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benis-monkey · 9 months

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SERIOUS POST

Hey so uh- funny story.

I used to be transphobic.

In fact, I used to be very bigoted against many groups.

Note the word USED to be.

Every transphobic thought has been cleanly plucked from my mind about 5 or so years ago.

Thankfully, I never had any confrontations or interactions with trans people while I held these hateful beliefs, so rest assured I have never harmed any trans people.

So I thought I would give some context as to why some hate trans people so much (at least from my memory)

Keep in mind, this was before the whole “groomer” narrative was a thing.

In my experience, two major factors were key in the fostering of transphobia in my mind: isolation and algorithms.

At the time, I didn’t know any trans people. The only look I ever had at trans folks was through a transphobic, hateful lens (e.g “AtTaCk HeLiCoPtEr” memes). So because I never had any interaction with trans people, that opened my interpretation of them to be molded and shaped by whatever entity came first to do so.

Now, algorithms. As I just mentioned, I only ever saw or heard about trans folk through a lens of hate and bigotry. So I only saw the “worst” of the trans community. The notorious “it’s MA’AM” video, which I now realize is a depiction of a trans woman stalwartly asserting her identity, was shared around these hateful spaces online, and was used as a way to say “look at how ridiculous this person is! They’re clearly a man!” …just typing that makes me feel yucky now.

Reactionary content on YouTube was also a major influence. I remember the YouTuber Hunter Avalone being one of the channels I watched the most. And since I kept clicking on transphobic content, YouTube kept recommending it. This led me down the infamous alt-right pipeline. Soon, I was also espousing beliefs that were racist, sexist, islamophobic, and classist. Hell, I even believed that billionaires were good people! But homophobia never made it with me.

I myself am bi/pan, and lean heavily towards men/male-presenting/masculine people, and towards androgynous people.

So seeing the firehose of hateful bigotry being pointed at myself finally snapped me to me senses. Because I knew other non-straight people. I knew they weren’t what the alt-right wanted me to think they were.

Seeing a community that I’m a part of being put under this lens of hate made me realize that it’s the same lens that every other marginalized community is put under. A lens of “different bad. Progress bad.”

I clawed my way out of this hateful pipeline. I expanded my horizons and connected with people in these marginalized groups.

So what I’m saying is, if you know anyone who is falling down this pipeline, arguing with them won’t do anything. The best way to rid them of their hateful bigotry is to show them the true nature of the LGBT community, the POC community, and other marginalized communities. Show them that they’re all just people wanting to live their lives.

The alt-right pipeline is no joke. It’s a dangerous downward spiral that can radicalize someone overnight. If you know someone falling down this pipeline, reach out to them. Invite them to a discord server with people from marginalized groups. Introduce them to your LGBT, POC, and non-Christian friends. Open their world, and their mind will open with it.

The best way to fight fascism and bigotry to teach the fascists and bigots empathy. That the people they hate are just that. People.

If I missed any TWs, please let me know and I’ll add them.

And just know that I no longer hold these hateful beliefs. I acknowledge that the person i was 5 years ago was a hateful, evil person, and I am thankful that my mind was opened.

#tw transphobia #tw transphobes #transphobia #tw homophobia #tw racism #racism #homophobia #sexism #tw sexism #alt right pipeline #the alt right pipeline

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ryukisgod · 2 years

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Don’t Worry Darling pitch meeting:

Olivia Wild: what if The Stepford Wives pulled it’s punches?

New Line Cinema: here is $30 million.

#don’t worry darling #olivia wilde #pitch meeting #the stepford wives #podcast #the writers must have gone to the #cia #school of writing #politics #unless you’re knowledgeable about #the alt right pipeline #you aren’t going to pick up on the #villains motive #harry styles #chris pine

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samwisethewitch · 1 month

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Homemaking, gardening, and self-sufficiency resources that won't radicalize you into a hate group

It seems like self-sufficiency and homemaking skills are blowing up right now. With the COVID-19 pandemic and the current economic crisis, a lot of folks, especially young people, are looking to develop skills that will help them be a little bit less dependent on our consumerist economy. And I think that's generally a good thing. I think more of us should know how to cook a meal from scratch, grow our own vegetables, and mend our own clothes. Those are good skills to have.

