This explains a lot - Sl

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People in this precarious state are going to demand stories that will both explain their distrust back to them and also enclose them within a safe community of believers. The evangelists of distrust, from Donald Trump to Alex Jones to the followers of QAnon, rose up to give them those stories and provide that community. Paradoxically, conspiracy theories have become the most effective community bonding mechanisms of the 21st century.

For those awash in anxiety and alienation, who feel that everything is spinning out of control, conspiracy theories are extremely effective emotional tools. For those in low status groups, they provide a sense of superiority: I possess important information most people do not have. For those who feel powerless, they provide agency: I have the power to reject “experts” and expose hidden cabals. As Cass Sunstein of Harvard Law School points out, they provide liberation: If I imagine my foes are completely malevolent, then I can use any tactic I want.

Under Trump, the Republican identity is defined not by a set of policy beliefs but by a paranoid mind-set. He and his media allies simply ignore the rules of the epistemic regime and have set up a rival trolling regime. The internet is an ideal medium for untested information to get around traditional gatekeepers, but it is an accelerant of the paranoia, not its source. Distrust and precarity, caused by economic, cultural and spiritual threat, are the source.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/26/opinion/republican-disinformation.html?auth=login-email&login=email

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• This explains a lot - Sl (Views: 436, 2020-11-28, 10:18 am)
  • Is voter fraud a now considered a crazy conspiracy - theory? Is any criticisms now (Views: 254, 2020-11-28, 10:30 am)
    • If you wonder why some of the present day professors - and oligarchs are so leftist, look (Views: 241, 2020-11-28, 11:36 am)
    • Well yeah it is - if no proof (Views: 304, 2020-11-28, 2:13 pm)
      • Mighty convenient: Democrats claim - all the "proof" in the world (Views: 203, 2020-11-30, 11:47 am)
    • The irony is, in Michigan, all the Democrat fraud is keeping - a black man out of the Senate. (Views: 221, 2020-11-29, 5:05 am)
  • This explains nothing. Just sounds like an anti-Trump - rant. (Views: 266, 2020-11-28, 10:36 am)
    • It IS an anti-Trump rant. It's also plagiarized. - But that's how they roll, no? (Views: 249, 2020-11-28, 10:50 am)
      • Plagiarized...lol...says "sl" - Link was in the wrong line (Views: 234, 2020-11-28, 12:16 pm)
        • Typical lack of DemLiberal Fascists facts, - and condescension. (Views: 228, 2020-11-28, 2:51 pm)
        • Plagiarized...lol...says Democrat whose - typical reaction is "rayciss!" or (Views: 214, 2020-11-30, 12:09 pm)
  • When I saw the name Cass Sunstein, I stopped reading. - He was BO's regulatory czar. (Views: 229, 2020-11-28, 10:49 am)
    • Sunstein also wants to silence Christian colleges - that adhere to Biblical sexuality. (Views: 225, 2020-11-28, 11:27 am)
  • A radical leftist writing on Trump conspiracy theories? - Sounds more like he is trying to make (Views: 230, 2020-11-28, 11:46 am)
    • Lol....David Brooks represents the right - The old Republican Party (Views: 232, 2020-11-28, 12:19 pm)
      • Ohhh Bless your heart. Your misinformation from - y'all handlers is showing again. nm (Views: 211, 2020-11-28, 2:49 pm)
      • You mean before President Trump stopped giving in - to the left's demands. Stop with the (Views: 222, 2020-11-29, 5:04 am)
      • You still don't get it and never will. For years and years - RINO's have been choosing our (Views: 217, 2020-11-29, 5:08 am)
      • I actually know him personally - Nm (Views: 215, 2020-11-30, 10:13 am)
        • Bush and Brooks want to go back to the deep state - running things and selling out the USA. (Views: 231, 2020-11-30, 11:29 am)
        • Well, good for David. We don't need RINOs in the party. - We will never support that again. (Views: 215, 2020-11-30, 11:39 am)
    • Dear David Brooks: We are not going to lose this election, - but if it gets stolen by FRAUD then we (Views: 210, 2020-11-30, 11:30 am)
  • The writer of this article reminds me of Greta Thurnberg. - probably same age too. (Views: 211, 2020-11-29, 5:15 am)
  • The Treason Media is entirely about promoting the one - narrative approved by leftists. (Views: 212, 2020-11-29, 5:22 am)
    • You hit the nail on the head - At the press briefing (Views: 237, 2020-11-29, 5:31 pm)
      • CBS Reporter Draws Ire Of Biden For Asking - Substantive Question (Biden can't handle (Views: 228, 2020-11-30, 4:44 am)
      • Thankfully, Pres. Trump knows how to handle the media. - I remember GW snapping at (Views: 197, 2020-11-30, 4:54 am)
  • Seriously? Written by someone who suffers from what he named - the article he wrote - sm (Views: 293, 2020-11-29, 3:11 pm)
  • I went to the bottom to see the source - MT Mama (Views: 160, 2020-12-03, 4:02 pm)

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