longer.blue

Why is Trump and Musk doing all of this, what's their end game? Here is my thoughts on this: If we consider years of filter bubbles and social media driven polarization has taken root, I believe that many of Trump's supporters genuinely believe in some of the theories or conspiracy theories being spread—such as the "deep state," anti-vaccine movements, government corruption, and "woke" ideology. Their actions then seem less irrational because they see themselves as trying to save society and protect the State. At the same time, there is another group that exploits these beliefs to push their own political agendas. The society they seek to build appears to be one where the nuclear family is central, and where there is no room for "woke," strong women, or alternative gender identities. Religion takes on a greater role, and men reclaim what they see as their rightful place. In many ways, this resembles the societal structures in certain Middle Eastern countries. What they are doing can be described as fascist, and when people like Musk and others normalize fascist actions—joking about and denying Nazi symbols—they are doing something extremely dangerous. Removing words like "transgender," "women," "alternative," and similar terms from websites, cutting research funding related to these topics, dismantling government agencies, and replacing leaders and officials based on loyalty serve two purposes: first, to stop what they believe, according to conspiracy theories, is happening; and second, to secure power for those already in control. This deepens the divide between us and these right wing, far-right populists like Trump. We call them idiots, and they call us idiots. We have stopped listening to each other, and we have stopped engaging in meaningful dialogue—which is a disaster. I believe that social media and its algorithms, designed to maximize profit, bear a significant responsibility for this. But we are not entirely blameless either, as we have not done better ourselves when we condemned those who said, "We cannot take in this many refugees," by immediately labeling them as Nazis.