4 ms·

The MAGA movement has a strong anti-VC-and-BigTech bent. I wouldn’t be surprised if they do take action.

vkou 3y ago
They also have a strong fascist and cult of personality and authoritarian bent, expecting them to be your saviours is a juice that isn't worth the squeeze.
- confoundcofound 3y ago
  [flagged]
- moomoo11 3y ago
  lol. Everyone in politics wants to be someone’s savior.
r00fus 3y ago
The MAGA movement has been coopted, and all the seemingly grassroots activity is being astroturfed by influencers who are being paid by big money. Cooption is not unique to that movement. Others (some on the left) have been coopted as well.
- TheOtherHobbes 3y ago
  The MAGA movement isn't coopted, it's a wholly artificial creation. Some of it is driven by grift (gold coins, prepper supplies, assault weapons...) Some by political opportunism. Some by nihilistic accelerationism. Absolutely none of it is a genuinely organic spontaneous bottom-up movement. That turns out to be one of the worst things about the Internet. It just doesn't amplify culture. Bad actors with significant resources can use it to steer culture. Any billionaire can seed a political movement now, and significantly influence elections. That's a ridiculous amount of power and it has absolutely no democratic oversight. To an extent that's always been true of media ownership. But where early 20th c. print was very much print-and-hope, with the Internet you can get almost instant real-time feedback of how an influence campaign is doing. And if it's not working you can adjust it to order. At some point soon this whole process will fully automated, with AI running bot farms, creating content, supervising and steering forums, and collecting and personalising prospect details, all without human participation.
  - confoundcofound 3y ago
    The MAGA phrase itself is certainly not a grassroots invention, but it does capture a pervasive grassroots sentiment. If you’ve spoken to any within the movement, it’s clear their involvement is largely driven by their own personal experiences. Whether or not the movement accurately and productively attributes those experiences is a separate issue.
    - KerrAvon 3y ago
      What personal experiences could possibly justify the horror of MAGA cruelty and violence? A trans person got the last muffin at Starbucks? Kill them all!
    - cmh89 3y ago
      >t. If you’ve spoken to any within the movement, it’s clear their involvement is largely driven by their own personal experiences. I grew up in MAGA-land. The MAGA people I know are mainly driven but what they see on TV and hear on the radio rather than any real experiences. I don't think you can call it 'grassroots' when there is a coherent right-wing strategy to radicalize a demographic
      - jaredhallen 3y ago
        There is no doubt that popular culture and public policy continue to shift leftwards. If one is conservative, then that is a valid foundational concern. The MAGA movement identified this as an opportunity and capitalized on it. And social algorithms skew perspective to give the impression that the problem is orders of magnitude worse than it actually is, adding fuel to the fire.
        cmh89 3y ago
        >There is no doubt that popular culture and public policy continue to shift leftwards. If one is conservative, then that is a valid foundational concern. I don't think most conservatives could even begin to talk about public policy on a meaningful level.
KerrAvon 3y ago
They are funded by VC and BigTech money, son. They won’t do shit.

vkou 3y ago

They also have a strong fascist and cult of personality and authoritarian bent, expecting them to be your saviours is a juice that isn't worth the squeeze.

confoundcofound 3y ago
[flagged]
moomoo11 3y ago
lol. Everyone in politics wants to be someone’s savior.

r00fus 3y ago

The MAGA movement has been coopted, and all the seemingly grassroots activity is being astroturfed by influencers who are being paid by big money. Cooption is not unique to that movement. Others (some on the left) have been coopted as well.

TheOtherHobbes 3y ago
The MAGA movement isn't coopted, it's a wholly artificial creation. Some of it is driven by grift (gold coins, prepper supplies, assault weapons...) Some by political opportunism. Some by nihilistic accelerationism. Absolutely none of it is a genuinely organic spontaneous bottom-up movement. That turns out to be one of the worst things about the Internet. It just doesn't amplify culture. Bad actors with significant resources can use it to steer culture. Any billionaire can seed a political movement now, and significantly influence elections. That's a ridiculous amount of power and it has absolutely no democratic oversight. To an extent that's always been true of media ownership. But where early 20th c. print was very much print-and-hope, with the Internet you can get almost instant real-time feedback of how an influence campaign is doing. And if it's not working you can adjust it to order. At some point soon this whole process will fully automated, with AI running bot farms, creating content, supervising and steering forums, and collecting and personalising prospect details, all without human participation.
- confoundcofound 3y ago
  The MAGA phrase itself is certainly not a grassroots invention, but it does capture a pervasive grassroots sentiment. If you’ve spoken to any within the movement, it’s clear their involvement is largely driven by their own personal experiences. Whether or not the movement accurately and productively attributes those experiences is a separate issue.
  - KerrAvon 3y ago
    What personal experiences could possibly justify the horror of MAGA cruelty and violence? A trans person got the last muffin at Starbucks? Kill them all!
  - cmh89 3y ago
    >t. If you’ve spoken to any within the movement, it’s clear their involvement is largely driven by their own personal experiences. I grew up in MAGA-land. The MAGA people I know are mainly driven but what they see on TV and hear on the radio rather than any real experiences. I don't think you can call it 'grassroots' when there is a coherent right-wing strategy to radicalize a demographic
    - jaredhallen 3y ago
      There is no doubt that popular culture and public policy continue to shift leftwards. If one is conservative, then that is a valid foundational concern. The MAGA movement identified this as an opportunity and capitalized on it. And social algorithms skew perspective to give the impression that the problem is orders of magnitude worse than it actually is, adding fuel to the fire.
      - cmh89 3y ago
        >There is no doubt that popular culture and public policy continue to shift leftwards. If one is conservative, then that is a valid foundational concern. I don't think most conservatives could even begin to talk about public policy on a meaningful level.

KerrAvon 3y ago

They are funded by VC and BigTech money, son. They won’t do shit.