NEW YORK — Leaders of Young Republican groups throughout the country worried what would happen if their Telegram chat ever got leaked, but they kept typing anyway.
They referred to Black people as monkeys and “the watermelon people” and mused about putting their political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping their enemies and driving them to suicide and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery.
I’d love to say this surprises me, but it does not in the slightest.
I used to be an internet edgelord, until I recognized that it doesn’t matter if you aren’t actually a bigot when you act like one online. The impact is the same, it makes the real ones feel more comfortable in their views.
I also came to this realization around age 16, and it sounds like these guys are in college…
Up to age 40, not just college-age
The thing about being edgy is that it shouldn’t necessarily imply a particular political bias but if it always goes One Direction that’s indicative
One of the “Alt Right Playbook” videos talks about how the right wing don’t argue against each other. I don’t like internet videos, but i make an exception for this series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMabpBvtXr4
Yep. I don’t know about similar communities on Lemmy because I avoid them like the plague, but I’ve been on reddit long enough to know that r/conservative is famous for preemptively not allowing anyone who doesn’t agree with them and immediately banning anyone if they go against the grain even a little bit, accusing them of being leftist infiltrators.
It’s the only way they can maintain their hateful bubble and their persecution fetish.
It makes for a very predictable pattern whenever something happens that MAGAts would be expected to dislike. They stay silent about it until someone higher up shows them an acceptable response or viewpoint and they all fall in line for fear of being ousted.
Lemmy leans left, which means we are all constantly arguing about it
It’s honestly a tactic we need to adopt. No more infighting, no more purity testing, no more abstaining
Nah fuck that shit.
Diversity is strength.
Diversity is a strength when everyone shows up, it doesn’t do you any good when you’re undermanned
Can you stop arguing with me and just agree with my point?
Diversity of views only gets you so far when everyone wants theirs on top
I’m not falling for that. The one view should be whatever proves objectively most appealing
nothing is more subjective than appeal
Diversity doesn’t require anyone argue.
Except they fight all the time.
Similar with social media but I am making an exception for the Fediverse:-)
One thing that snapped me out of that phase was a psychology professor saying your actions define what you are.
I don’t think there are as many edgelords anymore anyways. Since the Trump MAGA era nobody pretends. It’s all out in the open now. You either are or you aren’t. Nobody hides behind the “it’s just a joke bro” stuff like in the older internet eras. The bigots aren’t hiding their power level anymore.
I definitely know people who still pretend it’s just a joke.
Same story for me as well and changed around the same age. It’s all fun and games until you realize most of these guys are not in on the joke.