Progressives in the US have been demonized since Vietnam. The War on Drugs is on record as an attempt to associate enemies of the Republican party with somethin

Progressives in the US have been demonized since Vietnam. The War on Drugs is on record as an attempt to associate enemies of the Republican party with something that law enforcement could be used as a weapon against. The peaceful skinhead movement was hijacked in an attempt to associate them with neonazis. In the 90s the middle east was radicalized from years of being occupied by western military forces. 9/11 was, in their words, intended to be a wakeup call to the American people. It was terrorism in every sense of the word: intended to strike fear into American citizens in the same way that they already lived in fear of US forces, with the goal of destabilizing their enemy. Two decades of right wing propaganda later and it's clear they've succeeded in radicalizing the US right. Progressives never stopped protesting attempts to violate personal freedoms, but conservatives consistently wield their fear as an excuse to persecute anyone who doesn't fit their definition of being an American. Now fear is at an all time high, which means right wing militias are stronger than ever. Studies show that while both liberals and conservatives are susceptible to misinformation, there is far far more misinformation that appeals to conservatives in circulation, and as a result, the impact of misinformation on conservatives is greater: https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/23/eabf1234.full https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/23/eabf1234.full Jan 6th was a precursor to what's to come. It's only a matter of time before we see another 9/11, but this time it will be carried out by our own citizens. Right wingers, who live in constant fear fed to them by their media and internet bubbles, will want their "enemies" to feel the same fear. Who are their enemies? Basically everyone: https://www.thetrumparchive.com/insights/insults https://www.thetrumparchive.com/insights/insults So either we control the stoking of fear (which is very questionable for a govt to do) or we monitor these militias as probable terrorist cells (also questionable). I don't think there's any way we survive this century without another world war. The internet is too important and influential for it to not spark a huge conflict amongst homo sapiens who haven't yet evolved to know how to wield it.