The rise of anti-trans/LGBT, anti-BLM discourse, all the MAGA culture war bullshit in recent years, seem to at least in part caused by agitation and stirred up by Russian chuds/pro-Putin agents to sow dissent amongst the American public.

[–] TheModerateTankie@hexbear.net 15 points 3 months ago

Probably 99% of what you see online is homegrown. Russia sucks and I'm sure they are adding fuel to the fire with with bots and fake accounts (along with other crap like anti-vax nonsense), because the cost is trivial, but how does that stack up against the youtube and social media algorithms pushing those views to stir up "engagement"? King Bazinga bought a social media app specifically to promote that shit.

[–] Are_Euclidding_Me@hexbear.net 14 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Hey, this is a theory that I've never heard anywhere else. In full honesty, it doesn't seem true to me, I'm pretty sure Amerikkkans are just like that and the reactionary sentiment is homegrown, but I'd like to hear more from you about why you think the culture war has been stirred up by external forces, specifically Russia, if I'm reading your comment correctly.

Would you please say more about why you think reactionary discourse in Amerikkka is coming from external agitators? (Assuming you agree with that framing, if not, please tell me what I've misread.)

[–] xiaohongshu@hexbear.net 5 points 3 months ago (2 children)

One of the recent Trueanon episodes covered this, where Russia has been caught trying to boost the right wing, pro-Trump platform Tenet Media featuring right wing influencers like Tim Pool and Dave Rubin.

And this is only the one that got caught and exposed. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Russia playing a large role behind agitating culture war in America. The MAGA Republican chud position is not that different from your average Russian these days.

[–] SoloboiNanook@hexbear.net 13 points 3 months ago

The maga chud position is like boilerplate fascist shit. It's not unique really. Strong man strong. Return to tradition. The outside enemy is always there. The enemy is strong yet weak etc etc. Russia do be instigating to a degree just like other countries be doing to each other.

[–] Are_Euclidding_Me@hexbear.net 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Oh shit, I remember now, I did listen to that Trueanon, I remember the name Eduard Grigoriann.

Interestingly, the allegations didn't really stick with me. I remember thinking "Oh great, Lauren Chen is being bankrolled by Russia. Neat, who cares, strange little bit of conservative hypocrisy there I guess". And I literally haven't thought about it since.

[–] combat_brandonism@hexbear.net 5 points 3 months ago

I think they covered it for two reasons:

funny name
the rampup in unregistered foreign agent prosecutions contrasts starkly with the rising influence of the lobby

[–] Rod_Blagojevic@hexbear.net 14 points 3 months ago

I'm an American. Nothing has changed accept that Trump is more flamboyant than your typical Republican presidential nominee. The insane culture war hysteria/ absolute lack of class conflict awareness is the same as it's always been. In fact, it's probably more subdued than it has been in previous decades. This is normal America.