Why many supporters and leaders of far-right groups believe in baseless disinformation and conspiracy theories?

 

Knowing little about human behavior, one characteristics that all groups, especially members of far-right groups share is their need to find answers to the problems, concerns and aspirations they have and American society is not the exception to the rule. Faced with social insecurity, changes out of control, the political insurrection and anarchy is the solution that these groups use to regain that feeling of control.

Right now the conservative far-right groups who are part of the conservative wing of the Republican Party as a fighting strategy to stop change or impose their political ideology use disinformation, fake news, and conspiracy theories as a mechanism of political propaganda to promote the group agenda. But also as a recruiting tool for those who sympathize with this type of racist, pro-white supremacist, anti-Jewish, pro-Nazi, anti-government and anti-immigrant ideology.

As a way to find a solution to the problems that some people have or believe they have, some people are susceptible to following certain belief systems without questioning it, hate movement, unfounded misinformation, messianic leaders and the conspiracy theory that respond to the questions or fears that many have.

Propaganda system that also creates the sense of control based on solutions that only exist in the minds of those fanatics and leaders who sympathize with these radicalized extreme right-wing groups.

In politics everyone knows the strategies used as tools of propaganda politically used which are used to achieve power, but also to maintain it. Donald Trump knows them, Republican leaders know them, conservative political analysts know them, but so do the media owners who distort the news to meet the expectations of their followers, saying only what they want to hear and showing. what they want to see.

This is where opinion manipulation, misinformation, conspiracy theories, emotional blackmail, are used mechanisms that condition the minds of voters through the control of the media to promote a narrative that fulfills the expectations that the political leadership who to impose on the people through such political propaganda. All right-wing conservative media are guilty of this manipulation of the news.

The levels of radicalization that we observe in these so-called sympathizers and followers of these extreme right-wing groups is only the product of the influence that these conditioning tools have on people who are sensitive to this type of disinformation mechanism.

Who is most exposed to the negative effects of these propagandist tools? All individuals who unknowingly have these similar points of view.

Can people radicalized by disinformation campaign, lies, conspiracy theories accept the political reality that surrounds them? This is where the role of the press and all the media, especially the places where these radicalized groups receive the news and reinforce the beliefs that sustain their extremist mindset or point of view comes into play.

If you want to detoxify or reprogram someone’s mind, you must look for the source of their addiction and in the case of radicalized individuals on the extreme right, the source of addition is in the conservative media that manipulates the information that these individuals consume, turning it into an addictive drug that reinforces the anti-democratic, extremist, racist, pro-white supremacist ideas that is part of many members of these radicalized pro-Trump far-right groups. .

Is manipulation of information responsible for radicalization of extreme right wing groups in the United States?

Here where the idea of ​​rationalizing people’s behavior comes into play as a mechanism, thus removing responsibility from those who follow a racist, pro-Nazi, anti-Semitic and nationalist ideology in the United States, where others are the responsible not people follow that ideology, and more when we talk about white Americans.

“For decades the political class is afraid to speak out about domestic terrorism or homegrown terrorist because they are white Americans, mostly conservative.“

Are social media such as Parler, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube and the conservative media responsible for the negative effects of a disinformation campaign that distorted the reality of some members of the extreme right? The media have certain levels of accountability as a campaign tool used by supporters of this type of racist, pro-white supremacist, antisemitism, and anti-immigrant ideology.

From my point of view the most responsible are the conservative media that amplify this type of misinformation and lies to have more profit.

Is the low educational level, economic exclusion, fear of change and lifestyle of white Americans in rural areas the reason behind the radicalization resulting from lies, misinformation and conspiracy theories? let’s talk a bit about this.

I do not believe that the low level of education, distrust of the government and economic exclusion are reasons for the radicalization of many white Americans. To understand this phenomenon we must know the history of the American nation and the reason for the civil war between the States of the North against those of the South, the freedom of slaves and the implementation of racial segregation.

Another aspect to consider is a series of untreated mental illnesses suffered by a percentage of Americans, which makes them susceptible to this type of message, especially when we talk about conspiracy theories which defy reality.

The problem of the American nation is that they have never wanted to find a solution to problems of racism, economic inequality and unequal growth between the uneducated rural population and the educated urban population, challenges that for centuries are the reason for the radicalization and division that we see right now.