I'm going to be back for a short stint again after the Charlie Kirk event brought the US back to my focus.
By this stage im over the whole debating online thing. My assumption coming in was that MAGA was some form of a reactionary cult. Curiosity lured me here initially; I wondered the reasons why some Australian's jumped aboard. Unfortunately, my patience wore thin. However, things continue to escalate and develop over there that keep bringing me back. When I don't understand your conclusions, I will instead ask questions rather than try convince you of what I think and why. My previous approach was unhelpful. For this post, I will recap some observations I made in the past and touch on a Fox News clip I came across today to see where you stand on it.
In the past I often pointed out the
increased use of violent rhetoric including terms such as 'radical left', 'extremists', 'illegal aliens', 'enemies' etc. It started with Trump and right-wing media in the first term. The rise in violent rhetoric culminated in the unprecedented January 6 riots at the end of that period. Simultaneously, far-right influencers were becoming pertinent online. By 2024, there were a large crop of Christian nationalists online pushing for theocratic style ideas and others focused on demonising minority groups (trans people, gay people, muslims). By 2025, Trump has rapidly begun repealing rights across the US and his rhetoric is far more authoritarian in nature. While Charlie Kirk did not deserve violence by any stretch of the imagination, I appreciate the irony that that he was shot while demonising trans people.
There has been quite a
substantial difference in how the administration responded to Kirk's assassination (demonising the left before knowing anything about the killer's politics or motives) compared to that of Melissa Hortman. Hortman was assassinated in her home some months ago along with her husband and pet Labrador (killed by a verified right-wing extremist).
My primary argument all those months ago was that the irrationalism and division being sowed by Trump and right-wing media is reckless. Chances are that both Kirk and Hortman's killers were mentally ill and bolstered by small echo-chambers online. Rather than deescalate, Trump propogates the noise. Having a few left and right become radical in this environment is inevitible and unfortunate. Although I believe it is almost by design with Trump's approach.
1. Do you feel that the use of 'they', 'the radical left' etc. is reckless or justified in hindsight?
2. If justified can you explain how you arrived at that conclusion and is it only a left-wing problem in your view?
3. If so, what is the underlying cause? And do you perceive it as a collaborative effort or a select few individuals acting on their own volition?
Just today I came across a fox news snippet which struck me as 'not normal'. While initially discussing some understandable concerns with the homeless the first host soon conflated them with the mentally ill. He then teetered with the idea of 'locking them all up in jails' (homeless + mentally ill). But the reason I thought to come back to Silvertails was the followup comment. 50 seconds into the clip the 2nd host butted in to say
"or involentary lethal injection, or something... just kill them". While not a spokesperson for Trump, such desensitisation in popular media resembles that held in Germany society during the late 1930's. Their first targets were the homeless, immigrants and the mentally ill; actioned by a paramilitary group that answer only to the leader. All those ingredients are there in the US and I think it is a real concern.
3. Do you think it is overreacting to draw parallels between modern US and Nazi Germany
4. If so, where do you draw the line?
