Thread by @JYSexton

All right.

We need to talk about how the GOP's embrace of authoritarianism and violence is largely a consequence of the wealthy and powerful destroying our political system and selling fascism as a consumer identity to a radicalized population.

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jaredyatessexton.substack.com/p/politics-as-…

This report of an incident in AZ with a parent threatening to kidnap a school official is a terrible consequence of GOP fearmongering, but what's telling in this is how the whole incident was filmed and streamed on social media.

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washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/09…

This isn't unique. A large part of the GOP's descent into authoritarianism has been a constant merging of violent rhetoric and acts with streams of the behavior as the base is both chronicling their actions and attempting to gain from those acts.

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One of the best examples of how GOP fearmongering and personal advertising coincided was January 6th, where a violent coup attempt was inundated with one insurrectionist after another livestreaming their crimes to gain followers, clout, and solicit donations.

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This dance between actually carrying out a coup attempt and marketing one's self as an individual who WOULD attempt a coup is both strange and telling.

We're watching the merging of antidemocratic ideology with consumerism, the marketing of fascism.

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One of the most notable cases in all of this was a real estate agent from Texas, who livestreamed her activities on January 6th.

Simultaneously she talked about storming the Capitol and marketed her business, promising potential clients she would fight for America.

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"If it comes down to war, guess what, I'm going to be there," she promised livestream viewers, all while advertising her business.

The Right has now linked the authoritarian ideology with consumer identity, creating an opportunity to profit off crisis and culture wars.

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This didn't begin with Donald Trump, but was perfected by him. A third-rate salesman, Trump was a veteran of licensing and attempting to sell the illusion of identity for profit.

As a "politician," he capitalized on a marketing opportunity to sell ideology as identity.

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A large reason there exists a market to sell ideology as identity is because actors like Mitch McConnell undermined government as a representative body, creating an environment where Americans feel increasingly powerless and disconnected from power.

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As McConnell and the GOP sold government off and undermined representative democracy, ideology shifted from a base to enact political change to a performance that said more about one's self than it did any idea of changing the world or, more specifically, making it better.

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Trumpism capitalized on the impotence of American politics. Trump made impotence and political anger into a brand that could be sold, marketed, and essentially lived-in for its adherents.

It was like a cola, a clothing company. Only it spurred violence.

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Trumpism is a brand that allows its followers to express an identity that rejects any self-reflection or progress. It's a logo that instantly expresses white supremacist paranoia and rage.

That ideology, however, is only secondary to the marketing of merchandise.

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All brands market their wares through the lens of ideology or identity while appealing to psychological factors the purchaser is unaware of.

Trumpism capitalized off this anger and fear and racism and sexism, selling its base an expression through unconscious appeals.

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This is a trend on the Right. Corporations capitalize off the culture wars, cloaking themselves in appeals to militarism, primarily by capitalizing off white male insecurity.

It's profoundly authoritarian, and promises a lifestyle to the consumer.

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There are so many of these Right Wing, militarist businesses. They're easy money as their customers flock to them to express their "political" ideology through their dollars, which doesn't affect politics so much as express the purchaser's *belief* about themselves.

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Of course, this expression of "political ideology" through consumerism is already spawning a new generation of "politicians" who don't have an agenda, so much, as see the opening to cash in on this anger and fear and paranoia and insecurity.

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Nobody is more emblematic of this decay and fearful trend than Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is an evolved Trumpian figure who understands the necessity of ramping up and escalating the authoritarian marketing as a means of cashing in on these existing demographics.

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MTG is a mascot, a spokesperson for the terrible merger between authoritarian ideology and the marketing trend. She's an incredible salesperson in this descent and her appeals are based in the idea that violence and fascism are necessary in this moment.

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The message broadcast for decades by the GOP and Fox News has been that American politics have been conquered by a massive conspiracy, leaving representative democracy completely incapable of solving any problems.

The rhetoric is that only violence can change anything.

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This new generation of Republicans bases their entire political appeal on promising their potential voters and donors that they're willing to wage war against this conspiracy.

It creates a constant ramping up of violent, authoritarian rhetoric in the market of ideas.

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The message in both Republican politics and Right Wing consumer markets is that only violence and an embrace of militarism can move the country forward.

This creates new marketing demographics, opportunities, and inspires violence within the consumer base.

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This inspires people like the man who claimed he was going to destroy Capitol Hill, all while livestreaming that he was willing to use violence and "stand up" for America.

He was both acting the part of ideologue and advertising himself as worthy of the cause.

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There is a strange symbiosis between the GOP's political strategies, Right Wing culture war brands, and this rise of violence, intimidation, and antidemocratic actions.

The unconscious nature of this relationship is reeking unbelievable havoc and putting all of us in danger

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I go more in-depth on how this happened, how the foundations were created between consumerism and authoritarianism in my book AMERICAN RULE, if you want to study the origins and ramifications.

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penguinrandomhouse.com/books/611439/a…