For years now I've been able to laugh off my grandparents, FOX News and brainwashed Republicans in general.

But my roommate's interaction with her parents changed things for me.

Her parents told her that they were scared. They were scared because something serious was underway in America, that a revolution was happening that threatened to destroy the entire country and that it was serious. They told her that Marxists were on the brink of pulling Biden to the Left, and that they were legitimately danger.

I usually laugh this off, but something struck me: they weren't angry, or grumpy, or bone-headed, like I usually imagine Republicans. They were legitimately afraid, and perceived themselves to truly be descending into a national emergency, one that FOX News has completely manufactured.

I used to laugh off people that said FOX is paving the way to Fascism, or Drumpf = Hitler. But I've come to comprehend that fear, not anger, was the driving motivator in Nazi Germany, and now understand that FOX is pumping sheer terror into the American public at levels only possible in modern society.

I don't really think FOX is a laughing matter anymore, because I begin to understand how an American public this afraid could condone Nazi Germany level atrocities under the impression that they were saving themselves.

  • BlackWolf603 [none/use name]
    ·
    4 years ago

    My dad is the most indoctrinated person I know. He insisted Obama was a secret Communist who will be coming for his guns any day now. He spent the summer of 2008 building a functioning mortar out of parts from Tractor Supply and the local sporting goods shop so he could fight off the government when they come for his trailer in small town New England. Half a century of right wing propaganda has turned his brain to peanut butter.

    I was chatting with him one day and he mentioned how messed up it is that we spend our whole lives working to pay off debts. Your home, car, credit, and even a second home if you do well enough. Nothing you earn is ever enough, and you are pushed to always work harder and never stop and enjoy life. It’s all in aid of making payments to people who already have more money than you will ever see in your life. After a brief pause I commented that this idea is surprisingly left wing coming from him and I’d love to talk more about this. As soon as he heard he was acting like a leftist, the conversation ended on the spot and I never heard about that topic again. He was so close to getting it. SO. CLOSE.