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Not sure how your comment is helpful. You could make your point by actually making it instead of putting words in someone’s mouth.

ifyoubuildit 2y ago
What words am I putting in anyone's mouth? The question is meant to be answered. I'm not claiming to have the answer. I want to know if parent has done the exercise of thinking it through, and what their conclusions are.
- ryandrake 2y ago
  Well, I don't think they are "less-than creatures" as you put it. Don't know where that one came from. I don't think anyone really knows why the alt-right is stuck in this imagined persecution complex, and insists on being belligerent against experts and authority figures. My comment was just an observation that they are. I'm not a psychologist so any explanation I could offer would be pure speculation from a layman: Maybe the persecution complex comes from evangelical Christianity--after all, the Venn diagrams of the alt-right and devout Christians overlap to a degree. A big part of the Jesus story was him getting persecuted and killed by authority figures. Maybe they project this victimhood on themselves so they can imagine themselves on some kind of religious-like quest. Being victims of a giant conspiracy could also just be a way of trying to gain sympathy. As for the anger and tough-guy acts? Who knows? Some deep seated trauma from childhood? Parental abuse issues? School teacher trust issues? I guess there are a lot of traumatic events that could set someone down the road of being angry at everyone. Hope this sheds some light on my thought process. Ultimately, I don't think anyone really knows why these folks have made an entire political movement out of simultaneously attacking experts and playing the victim.
  - ifyoubuildit 2y ago
    Maybe "creatures" takes it a little too far, but it's hard to read anything other than "less-than" from your comments. > I don't think anyone really knows why the alt-right is stuck in this imagined persecution complex, and insists on being belligerent against experts and authority figures. Ignoring the alt-right part (because it means something different to everybody), consider that these people are aware that practically all of the experts and authority figures have the same low opinion of them that you do (conspiracy theorists, performative contrarians, victims, tough guy actors). How much stock do you put in the words of people who don't care about/like/respect you?

ifyoubuildit 2y ago

What words am I putting in anyone's mouth? The question is meant to be answered. I'm not claiming to have the answer. I want to know if parent has done the exercise of thinking it through, and what their conclusions are.

ryandrake 2y ago
Well, I don't think they are "less-than creatures" as you put it. Don't know where that one came from. I don't think anyone really knows why the alt-right is stuck in this imagined persecution complex, and insists on being belligerent against experts and authority figures. My comment was just an observation that they are. I'm not a psychologist so any explanation I could offer would be pure speculation from a layman: Maybe the persecution complex comes from evangelical Christianity--after all, the Venn diagrams of the alt-right and devout Christians overlap to a degree. A big part of the Jesus story was him getting persecuted and killed by authority figures. Maybe they project this victimhood on themselves so they can imagine themselves on some kind of religious-like quest. Being victims of a giant conspiracy could also just be a way of trying to gain sympathy. As for the anger and tough-guy acts? Who knows? Some deep seated trauma from childhood? Parental abuse issues? School teacher trust issues? I guess there are a lot of traumatic events that could set someone down the road of being angry at everyone. Hope this sheds some light on my thought process. Ultimately, I don't think anyone really knows why these folks have made an entire political movement out of simultaneously attacking experts and playing the victim.
- ifyoubuildit 2y ago
  Maybe "creatures" takes it a little too far, but it's hard to read anything other than "less-than" from your comments. > I don't think anyone really knows why the alt-right is stuck in this imagined persecution complex, and insists on being belligerent against experts and authority figures. Ignoring the alt-right part (because it means something different to everybody), consider that these people are aware that practically all of the experts and authority figures have the same low opinion of them that you do (conspiracy theorists, performative contrarians, victims, tough guy actors). How much stock do you put in the words of people who don't care about/like/respect you?