Unfortunately, these "self-sufficiency" skills are often used as a recruiting tactic by white supremacists, TERFs, and other hate groups. They become a way to reconnect to or relive the "good old days," a romanticized (false) past before modern society and civil rights. And for a lot of people, these skills are inseparably connected to their politics and may even be used as a tool to indoctrinate new people.

In the spirit of building safe communities, here's a complete list of the safe resources I've found for learning homemaking, gardening, and related skills. Safe for me means queer- and trans-friendly, inclusive of different races and cultures, does not contain Christian preaching, and does not contain white supremacist or TERF dog whistles.

Homemaking/Housekeeping/Caring for your home:

Making It by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen [book] (The big crunchy household DIY book; includes every level of self-sufficiency from making your own toothpaste and laundry soap to setting up raised beds to butchering a chicken. Authors are explicitly left-leaning.)

Safe and Sound: A Renter-Friendly Guide to Home Repair by Mercury Stardust [book] (A guide to simple home repair tasks, written with rentals in mind; very compassionate and accessible language.)

How To Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis [book] (The book about cleaning and housework for people who get overwhelmed by cleaning and housework, based on the premise that messiness is not a moral failing; disability and neurodivergence friendly; genuinely changed how I approach cleaning tasks.)

Gardening

Rebel Gardening by Alessandro Vitale [book] (Really great introduction to urban gardening; explicitly discusses renter-friendly garden designs in small spaces; lots of DIY solutions using recycled materials; note that the author lives in England, so check if plants are invasive in your area before putting them in the ground.)

Country/Rural Living:

Woodsqueer by Gretchen Legler [book] (Memoir of a lesbian who lives and works on a rural farm in Maine with her wife; does a good job of showing what it's like to be queer in a rural space; CW for mentions of domestic violence, infidelity/cheating, and internalized homophobia)

"Debunking the Off-Grid Fantasy" by Maggie Mae Fish [video essay] (Deconstructs the off-grid lifestyle and the myth of self-reliance)

Sewing/Mending:

Annika Victoria [YouTube channel] (No longer active, but their videos are still a great resource for anyone learning to sew; check out the beginner project playlist to start. This is where I learned a lot of what I know about sewing.)

Make, Sew, and Mend by Bernadette Banner [book] (A very thorough written introduction to hand-sewing, written by a clothing historian; lots of fun garment history facts; explicitly inclusive of BIPOC, queer, and trans sewists.)

Sustainability/Land Stewardship

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer [book] (Most of you have probably already read this one or had it recommended to you, but it really is that good; excellent example of how traditional animist beliefs -- in this case, indigenous American beliefs -- can exist in healthy symbiosis with science; more philosophy than how-to, but a great foundational resource.)

Wild Witchcraft by Rebecca Beyer [book] (This one is for my fellow witches; one of my favorite witchcraft books, and an excellent example of a place-based practice deeply rooted in the land.)

Avoiding the "Crunchy to Alt Right Pipeline"

Note: the "crunchy to alt-right pipeline" is a term used to describe how white supremacists and other far right groups use "crunchy" spaces (i.e., spaces dedicated to farming, homemaking, alternative medicine, simple living/slow living, etc.) to recruit and indoctrinate people into their movements. Knowing how this recruitment works can help you recognize it when you do encounter it and avoid being influenced by it.

"The Crunchy-to-Alt-Right Pipeline" by Kathleen Belew [magazine article] (Good, short introduction to this issue and its history.)

Sisters in Hate by Seyward Darby (I feel like I need to give a content warning: this book contains explicit descriptions of racism, white supremacy, and Neo Nazis, and it's a very difficult read, but it really is a great, in-depth breakdown of the role women play in the alt-right; also explicitly addresses the crunchy to alt-right pipeline.)

These are just the resources I've personally found helpful, so if anyone else has any they want to add, please, please do!

