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.

1/

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.

2/
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.

3/
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.

4/
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.

6/
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.

7/
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.

9/
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.

16/
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.

17/
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.

18/
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

Jun 30
We’re in the middle of a full blown crisis and being forced to have conversations about power and abuse and aging and trauma and the past and the future that we were never taught to have.

In fact, capitalism actively incentivizes not having those conversations.
This isn’t just a political crisis. It’s a mental health crisis. The issues we have with ourselves and our families are scaled to the society level, and capitalism and history in general has burdened us with so much trauma that it keeps us from recognizing what’s happening.
For things to get to the point they’re at it was necessary to live in abusive environments until we got to the point where communicating about what’s happening in our lives and society at large was nearly impossible.

Every day now we see the consequences.
Read 8 tweets
Jun 25
Just a reminder that every single time the Center will warn about the dangers of the Right and the Left and then immediately form coalitions with the Right because their differences are aesthetic and rhetorical, not material. The shared, main principle is service of capital. Image
This is what keeps getting misunderstood in America.

The Center is fine with liberal democracy as long as it serves their purposes. But when things get dicey, they will soft-wash authoritarianism until they full embrace it.

That's what's happening now.
Everyone gets so confused when the leaders they support pass Right Wing legislation or criticize causes or ideas they support, but the truth is that the Center pays rhetorical lipservice to things until the rubber meets the road. Then, it rushes to the Right.
Read 4 tweets
Jun 11
Alito’s comments that he views the Court as a weapon in a spiritual and existential war are revealing, but unsurprising.

The Court has been captured by the wealthy in order to destroy democracy by any means necessary, and we must begin fighting back.

jaredyatessexton.substack.com/p/the-quiet-pa…
Image
Alito’s extremism and Thomas’ corruption expose a larger threat: a long term plan by the wealthy to capture the Court and dismantle our rights and protections in order to cement control has come to fruition.

They aren’t outliers. They are perfect representations. Image
People shouldn’t trust the Court. Since its founding it’s worked as a protector and tool of the wealthy. What progress we have had has been the aberration.

The time to push back and demand reform that serves democracy is here and it is fleeting.
Read 9 tweets
Jun 7
Authoritarianism is on the rise and democracy is on the verge of destruction because the wealthy have dismantled reality.

That's why we're awash in conspiracy theories and why education, journalism, and science are being demolished.

jaredyatessexton.substack.com/p/the-flooded-…
Image
The wealthy have always attacked information and tried to control education and access to information about what they have done, but this new era gives them incredible tools to complete what they have always tried to do: control reality itself.

Right now, we are losing this war.
People are familiar with Steve Bannon's "flood the zone with shit" strategy, but the wealthy have been attacking information for forever.

In America we have been inundated with attacks on empirical reality for all of our lives. This has been a concentrated effort. Image
Read 8 tweets
May 31
Trump’s conviction should be the end of his political career.

The Right rallying violently around him should be a moment for some to realize we’re in a severe crisis and leave behind the comforting lies they’ve been sold.

jaredyatessexton.substack.com/p/when-the-end…
Image
For years people have been making so much money and gaining influence assuring followers the system would solve the Trump problem. That he would be held accountable and the spell would break.

These are false prophecies. The date of the apocalypse came and went. We’re still here. Image
The truth is that Trump is a symptom of a larger disease. We’re facing a full-blown authoritarian tilt with complicated factors.

It’s cathartic to see these convictions, but focusing on the joy hides a deeper truth that we must face if we’re going to survive.
Read 9 tweets
May 18
Persecution is essential to the Right’s worldview.

They can become wealthy and influential for no reason whatsoever, get treated seriously despite never earning a shred of it, and still it’s never enough to fill the emptiness that defines them. Image
The Right is defined by undiagnosed and repressed trauma, a self-hatred that has to be projected onto the rest of the world.

There’s not enough money or fame or power to fix it and any measure of it just feeds their self-hate, making them more and more miserable.
We should be grateful to Musk and Trump and all the people in their orbits. They tutor us everyday in the true nature of wealth and power and what fuels the need to hurt others.

It’s an ideology that follows self-hate masked by narcissistic persecution complexes.
Read 8 tweets

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