Jared Yates Sexton Profile picture
Jun 18, 2021 25 tweets 9 min read Read on X
So. A lot of people want to believe the GOP will heal itself or "return to normal."

But we have to talk about how the Right, from the moment of their origin, has used wild-eyed, antisemitic conspiracy theories to justify oppression and fascism.

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jaredyatessexton.substack.com/p/a-long-and-f…
People are delusional in thinking that Donald Trump represented an aberration with the GOP and that as soon as he was gone things would return to "normal."

The truth is that Trump represented the true, actual nature of the Right and their racist white supremacy.

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What we are watching with antidemocratic violence, voter repression, racist conspiracy theories, attempted coups, and this daily horror show in which shared society and representative democracy are imperiled isn't new...it's what the Right does.

It's who they are.

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The origins of the modern Right lie in the 18th century and the outbreak of the French Revolution, which overthrew the monarchy.

The Right grew out of fears that the act would lead to widespread revolution and the empowering of the people.

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As the French overthrew the monarchy, a reaction grew. In England, the government cracked down on free speech, individual liberty, created police forces to rein in the people, and adopted violence and oppression as a means of trying to suppress any revolution there.

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Edmund Burke is considered the originator of "conservatism" and it was rooted in opposition to the Revolution in France.

Burke believed in hierarchies and the need to control the will of the people...for their own good.

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But conservatism, from the very beginning, was founded in conspiracy theories.

The belief was that the French Revolution was a master plan by a shadowy cabal obsessed with overthrowing nations.

If that sounds familiar...it should. But recognize: it was there from the start.

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The belief was that a shadowy conspiracy between the Masons, Illuminati, and, of course, the Jews, had created the French Revolution in order to destroy Christianity and create a one-world government.

Read that again.

It's the same conspiracy theory over and over.

8/
After Napoleon was defeated, there emerged a Concert of Europe that sought to contain these conspiracies and create a "Conservative Order" that might stabilize the continent and root out the conspirators.

It was oppressive. A dystopia, really.

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The main feature of the Right, beginning from the very start, was to use these fears of conspiracies to rationalize policing, oppression, surveillance, and a crushing society where individuals were made to fear for their safety should they call for any reform.

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It should be no surprise that antisemitic conspiracy theories grew like wildfire during this time as the calls for reform and liberalization were met with charges of a massive, international Jewish conspiracy to destroy the aristocracy and the nation-states.

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Out of this paranoia emerged the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a forged document that reported on the "conspiracy" and gave only solution: more control for the wealthy and powerful.

It was a means of fearmongering and scapegoating in order to consolidate power.

12/
You don't need me to tell you where this went in Europe. It inspired the Big Lie in Germany, fascism, Nazism, genocide, and widespread societal oppression and destruction.

But here's something you might not know: It directed American politics and still affects us.

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Our Civil Rights Movement was met with allegations of Communist/Jewish conspiracies, dismissed as an international plot to destroy America.

It legitimized violence and suppression, framing it as national defense.

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White supremacist leaders like George Wallace told the police and southerners that this was a Communist plot, the insinuation fully there that it was part of the Jewish conspiracy as well, all of it rolled up into a tidy fascistic ball that legitimized violence.

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If all this sounds familiar, it should.

These same racist, classist, antisemitic conspiracy theories were revamped to become the New World Order and Deep State conspiracies.

They're the same fascist stories, just updated for the times.

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Even back in the 1990's the GOP was selling the same conspiracy to their followers, including the Patriot Movement, of which Timothy McVeigh was a member.

These conspiracies and fearmongering are nothing new. They've just become more and more visible.

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In this current iteration, it works like this: BLM and other social reform movements are ploys by conspirators to overthrow America.

They're fake. Operations obsessed with plunging America into a Satanic, one-world dystopia.

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While mainstream Right Wing media mostly refrain from using the most racist, antisemitic concepts, they hint at them.

There's something *happening*, a plot that's unfolding. They plant the seeds for further radicalization and further conspiracy mongering.

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But under the surface is the same, antisemitic conspiracy theory.

Jews working in the shadows to weaken the nation, create havoc, and unseat the power structure so that they can rule the world.

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It's constant rebranding.

New plots to fit whatever the moment requires, whatever it takes to prepare the Right Wing for preemptive violence, antidemocratic actions, and widespread, oppressive control.

But it's the same story, just different paint schemes.

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Recently, it's the fight against "CRT," which is just a new version of "cultural Marxism," the same conspiracy theory that animated the Nazis and allowed fascists to take complete control over their societies and brainwash their people.

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The fearmongering is a means to an end. Even most GOP members have no idea what CRT actually is, but it allows them to create fear and paranoia, furthering their control over both education and the political sphere.

It is, after all, an emergency.