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closetedskeletons · 2 years

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People don't want to admit that queer exclusionism of any kind is part of the alt right pipeline because people don't want to admit that they're not to smart to fall for propaganda by virtue of being queer

#queer #rant #opinon #inclusion #the alt right pipeline

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creature-wizard · 7 months

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What is the New Age to Alt Right Pipeline, and how do you stay out of it?

The term "New Age to Alt Right pipeline" refers to the way alternative spirituality and healthcare often serves as an entry point to far right radicalization. While many people are dismissive that such a thing could even exist, plenty of people in occult and witchcraft communities can confirm that it is very much a real thing. Having studied far right conspiracies myself for awhile now, I can personally confirm that a number of people involved in alternative spirituality, including ones who consider themselves progressive, are spouting off the very same conspiracy theories used to justify persecution of the Jews throughout the Middle Ages to the Nazi regime.

Even if you don't reckon yourself a New Ager, you are still likely to come across this stuff because there's no hard and fast place where New Age ends and witchcraft, neopaganism, or whatever begins. While the core and arguably most defining belief of New Age is that the Earth is on the cusp of entering a new cosmic cycle, there's a significant amount of overlap between things New Agers are into, and things that other people are into.

For example, someone interested in Wicca might start researching the Goddess, and from there very quickly encounter conspiracy theories claiming that everyone was monotheistic for the Great Goddess back before The Patriarchy Tee Em invented a male god for people to be monotheist for. From there, it's just a short matter of time before they start coming across materials claiming that the Jews are responsible for the creation of this god, and also responsible for the Catholic Church, and so on. (Pro tip, the Roman government was responsible for the Catholic Church.)

The best way to keep yourself safe from this isn't to simply avoid all material that might potentially contain far right ideas and conspiracy theories. Rather, it's to learn what they look like. Here's a few things to watch out for:

The grand conspiracy narrative: The exact details you'll hear will vary depending on who you're listening to - every conspiracy theorist tailors and re-tailors the grand conspiracy narrative to suit their own agendas and beliefs. The key details to watch out for are claims that there's this secret group that's been pulling the strings behind the scenes for a long while now, and that their agents are working everywhere to make sure the people stay deceived.

To be blunt about it, literally every conspiracy theory about a New World Order, a shadow government, generational satanists, satanic bloodlines, reptilian bloodlines, and so on is a riff on the material found within The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, a czarist hoax used to justify violence against Russian Jews, and later on, the Holocaust. There are no exceptions.

During the Satanic Panic, many people claimed to have been part of such a conspiracy. Investigations failed to turn up any real evidence, and those pushing these claims always turned out to have a history of dishonest behavior, or had been subjected to hypnosis by someone with a history of dishonest behavior and/or a gross disregard for medical ethics.

If you see someone claiming to have been part of something like this today, your best assumption is that they are lying to you, or are extremely confused. End of story.

Great Goddess conspiracy theories: Back in the mid-19th century, Eduard Gerhard proposed that people all used to worship the Great Goddess, until patriarchy came along and replaced her with a god. There's literally no evidence for this whatsoever, but a lot of people who believe that patriarchy is part of a grand conspiracy still believe this one. You'll often see it in conjunction with stuff about the "divine feminine" and womb magic among those who believe that patriarchy is part of the grand conspiracy.

Claims of mass ritual abuse and murder: An allegation that goes back to blood libel and the witch trials, far right conspiracy theorists often claim that there is an underground network of cults practicing ritual abuse and human sacrifice. This was the kind of thing that people were put under hypnosis to try and remember during the Satanic Panic, based on incorrect beliefs about how memory worked. (In reality, going under hypnosis to try and recover lost memories mainly results in fabricating completely new ones, because hypnotic visions basically work just like dreams.)

Claims of mass mind control: Not many people realize this, but this one goes all the way back to the witch hunts, when alleged witches were accused of ensnaring people's minds with their diabolical spells. (Yes, the witch trials were fueled by conspiracy theories!) Today's conspiracy theorists claim that the conspiracy uses things like music, movies, implants, subliminal messages, drugs, medications, 5G, extreme tortures, and more to put people under total mind control. The whole Project Monarch conspiracy theory is part of this; and a number of people were also put under hypnosis to "remember" being part of Project Monarch during the Satanic Panic.

