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It’s utterly mortifying, and heartbreaking. This person wrote that shit with complete confidence in their perception of the world and their superiority in it. They have not even a scintilla of awareness or doubt or shame. I don’t fully understand how anyone could get like this. I’m about to start reading a book about a young man who grew up as a white supremacist but then, through the patience and care of some new friends, changed his views. It’s called Rising Out of Hatred by Eli Saslow. I heard about it on the podcast “With Friends Like These”.

I feel like I need to try to understand how that comment could happen. How the virulent hatred I see on T_D and MGTOW and Voat became acceptable and normal for some people who grew up in the same country I have, with the same popular culture. Every individual experience is different, like there are 300 million versions of America, but somehow a huge portion of my peers seem to live in a particular America that I do not remotely recognize, and that terrifies me.

I read (and frequently recommend) Jon Ronson’s fascinating book Them: Adventures With Extremists where he spends time with hateful people like a not-yet-famous-but-definitely-nuts Alex Jones and with a bunch of families at a KKK meeting. It’s compelling stuff, but I feel like I need to know more. It’s one reason I hang out in this sub, to keep an eye on what the average yet extreme bigots are thinking and saying.

On a more cheerful note, I came across something that made me think of you after our side conversation about makeup. A Sylvia Plath fan should coordinate their lipstick with this T-shirt and necklace! I’m obsessed with this company, Out of Print. My favorite book of all time is a Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and they even make a tee of that! I wish could spend thousands and wear a different book shirt every day. Anyway, that’s a little more lighthearted way to end this depressing comment contemplating the ugly and in my mind practically profane attitudes expressed in that disgusting thread. Not that Plath is especially cheery, but, well, you know what I mean!

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On the other hand, an actual, real-life exit counselor who works with actual walkaways from actual cults has in fact pretty much formally declared MAGAts to be a coercive political cult of personality, using actual characteristics common across pro-Trump groups and comparing to evaluations of groups like Scientology and the Moonies. (It's worth noting here that said exit counselor actually has written one of the more thorough evaluation scales of the "cultiness" of a coercive group.)

And apparently he's not alone on this; the former head of psychological profiling at the CIA pretty much has completely separately identified MAGAtism as a classical political cult, and literally the person who defined the term "brainwashing" in English and wrote the very first book on coercive groups and thought reform tactics has in fact just written a book on political extremism that also in part defines MAGAtism in the exact same framework of being a coercive political cult as Maoists during the Cultural Revolution. (Considering Dr. Robert J. Lifton's initial studies were of persons involuntarily interned in Maoist "thought reform" camps during the Korean War up to the beginning of the Cultural Revolution...yes, as in the guy has literally written the books on the subject--methinks he'd know exactly what he's talking about when he's comparing MAGAts and Trump to the Cultural Revolution and Mao Zedong). Both Hassan and Lifton have also been contributors to a book that notes that Trump shows all the signs of being a malignant narcissist in the technical sense and which also include OTHER psychologists who have expressed concerns a personality cult exists around Trump (and feel strongly enough on it that they feel an ethical duty to warn a potential target of violence by a person, well, (pardon the expression) trumps the Goldwater Rule). Rick Alan Ross, another exit counselor, has likewise explicitly noted MAGAtism has all the characteristics of a coercive cult of personality--and Rick Alan Ross is actually a Republican (though very much in the "Never Trump" court).

(Pretty much the only major exit counselor that has NOT outright called out MAGAtism as a literal personality cult is Dr. Margaret Thaler Singer, and that's because she's dead.)

And we're just talking the redcaps posting MAGA and KAG memes on Twitter and Facebook--we're not talking members of Certain Subreddits Soon To Exhaust The Reddit Community Patience, or even sub-movements within (like QAnonsense--at this rate, pretty much almost universally regarded as a literal coercive New Religious Movement by every exit counselor that's evaluated it and which heavily cross-recruits with older cults like Ramtha--or the New Apostolic Reformation, which has heavily embraced QAnonsense and which (in a remarkable sea change from even fifteen years ago) is also pretty much universally regarded as an extremely coercive religious group within "Charismatic" Christianity).

The views of the American libertarian party is small government, not the total abolition of the state, as secular government courts have proven effective as neutral mediators. If you want to know more there is a great book called "don't hurt people and don't take their stuff"

https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Hurt-People-Their-Stuff/dp/0062308254

> Like what reading? I like to read!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sexing-Body-Politics-Construction-Sexuality/dp/0465077145

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Bodies-Matter-Discursive-Limits-Sex-Routledge-Classics/041561015X/ref=pd_sim_14_5?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=CNDN34DGBXQGMJRNHAEQ

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sexing-Brain-Lesley-Rogers-2000-06-01/dp/B01HC0RD82/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1481591782&sr=1-2&keywords=sexing+the+brain

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Delusions-Gender-Science-Behind-Differences/dp/1848312202/ref=pd_sim_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=CNDN34DGBXQGMJRNHAEQ

http://bennorton.com/gender-is-not-alone-the-social-construction-of-sex/

http://www.dana.org/Cerebrum/2003/Extreme_Problems_with_Essential_Differences/

would be good places to start, plus numerous other papers, some books and blog posts I don't have quite the google-fu to relocate, and a lot of more tangential stuff. (I originally came to this mostly through the study of the theory of bodies and embodiement in art, as well as my spouse's academic studies in gender and sexuality). In getting to grips with this material and the general position it's important to move away from the facile strawman of the idea that biology is disregarded in a social constructionist view; more profoundly, social constructionists realise that social environment reshapes biology.

>Yeah it is. If you believe trans women only transition because of quote unquote "gender" which is purely social...you're wrong.

