gedaliyah ,
@gedaliyah@lemmy.world avatar

The fringe has been growing with online organizing since the 1990s. You happened to have a strongman politician who sensed that there was a large disenfranchised group of radicals/conspiracy people, who was able to capitalize on them before anyone else.

downpunxx ,
@downpunxx@fedia.io avatar

They figured out that egalitarian secular Democracy wasn't meeting their racist ends, and couldn't ever be forced to through the power of argument, so instead of changing what they want, they're out to destroy the entire construct

themeatbridge ,

Because Conservativism is not an ideology. It's narcissism dressed in a stoic costume. Conservatives believe themselves to be righteous, so they support policies and legislation that benefit themselves. They gain followers by promoting a sense of belonging so they can defend the self and attack the other. There is no lie to brazen, no hypocrisy too obvious, no depth too low for a conservative seeking power, because they are justified by their identity. If the conservative is good, then anything the conservative does or says is good while they are doing it or saying it.

When they can no longer hold power through politics, they always fall back on fascism and bigotry.

jordanlund ,
@jordanlund@lemmy.world avatar

They really started going insane in the 90s with the whole "Hillary Clinton murdered Vince Foster" thing, and it accelerated with the completely ignorant "Tea Party" movement in the 2010s.

What we're seeing now is just the logical conclusion of that insanity.

RobotToaster ,
@RobotToaster@mander.xyz avatar

America has always rejected fanaticism

The John Birch Society says hi.

Neato ,
@Neato@ttrpg.network avatar

We have never rejected fanaticism.

The revolution was built on fanatical ideas and ideals of American exceptionalism and where was propaganda to support that.

The civil was started primarily because the wealthy didn't want to give up free labor (slaves) but a lot of individuals supported it because they felt the big scary northern government was attacking their homes and they had to defend them and their way of life (still, slavery,).

Pretty much every war is sold based on fanaticism. The Spanish American war was wholesale created by yellow journalism. The world wars were a bit different because America was very isolationist then and it needed a push.

Overall America isn't an exception here. Most humans need to be fanatical to really do big things like war or revolution.

fruitycoder ,

Actually a lot of the southern secession was built on the so called conserstone of the Confederacy that maintaining a racial heirachy of white supremcey was the only way to preserve the white race and avoid total violent retribution from the freed slaves.

And I mean the latter idea really wasn't crazy most slave rebellions had very very bloody, because obviously they would be (and very justifiably so).

demesisx , (edited )
@demesisx@infosec.pub avatar

It helps them ignore actually doing good things for their constituents. Identity politics is what fascists use to work voters into a frenzy to manipulate them into voting for them in order to sneak extreme corporatism into office.

qooqie ,

The why is kind of hard to pin point and I would probably say someone with a higher degree in poli sci could answer better.

However, I just wanted to point out that they don’t see it as fanatical. They truly believe the left to be evil and doing demonic rituals. I’m almost willing to say they have delusional disorder or symptoms of light psychosis. Shits wack

pastermil ,

Fanatics don't see themselves as fanatical.

treefrog , (edited )

Here I think it's best to delineate the GOP base and the GOP elite.

What you say is most likely (though not always) true for the base. While not likely (though sometimes) true for the elite.

And it's not a delusional disorder. But the effects of propaganda by the elite. (Still technically delusion but I think it's nice to point at the source, as it helps us not fall into the trap of blaming people for being manipulated).

The reason we see more of this recently in broad daylight is because propaganda works. The oligarchs and political elite care about the same things they did during WW2, money and power. And up until Pearl Harbor, there was support for Germany in the U.S.

https://time.com/5414055/american-nazi-sympathy-book/

And don't forget, the GOP has a history of shitting on minorities that goes back many generations. This isn't new. It's just masks off. Because their base drank the kool aid.

PonyOfWar ,

Much of the world is moving in that direction. The many crises of recent years and an uncertain future outlook for humanity are fertile ground for extremists promising easy solutions and "going back to the good old days".

radix ,
@radix@lemmy.world avatar

Create the problem, sell the solution.

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