Anti-pharma/anti-vax conspiracy theories: During World War II, Nazis demonized pharmaceutical drugs as "Jewish science" so they could push cheaper herbal remedies, which were largely ineffective. If you see somebody claiming that pharmaceutical drugs or vaccines are created by the conspiracy to keep people sick or make them easier to control, know that it's a redux of this old bullshit. Today's anti-pharma and anti-vax conspiracy theories often go in conjunction with claims that stuff like crystals, energy healing, and quantum healing technology can replace conventional medical care.

Claims to know the real cause of your medical or psychological symptoms: During the early modern witch hunts, strange symptoms were often blamed on the curses of satanic witches. The Satanic Panic picked this one up and modernized it through a psychological lens, claiming that seemingly inexplicable symptoms were evidence of suppressed memories of ritual abuse. Meanwhile, believers in alien abductions claimed it was evidence of suppressed memories of alien-related trauma, and neopagans and New Agers claimed it was evidence of past life trauma. All of these people have used hypnosis to help people "remember" these supposedly lost memories, and due to the nature of hypnosis (again, hypnotic visions work like dreams), all of them found "evidence" to corroborate literally anything they wanted to find.

Other modernizations of this old witch hunters' canard include claims that your strange symptoms are caused by things like 5G, chemtrails, chemicals in the water, food additives, sound frequencies, or such. Now this isn't to say that there's never been toxic food additives, or that certain sound frequencies can never cause harm; the key element is when these people claim that this stuff is done as part of a grand conspiracy.

Meanwhile, New Agers claim that your strange symptoms might actually be "ascension symptoms." For the record, numerous dates that ascension was supposed to happen on have gone and went, and we're all still here in 3D. So I'd recommend not holding your breath for this one, either.

Claiming the conspiracy is responsible for everything bad or wrong in the world: Conspiracy theorists will blame the grand conspiracy for literally anything they find unpleasant or objectionable to the conspiracy. This can include claiming that movies they found confusing, emotionally difficult, or ideologically challenging were deliberately designed to harm people or put them under mind control. They might claim that things like long wait lines are intentionally engineered to frustrate and exhaust people in order to make them easier to control. They might claim that horrible accidents or disasters are actually "programming" to make people accept the lie.

This isn't to say that governments never do genuinely malicious shit, or that brainwashing doesn't exist. The thing here is that conspiracy theorists frequently attribute nearly everything they find strange, confusing, or unpleasant to the schemes of a grand conspiracy. They often act like if it wasn't for the grand conspiracy, we would be living in utopia.

Dehumanization of the Other: Conspiracy theorists often talk as if the masses aren't quite human, calling them "NPCs" or "sheeple." Sometimes they literally believe that other people aren't truly human. You'll find various conspiracy theories claiming that certain people are actually animal hybrids, AI-controlled clones, malicious aliens pretending to be humans, holographic projections, or something similar. The key thing to keep in mind here is that dehumanization is a crucial step toward genocide, and the far right wants to do genocide on anyone who doesn't do what they say, or doesn't fit their idea of what humanity ought to be like.

Individualist outlooks on life, metaphysics, etc: Today's far right is all about that Western individualism; they tend to be capitalists and libertarians, and think communism is an invention of the conspiracy. Their metaphysical views tend to reflect this, and they often subscribe to some form of worldview in which everything that happens to you is your fault, and expecting anyone else to take any kind of responsibility is just victim mentality.

With Christians, this presents as the belief that bad things happen to you because you're not right with God; if you got right with God, he would bless you with health and abundance.

With New Age and New Age-adjacent types, this often presents as stuff like the Law of Attraction and the Law of Assumption, where everything that happens to you is a consequence of the way you think. It can also present in the belief that if anything bad happens to you, it's your karma.

