TUCKER CARLSON: 'They' are trying to control 'you.'
Yes, Tucker Carlson is gone from Fox News but other right-wing networks are courting him, so he will most likely continue to have a dangerous influence on a large segment of the population. Consequently, I thought I would share a link from an old New York Times interactive article from April 2022 about Tucker Carlson's "apocalyptic worldview," which has increased fear, hatred and division in the U.S.
One of the things that struck me in this article, is that Carlson works hard to suggest that 'they' (the liberal elites) are trying to control 'you' and to take away 'your' freedoms. Below are some gifs* made from the interactive article that highlight its main points.
Carlson's 'they' and 'you' rants remind me of a major thesis from Jason Stanley's 2018 book, How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them.
The mechanisms of fascist politics all build on and support one another. They weave a myth of a distinction between “us” and “them,” based in a romanticized fictional past featuring “us” and no “them,” and supported by a resentment for a corrupt liberal elite, who take our hard-earned money and threaten our traditions. “They” are lazy criminals on whom freedom would be wasted (and who don’t deserve it, in any case). “They” mask their destructive goals with the language of liberalism, or “social justice,” and are out to destroy our culture and traditions and make “us” weak. “We” are industrious and law-abiding, having earned our freedoms through work; “they” are lazy, perverse, corrupt, and decadent. Fascist politics traffics in delusions that create these kinds of false distinctions between “us” and “them,” regardless of obvious realities. [emphasis added] (Stanley, 2018, p. 197)
In many ways, Tucker Carlson has worked for years to sow fear and resentment in his right-wing viewers towards 'them.' In doing so, he has helped to set the stage for a neofascist rebellion against liberal values and U.S. democratic institutions.
Tucker Carlson has temporarily lost his platform to spin his fearful, hateful tales--but most likely, he will be back. It is important that we not underestimate how dangerous Carlson's propaganda and worldview are to our democratic republic.
_________
*Note that gif formatting was modified from the original source.
Một trích đoạn trong tác phẩm mà có thể nói xem một lần, nhớ cả đời.
“Tiểu Hiểu,
Gần Tết rồi, chú vừa làm hai đĩa bánh bao nhân đậu. Khi lấy chúng ra khỏi nồi, khói mờ hết mắt chú. Năm nay chú vẫn để dành một đĩa cho cháu. Chú luôn bảo hai đứa, đồ ăn nấu tại nhà là ngon nhất, đồ ăn tiệm không so được đâu. Chú luôn muốn gửi đồ ăn cho cháu nhưng chú không dám hỏi Kiến Thanh. Gần đây Kiến Thanh có vẻ chín chắn hơn. Chú biết việc đó là nhờ cháu.
Về duyên phận, miễn hai đứa không phụ lòng nhau là đủ rồi. Sống cùng nhau trọn đời rất khó.
Có thể cháu phải già đi mới hiểu những cảm xúc đó. Là bậc cha mẹ, người cháu chọn làm chồng hay cháu có thành đạt hay không không thật sự quan trọng. Chú chỉ mong cháu có cuộc đời cháu mong muốn và sống khoẻ mạnh.
Giờ chú già rồi, mắt lại loà, Kiến Thanh cứ nói chú chả biết gì. Năm đó ở ga tàu, chú cứ tưởng chú đang nắm tay cháu, hoá ra không phải. Sau đó chú nhận ra, dù hai đứa không thành đôi, ta vẫn là một gia đình.
Tiểu Hiểu, phải tự chăm sóc mình. Lúc nào thấy mệt hãy về đây.”
Now, I don't seem so strong
Are my delusions real, are they right or wrong
All I can feel is the same old shit
Build me up, break me down, then be done with it
Mia Bergeron. Tranquil Ghosts. 2021 :: [Mikhail Iossel]
* * * *
Here it is: the new way of living with the world inside of us so we cannot lose it, and we cannot be lost. You and me are us and them, and it and sky.
- Ada Limon