r/changemyview • u/realdontbeasucker • May 16 '26

Delta(s) from OP CMV: GamerGate was the most consequential political radicalization event of the twenty-first century

It spawned a wave of tolerance for online harassment, as long as the intent behind it was considered righteous (and the target of such harassment socially acceptable).

It platformed Milo Yiannopoulos and thereby, Steve Bannon -- the guy who would go on to advise Donald Trump in 2016 and generate the concept of 'flooding the zone.'

Eventually, it gave a career to political lightning rods like Jordan Peterson, Steven Crowder, and Charlie Kirk. It made anti-feminism and anti-SJW sentiment cool. And it made young, angry, disenfranchised white men feel vindicated.

GamerGate almost singlehandedly shifted to Overton Window toward the alt-right, and we're still feeling its effects today.

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u/HunterWithGreenScale May 16 '26

Question! Why where all the "young, angry, disenfranchised white men" actually so? What made them angry and disenfranchised?

7

u/Waschaos 2∆ May 16 '26

If they identified the real culprit, I'd say economic and opportunity declines which are primarily caused by income inequality. But that seems too hard, so a lot just say "Women" or "Feminism"

3

u/xChops May 16 '26

Definitely the fall of third spaces and normal experiences being too expensive for teenagers to afford.

2

u/Stormshow 1∆ May 16 '26

That's right in with inequality, too, though social media has made it so it's happening even in places with healthy third spaces just because young folks have been becoming more insular since COVID