But what is a 'gender role'? If you restrict it to something as facile as 'girls like pink' then you can make anything absurd. It's worth remembering that the term 'gender roles' was originally coined by the sexologist John Money to describe the behaviours inhabited by unassigned intersex individuals trying to express a single binary gender identity. From a performative standpoint, gender roles are the entirety of the behaviour with which we signal the gender identity we wish to and are trained to project towards society. To say such things are not bound up in the trans experience is simply wrong; many trans folk experience feelings of dysphoria at being identified as their wrong gender, and lessening of these feelings or even positive counter-feelings at being identified as their correct gender. This is purely a matter of social perception. Therapeutically speaking, people transition because it helps to alleviate their feelings of dysphoria. Whether the underlying cause of the dysphoric state is genetic, epigenetic, foetal or psychological (or even spiritual) or some subtle combination of factors which differs on an individual basis is immaterial to the benefits provided by transition to the majority of those who seriously seek it. This is, it is important to note, only the medically legitimised narrative of the trans experience.

Just gonna post this book here, in case anyone is interested in learning what the Weimar Republic was like from a huge collection of primary source documents. Americans use stories about the rise of fascism to shape political debate and this is a great tool that I think can nuance and illuminate a broad array of topics.

No it's just stickers: https://www.amazon.com/Rarefren-Mystery-Booster-Collectible-Stickers/dp/B07TDD13BM

But we should totally design one! It can be called FrenWorld

Mechanically, there should be different factions/types like how in Pokemon and MTG operate. So Clowns, Frens, MAGAs and Incels. They need to generate "energy" with some kind of resource that lets them play different monsters/spells/artifacts. This could be fucking hilarious.

That's a real shame then. It's too bad that the term "conspiracy theorist" covers someone who is spreading facts. As I stated above, Phillip Corso's book is excellent (because of his credentials) but another good book is https://www.amazon.com/UFOs-Generals-Pilots-Government-Officials/dp/0307717089. This book was written by one of the people involved with breaking the NYT story. Unacknowledged on Netflix is a great introductory resource too.

If you aren't aware of any of this information then you will become a victim of the MSM narrative without being aware of all the facts.

> 2nd research its not hard do it and you will find I'm right

Yeah, no. I've read books by people who know what they're talking about, like Peter Heather. Feminism ain't got nothing to do with it.

Feminism also doesn't explain why the Eastern Roman Empire lasted until 1453.

And the connection between feminism and Babylon is pure, unadulterated bullshit--pretty much what I expect from somebody who tells people to "research" instead of supporting their position.

He is actually quite conservative in the historical sense

> In The Reactionary Mind, Robin traces conservatism back to its roots in the reaction against the French Revolution. He argues that the right was inspired, and is still united, by its hostility to emancipating the lower orders. Some conservatives endorse the free market; others oppose it. Some criticize the state; others celebrate it. Underlying these differences is the impulse to defend power and privilege against movements demanding freedom and equality -- while simultaneously making populist appeals to the masses. Despite their opposition to these movements, conservatives favor a dynamic conception of politics and society -- one that involves self-transformation, violence, and war. They are also highly adaptive to new challenges and circumstances. This partiality to violence and capacity for reinvention have been critical to their success.

If you want to know what drives the fascist worldview, and exactly why people are like this, I'd suggest: https://www.amazon.com/Anatomy-Fascism-Robert-Paxton/dp/1400033918

The third reich trilogy is also fantastic and lays out the entire context and explains exactly why Nazis had so much appeal.

https://www.amazon.com/Trump-Art-Deal-Donald-J/dp/0399594493/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505431279&sr=8-1&keywords=trump+book

4.5 stars.

Stop acting the victim, because people can easily look up that you are lying.

Edit: Honestly, 4.5 stars is astonishing to me. I feel like they aren't removing enough reviews, but I guess you are okay with that.

Just a sidenote to this, the Derek he refers to is Derek Black, the son of the creator of Stormfront, godson of David Duke and ex prodigal son of the white nationalist movement. I say ex because he renounced all his racist beliefs and broke free from the movement. A book--written by a Pulitzer-winning WP reporter--just came out about him last month. I really recommend it.

https://www.amazon.com/Rising-Out-Hatred-Awakening-Nationalist-ebook/dp/B078LJKP88/

My favorite comment, he immediately gets accused of 'attempted doxing' but if Axo is a Oxford educated published researcher then I'll just show myself out:

>Are you Joseph P. Farrell?

>https://www.amazon.com/Hess-Penguins-Holocaust-Antarctica-Strange/dp/1939149851

Well...

America Again: Re-becoming The Greatness We Never Weren't ^1

Here are a couple of books that will get you on the right track:

The Reactionary Mind and Anti-Intellectualism in American Life.

Read one fucking book you illiterate numbnuts: https://www.amazon.com/Why-Civil-Resistance-Works-Nonviolent/dp/0231156839

https://www.amazon.com/Anatomy-Fascism-Robert-Paxton/dp/1400033918

A now-deleted comment on one of Axo's other posts about this pointed out that he copy/pasted from this book.
https://www.amazon.com/Hess-Penguins-Holocaust-Antarctica-Strange/dp/1939149851

This is the book they're talking about.

Quick primer on the whole Chronic Lyme deal.

Right here comrade

https://www.amazon.com/Rarefren-Mystery-Booster-Collectible-Stickers/dp/B07TDD13BM

Edit: Oh look, moar

if you haven't read this yet, you're missing out: https://www.amazon.com/Anti-Intellectualism-American-Life-Richard-Hofstadter/dp/0394703170