I saw the documentary White Right recently. It taught me to see white nationalists as angsty teens going through a “fuck the world” stage. The main differences are (1) they never grew out of it, and (2) as adults, they’ve linked up into an awkward club.
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Replying to @KevinSimler
Welcome to Leith hits this point home, too. ...but I think it's important to look at white nationalism as a whole meaning-to-life package: community, an enemy, a mission. Looking at lot of these people, I wonder how many other options they had for that
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Replying to @webdevMason @KevinSimler
There's also really no escape hatch once you take on an affiliation like that, especially in the internet era. Imagine trying to rebuild your life if there were footage of you proudly & casually using racial slurs. If you hadn't had options before... welp.
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Replying to @webdevMason
Yeah no kidding. I imagine it’s similar in some ways to the recovery of a serious addict: lots of amend-making, liberally owning up to past mistakes for the rest of your life, etc. Not an easy road.
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Replying to @KevinSimler @webdevMason
I think the "no escape hatch" aspect of it is what solidifies the belief. I don't know if either of you have ever been a believer of a specific religion or anything but there's kind of very distinct switch/release that occurs where you kind of move from casual to "believer"
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No but that’s an interesting description, and I can imagine how it works like that. Once you profess belief, you lock in social validation, and even when you may not want to believe any more, your “face” + other people’s expectations reinforce the belief.
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Yeah. “Proof of stake” is about more than coins! Tattoos, public evidence, etc.
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