Stuff like the Law of Assumption is pitched as this super empowering way to get everything you want, but in reality it functions to make people feel responsible for the suffering they experience under capitalism and silence criticism of systemic issues.

So yeah, keep your eyes open for all this stuff, and if you see somebody out there pushing it - be wary!

Links for more info:

"How can I be a witch/pagan without falling for conspiracy theories/New Age cult stuff?" starter kit (I put a bunch of links to other posts and resources here earlier; no need to copy/paste them all here.)

Incomplete list of far right conspiracy theorists and con artists claiming to be occult experts and/or cult survivors

Hypnosis is unreliable for memory recovery, and this is one way we know.

False past life memories among the starseed movement

Hitler's Contribution to "Alternative Medicine"

#new age to alt right pipeline #radicalization #paganblr #occultblr #witchblr #conspiracy theories #conspiracy theory #conspiracism #new age #critical thinking #discernment #spirituality #conspirituality

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starlooove · 1 year

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I think the convo around the alt right pipeline is cool and all but too many of y’all are framing it as something you just get sucked into. You don’t just wander down the internet rabbit hole and start hating minorities. That’s an active choice you make at some point.

This applies to your 12 yr old brothers who doesn’t know any better than to call people the n word on COD, This applies to your sister who’s just been so traumatized by men that she HAS to be a terf now, this applies to that one kid you’re friends with who’s just been so bullied and beaten down that they had no other choice but to hate minorities in order to be accepted.

This applies to you, who’s reading through this post and tryna make every kinds excuse you can abt why your situation is different or not as bad as what I’m describing. This is about you who keeps making jokes and think posts about being the “leftist” member of the family and not knowing what to do when you hear ur family members, ESPECIALLY the younger ones being bigoted.

This isn’t some shit you can’t mitigate or control, this isn’t a phase that you just couldn’t help, that was an active choice you made and to pretend otherwise shows that you haven’t grown or changed at all.

#alt right pipeline

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just-late-roman-republic-things · 7 months

