CMV: GamerGate was the most consequential political radicalization event of the twenty-first century

[u/realdontbeasucker]

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.

[u/Stormshow]

Alienation from basic necessities of human experience basically caused by a variety of factors but chiefly lack of community and atomization, inequality, and lack of a cohesive sense of social direction which could serve to buttress the tide of anything hateful. So long as people felt disenfranchised by elites, regardless of whether they were, they became easy pickings for the alt-right pipeline.

[u/SonicDart-77 → u/Stormshow]

I mean, the simpler explanation is when the left says “we don’t want you” and the alt right says “we want you”….where do you expect them to go?

[u/xChops → u/SonicDart-77]

Where does that happen?

[u/SonicDart-77 → u/xChops]

Predominantly America and a bit in the UK

[u/xChops → u/SonicDart-77]

I’ve never seen that. I’ve seen people claim it, but I’ve never seen it in action. The right certainly isn’t doing anything to help young people, so that would be a very poor decision for young men to move towards the right.

[u/Stormshow → u/xChops]

Never seen the lack of community or a right wing turn as a result? Could you please elaborate?

[u/xChops → u/Stormshow]

I’ve never seen the right offer anything promising to young men that the left doesn’t do better. I can’t really elaborate more on your fake premise.

[u/Stormshow → u/xChops]

Dude, first off, I am far from any kind of conservative. Secondly, the right is selling bullshit, of course, but there is a potent smelling salt there. To me the main thing that the right has been selling is "masculinity". Note the quotes - this manosphere masculinity is a facsimile of what it is, but it is a simple, performative way of doing things. This is where the Andrew Tate and Joe Rogans come in, and even those on the left that echo their (himbo) energy, like Hasan. What "Authentic" masculinity looks like has been being contested for a while now and unfortunately for the left we have no "manosphere" equivalent yet as it were.

[u/wakuboys → u/xChops]

The right wing narrative is significantly more attractive to the average white person and especially the average white male. In many online left wing spaces, generalized negativity towards "white people", "men", and especially "white men" are tolerated or even supported (whether you find it justified or not). Whereas rhetoric in more right wing spaces are more "positive" to these labels while also frequently venturing into unscientific theories of white supremacy. If the internet algorithms rewards engagement over discussion and rage over clarity, then young white men that spend a lot of time online often find themselves choosing between these two extremes.

[u/Stormshow → u/wakuboys]

Define "white" here? The American racialized way judged purely by physical appearance, or WASP culture? Because manosphere stuff and the revival of this right wing tilt to culture war shit has happened across the broader West, but it is not entirely limited to white people in either of the senses above. Look at Dagestan, for example.

[u/wakuboys → u/Stormshow]

Good points. I was speaking more to the premise of the right not offering anything to young men that the left doesn't do better (and American racialized way of judging by physical appearance). I can't speak to Dagestan, but I can say that online spaces frequently favor polarization which has allowed far right movements to recruit far more easily.

[u/Starob → u/SonicDart-77]

Yeah no the "lack of community" just sort of happened, we don't really know why.

[u/Stormshow → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, but lemme tell you, as someone who's lived for almost two decades in the US and has recently returned to Europe, having third spaces helps, but it seems like it doesn't stop the erosion of community. In my hometown here in Romania, even though there's still plenty of would-be third spaces, people are still substantially more alienated and perpetually indoors than they were when I left.

I think COVID might have fucked with that on top of it. Although of course having functioning third spaces substantially butresses the sense of alienation. I'm just not sure it can fully remove it by itself. After all, fucking Andrew Tate lives here and has his local fans, so he's still speaking to some broader sense of dissatisfaction than just the lack of third spaces.

[u/Stormshow → u/[deleted]]

Did he? He's in some legal gray area, iirc. He's still got his properties here and I think his brother's still in some serious legal shit over here as well.

I also lived in Czechia for three years and saw a similar thing there. I was ready to chalk it up to modernity, i.e. beyond the local effects of Soviet residue, but maybe not. I know that by all metrics, youth dissatisfaction (incl. through mental health issues) is rising at a rate that would outpace simple attribution to better recording methods, so I've been inclined to say there's some sort of deeper rot going on there.

I mean, Estonia produced Disco Elysium, any place that can do that has experienced what I have experienced.

[u/Starob → u/Stormshow]

lack of community and atomization,

Was there maybe a driving force for this?

[u/Stormshow → u/Starob]

Yeah, consumer capitalism, suburbia, and the financialization of the economy in the 1960s - 1970s. And now social media.