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jaredyatessexton.substack.com/p/the-war-over…
The "Stop The Steal" conspiracy theory is more of the same.

There's a conspiracy that's already stolen government, so it's time to tear down democratic institutions and take control.

Because...it's an emergency.

Because...it's self-defense.

24/
The point is that Trump wasn't the disease, he was a symptom.

This is who the GOP is, who the Right is. They have ALWAYS been a white supremacist movement using conspiracy theories to legitimize antidemocratic actions and suppression.

We have to understand this. Now.

25/25

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More from @JYSexton

Nov 2, 2024
People are rightfully feeling a ton of anxiety about the election.

We must take these last few days to calm and fortify ourselves, recognize the control we have, replenish ourselves, and decide how we will continue the fight to make the world better.

jaredyatessexton.substack.com/p/fortifying-o…Image
This podcast tries to provide strategies to overcome election anxiety and ground ourselves in reality and focus on what we can do to combat authoritarianism beyond Tuesday.

We need to take this anxious energy and convert it into actionable things.
Combating authoritarianism is exhausting. It’s systematic, weaponized abuse designed to ground you down.

We have to find the moments of calm to replenish ourselves so we don’t burn out, so we don’t fall into despair the way authoritarians want us to.
Read 8 tweets
Oct 24, 2024
One of the biggest issues of the 2024 Election is going largely unreported.

Elon Musk has used his wealth to buy the shambling, decaying corpse of Donald Trump and MAGA in order to seize control over the government without ever appearing on a ballot.

jaredyatessexton.substack.com/p/the-billiona…Image
Everyone knows Trump is in decline, and Musk recognizes a prime opportunity to install a puppet who will rubber stamp his agenda while handing him unmatched and unaccountable control over the functions of government.

This is a major, major threat.
Trump as a spectacle soaks up so much attention, but the donors behind him and the oligarchical Musk are pulling the strings with only light scrutiny.

We are watching the co-opting of the presidency in real-time, and if it’s allowed to happen the consequences would be dire.
Read 6 tweets
Oct 6, 2024
It’s time for people to understand that Republicans and MAGA aren’t actually interested in curbing immigration.

They want to profit off fearmongering tethered to white paranoia and create an environment of sheer terror in which immigrants are more easily exploited.
The billionaires puppeting the GOP rely on immigrant labor as a means of maximizing profit and circumventing regulation.

What they’re pursuing is a country where immigrants have a huge, brutal system over their heads to keep them from challenging anything.
As resources are more scarce and conditions worsen, the Right will absolutely brutalize immigrants. They have created a subsection of people who are vulnerable and exploitable and expendable.

That’s it. The whole ballgame. And the framing everyone accepts is disastrous.
Read 8 tweets
Oct 5, 2024
The episode of The Midnight Kingdom is out and explores our present crisis, including the rise of authoritarianism, attacks on democracy by the wealth class, and what we must do to get out of this mess.

The five part series is now complete. Please share.

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The series tracks modern history, explaining how the powerful have used racism, religious mythologies, and weaponized conspiracy theories to control us and expand their power.

It's a reconsideration of where we came from and where we are.

youtube.com/playlist?list=…
Episode 1 starts with the merging of Christianity with Roman power and dissects how religion was used to create "Western Civilization" and a feudal empire where control was almost total, which is where many Right Wing ideologues want to return to.

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Read 7 tweets
Oct 2, 2024
Last night JD Vance was allowed to lie and present himself and Trump as moderates.

It was repulsive and dangerous. Winning this election, and defeating MAGA as an authoritarian movement, means breaking this facade and communicating how extreme they are.

jaredyatessexton.substack.com/p/what-are-we-…
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It is disgusting how Vance, who has hundreds of hours of available podcasts and videotaped interviews, wasn’t confronted by his antidemocratic, misogynistic, and wildly authoritarian and extreme positions.

Instead, he was allowed to say time and again that he and Walz agreed.
It’s bad enough that CBS dropped the ball in one of the most embarrassing debates we’ve seen in awhile, but Tim Walz had two jobs: communicate how dangerous MAGA is and provide an alternative.

He didn’t do that. And that should serve as a wake up call for the campaign.
Read 10 tweets
Sep 29, 2024
There’s a real Roman-Empire-Telling-Britain-They’re-On-Their-Own vibe to everything right now.
Only it’s now this weird, hard for some people to explain caveat of capitalism having fully possessed the US and overtaken its process for the purposes of system operation that just makes everything worse and very difficult to grasp for people who haven’t been taught about it.
Watching what’s happening in Gaza and Lebanon with the backdrop of worsening climate change, infrastructure collapse, austerity, and intentional inequality, leaving people drowning and suffering and roads and bridges and dams collapse is just…awful.
Read 6 tweets

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