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This post now has an expanded, better researched version! Check it out!

~~~

Things I watch out for when considering if a Roman history blog/community/media might have fascist leanings:

"Ironic" jokes that demean groups of people. These are often a cover for normalizing real prejudice against those groups.

Various dogwhistles and hate symbols. Also, check out the early warning signs of fascism.

Glorification of the military or the empire's size. It's one thing to be interested in a subject, but fascists tend to ignore the many problems of Rome's military and government, like corruption, mistreatment of veterans, abuse toward non-Roman people, and the occasional genocide.

Justifying historical oppression or abuse. This is different from merely explaining or trying to understand something. In case someone simply worded something poorly, I look at their additional posts or ask for clarification. If there's a pattern of downplaying/excusing oppression, that's a bad sign.

Power fantasies. Does a person (or community) seem to identify with the conquerors and overlords, because of their power? A person making jokes about Cicero's shitty poetry, or Augustus wearing platform shoes, is probably here for a different reason than someone talking about "putting the barbarians in their place."

Ignoring women's experiences, queer history, slaves and working-class experiences, and cultural diversity. At best this could just be a newbie who hasn't gotten around to those topics yet, which is fine. Learning takes time. But if a community, historian, or professionally published work makes Rome look like it's composed solely of rich white cishet guys...there is a problem.

Flattening history into Romans vs. outsiders. "Us vs. them" themes, also seen as "civilization vs. barbarians," or "virtue vs. moral decline/degeneracy," is endemic to bigoted worldviews. Not only is it demeaning toward other cultures, it also erases how multicultural and changeable Roman identity was over time.

Also, any modern person who seriously attributes Rome's fall to "moral decline" or "degeneracy" is either deeply ignorant or using a dogwhistle for homophobia, antisemitism and racism. Also, using "barbarian" or "savage" unironically.

Be extra alert for antisemitism. Shit like justifying Hadrian's actions, bringing up Jews when discussing Roman debt problems, or idolizing Vespasian or Titus. The Romans did a lot of bad shit in Judaea, and sometimes those stories attract antisemites today.

Use of the past to justify present-day harm or anger. Fascists and racists tend to get attached to "tradition" or "the good old ways" - or what they think is tradition - believing that this makes their bigotry more "normal" instead of "bizarre, hateful and reactionary." But just because something was common in the ancient world doesn't mean it's a good idea today.

There's a lot of anger and bitterness in fascist communities in general, in fact. Many people fall into the "alt-right pipeline" because their personal lives are deeply troubled, and those places give them someone to blame and feel superior to. If hanging out in a community seems to be making you angrier, more suspicious, or looking down on certain kinds of people, think carefully about whether this is a good community to be in.

And finally...fascists aren't all that interested in history. They care about their myth of good guys vs. evil outsiders, and they warp history to fit into that narrative. They might like the aesthetics, or symbols, or idolize a few famous dudes or battles. But rarely do they know, or care, about how Roman society worked, or how it changed over time, or anything less "glorious." Rarely do they actually want to learn or put in effort. My favorite example of "fascist laziness" is Mussolini's terrible film about Scipio Africanus, in which you can see telephone wires and the extras wearing wristwatches.

Feel free to add to this list. I am not an expert at spotting this stuff, and I probably missed some things. But I figured this might be a good starting point for others, too. Don't use this list to make "callouts" or harass people - it's usually more effective to block, avoid, and report extremists than to give them more visibility.

Conversely, a great way to protect yourself from falling into the alt-right pipeline is to learn more about how diverse the Roman world was! Check out studies of ancient women, disabilities, queer people, and decolonizing the classics! Not only will they broaden your horizons, they're also fascinating in their own right.

#jlrrt speaks #ancient rome #roman history #racism #the alt-right pipeline #fascism #bigotry #things to whack racists with #jlrrt essays

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land-shark-is-here · 1 year

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dude you are a white american man what are you saying?

#wendigoon #i’ll scare ever receipt if i have to #i used to love his channel but i’m not about to get sucked into the alt right pipeline #first it starts with being anti politics #in the age of fascism we CANNOT be non political #the best defense i can give wendigoon is that he’s living under a rock

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mlpoutofcontext · 1 year

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#The CMC encourage you to transition rather than fall down the alt-right pipeline #Crusaders of the Lost Mark #mlp #my little pony #mlp fim #my little pony friendship is magic #season 5 #Cutie Mark Crusaders

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yinyuedijun · 19 days

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I always thought this webbed site was kinda toxic but then hsr metaheads always prove me wrong by showing me the TRUE meaning of toxicity 😍

#aventurine dmg / light cone discourse is killing me guys #RGDLKSSLSKA #no wonder theres a gamer to alt right pipeline this level of daily vitriol would radicalize anyone #yueshuo #anyway i love my king he is the most discourse plagued character in this game in every respect

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silvermoon424 · 4 months

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Man what is it with the "atheist skeptic to anti-feminist and transphobe" pipeline?

I remember this being bigger news a few years ago, but tons of OG atheist skeptic commentators are now total chuds who hate feminism, trans people, and "the craziness of leftism" in general. I remember watching a good video essay about this a while back that pinpoints the infamous "Elevatorgate" incident" as the starting point.

