. Some would accuse the Democrats of the same thing, but as they only control about a third of the government right now and have been doing everything they can to keep people fed and housed amidst this pandemic, that claim is entirely invalid.
When Trump & the Republican party’s reign comes to an end, and it will one way or another, we will need to move on as a country. That will start with elected officials picking up the pieces of this shattered government, but more importantly, it will begin with people like you and me extending our good faith and understanding to those who have been deluded into believing all of the lies. There will be those who lash out in anger, who’s aggression must be quelled swiftly, but that will be easier if we do not engage in their desire to fight a revolution. Staying on the right side of history is not always easy. Exuding calm and patience will be essential in bridging the divide. We can either move on and grow together as a nation, or we can saw it in half and endlessly fight over who made the first cut. The difference will depend on how you treat your neighbor, especially upon discovering their political beliefs. Try finding some common ground instead of writing off their entire existence with some keystrokes and an attitude. It isn’t easy, but you can start by stating what you have in common and going from there.
Personally, I know that there are people in my life that would readily set aside their politics if me or my family were to be in harm’s way — the kind of people who offered to go to the hospital with my mom so she wouldn’t be alone while my dad was having an operation. Even though their politics differ significantly from my own, I would reflect the same sentiment and return the favor under any circumstances, because our community is stronger than a difference in ideology or perspective. So I say to you, keyboard warrior, advocate for social justice, political dissident with seemingly nothing left to lose: put down your pitchfork and embrace the discomfort you feel while having a political discussion with someone who does not share your views. You will learn something about yourself and the person you are speaking to, and it may make the healing process America so desperately needs happen faster.
Every day I grieve for the state of this country, but I am holding out for a time that I can once again be fully proud to be an American. May that day come soon and without any more unnecessary violence.
