Thread by @joshcowenMSU

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So much of edu-Right is cult-like.

❌ First is the weird hero-worship of figures like Bush, @BetsyDeVos, @DougDucey even lesser names like Rhee, and collection of Broad-supts #education #privateschool @DianeRavitch @NPEaction @PV4PS @mrobmused

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❌ Second are the villains, which every extremist group/cult needs to project its weird grievance on

For the edu-Right it’s
✔️#teachersunions specifically @rweingarten
✔️”government”
✔️#woke/#DEI / #CRT “agenda”
✔️ Trans-kids/ #LGBTQ adults
✔️ who the hell knows what else

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❌ Third, related to villains is stoked fear:
✔️ perceived threat to way of life
✔️ fear of “the other”
✔️ imagined threats to own children coupled with willingness to actually put them at risk

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❌ Fourth is fanatic-level belief in particular kool-aid schemes like #schoolvouchers that requires rejection of generally established facts/evidence in favor of alternative version of reality

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❌ Fifth is strict rejection of outside evidence:
✔️ book bans
✔️ Self-cite echo chambers like Heritage, Cato, American Federation for Children
✔️ #privateschools in general as opposed to open public spaces

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❌ Sixth is making common cause with other extremist groups. In this case with
✔️ opposition to #ReproductiveFreedom
✔️ opposition to fair elections/#VotingRights
✔️ the #Trump cult itself

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❌ Finally, hostile borderline violent rejection of opposition. This is what folks like Corey DeAngelis made his name doing on Twitter. Blowing up inboxes, riling up followers, intimidation, etc

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When you look at it in terms of cult/extremist detachment behavior, the edu-Right makes much more sense. And becomes both as ridiculousness and as dangerous as other cults have been.

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