Now you have to be on edge around every logic-bro who goes on about how women are "scientifically proven" too be too emotional or whatever. Btw, I'm not shitting on skepticism as a whole, I'm just pointing out that it has problem with being dominated by white male voices who have never experienced misogyny, transphobia, racism, etc and therefore think it doesn't exist.

#rant #atheism #skepticism #alt right pipeline #feminism #sexism #transphobia

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grey-sorcery · 1 year

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Part of decolonizing your practice is removing new age influences.

(Something everyone should be doing) Things such as:

Visualization

Law of Attraction

Law of Attainment

Inaccurate quantum mechanics interpretations

Crystal grids (At least how they're commonly used)

Sacred geometry

Chakras (Unless you're Buddhist or Hindu)

Syncretism

Akashic Records

Astral beings

#new age alt right pipeline #witchcraft #witchcraft community #begginer witch #witch tips

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gncrevan · 2 years

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i find it so fucking fascinating (read: horrifying) how the heard/depp case is being spun into the exact same "the wokelib mainstream media is lying to you" rhetoric that the alt-right uses, that QAnon uses, and somehow this newest group falling for it doesn't see the warning signs. obviously there are plenty people amongst the deppfenders who were already on the conspiracy right, but this whole ordeal seems to have turned into a big fat recruitment tool. if the only news outlets you "can trust" are fox and the daily wire, well that's a problem isn't it?

media criticism is good and necessary especially in the united states, but just separating it into "outlets who agree with me" and "outlets who don't" is myopic and proves bad analysis. yes, the media lies and distorts and covers up, quite frequently in fact, but there are clear trends you can observe (such as more reactionary, conservative or status quo ideas being pushed), and when outlets who have been especially guilty of proven distortion and outright lies (like fox) are being presented to you as "the good ones", that should give you pause. like, a lot of pause.

what we desperately need is better media literacy, the ability to critically evaluate information and intent, the ability to distinguish good from bad science, know when a source isn't reliable, the ability to research and, barring that, the ability to identify the journalists and outlets who do good research. what we got, unfortunately, is the idea that if your in-group believes something, that thing must be true.

and i'm pointing the finger at all of you here too because you constantly fall for that shit and while it's usually about comparably harmless things, it has lead to harassment campaigns in the past. you need to learn how to read sources and do research, or you need to stop sharing hearsay as facts. this is exactly the kind of disinformation culture that has been fostered on tiktok to radicalized teens into mass supporting an abuser and mocking his victim. what is the next step in the funnel towards conspiratorial belief and reactionary talking points?

"oh but people of all walks of life believe this, not just right-wing weirdos" yeah, well, the wellness and new age movements were overwhelmingly not full of right-wingers and now look how many have become QAnon.

[ID: the head of Garfield the cartoon cat on a blue background with the words "You Are Not Immune To Propaganda" in all caps. end ID]

#depp heard trial #alt right pipeline #misinformation #media literacy #conspiracy theories #opinion piece

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samwisethewitch · 7 months

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TW: This post contains explicit discussions of white supremacy and the alt-right, including mentions of racism and antisemitism.

One of my most impactful recent library reads was Sisters In Hate by Seyward Darby, and I want to take a moment to encourage other white Americans to check it out as we prepare for next years' presidential election and all the shit it's going to kick up.

Sisters In Hate is a book about the role of women in American white supremacist movements and specifically in the alt-right. Darby does a really excellent job of showing just how critical white women are to these hate movements. The book also gives us a detailed look at what radicalization looks like and how that process can be different for different genders.

The book is divided into three sections, each of which follows a real woman through her radicalization into the alt-right. I especially want to draw Tumblr's attention to the story of Ayla, a self-proclaimed "polyamorous, raw foodist-vegan, feminist, pagan" whose radicalization started in college with natural living and homebirth and ended with her running a popular tradwife blog and speaking at the Unite the Right rally.

I think a lot of leftists and liberals feel that we're too smart, or too educated, or too savvy to fall for white supremacist recruitment schemes. We are not. Intelligent, college-educated, left-leaning people are radicalized every day. Some of them are less overtly hateful, like your college friend who starts voting Republican in their 30s. Some of them are like Ayla, and their radicalization takes them all the way to the other end of the political spectrum until they're openly and genuinely calling for a white ethnostate with the same passion they once used to advocate for feminism, racial equity, and queer rights. And we need to remember that any one of us intelligent, college-educated, left-leaning white folks could be in her position, which is why it's so important to learn about radicalization tactics so we can recognize and resist them.

I'm not gonna lie -- this book is hard to read. The text contains racial slurs, white supremacist rhetoric, antisemitism, and anti-Black racism. All of this is condemned by the author, but Darby doesn't shy away from showing just how vile this movement is. I had to take a lot of breaks from this book and read it over several weeks, but I'm very glad I did because I feel like I needed this information.

White supremacist recruitment efforts are going to pick up in the next year, especially if Tr*mp is the Republican nominee for president. Stay informed and stay ready.

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