"Terrorism has become the systematic weapon of a war that knows no borders and seldom has a face." — Jacques Chirac
Recently, you probably noticed a Twitter cringy-worthy post that Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen posted of what appears to be 4th graders giving him a Sieg Heil with the caption that the kids had asked if they could "pray" for him and his wife. While it's true, the photo was taken at a Catholic school, where prayer isn't an uncommon sight, the "laying of hands" prayer style is. Naturally, folks likened the photo to a scene from Nazi Germany--and given the context of the photo, it certainly looked like a modern version of a 1939 rally, but with an American flag. And while some folks just dismissed it as just another political photo op of some kind of prayer, it does bring up the loud symbolism that is saying the quiet part out loud. That is a very strong statement of Fascism. With pieces of legislation that censor books, take away public engagement from their state government, and even go so far as to get a voter-approved state-run police force in the works across state houses in all the MAGA-controlled states--There's absolutely no mistaking that things have gone into a rabid deterioration of the democracy on a state level. You're probably wondering what stochastic terrorism is--It's using mass communications to incite random acts of violence on a group of people or person to meet a political agenda. Sounds familiar, right? For example, when the Republicans or repugnant talking heads- go on about the border and "how dangerous immigrants are". A random person decides to act on the rhetoric and goes on a violent rampage toward the people being demonized. A good example of that just happened in Texas and ran over 13 people (7 seven dead and 6 injured) outside of a migrant shelter. Or another example is the mass shooting in Buffalo, New York that was all politically motivated. That's what stochastic terrorism looks like, or the desired result of it, anyway. And that's what is now being used to cause fear, instability, extreme paranoia, polarization, and a surge of violence, so they can make promises to fix and seize power. Republicans and Democrats alike campaign on this, but Republicans have been working on this since the 1980s since the Reagan administration. Historically speaking, all authoritarian movements have used this form of terrorism to secure their tyrannical rule on folks. Unfortunately, we see this form of domestic terrorism on a daily basis, but we are so used to it that it doesn't even shock us anymore. Most folks get outraged for a whole hot minute, then life goes on until the next crisis. But what folks are missing is that all the symbolism, racist tropes, and "dog whistles" are used to incite paranoia and fear that often inspire and turns to violence from their radicalized base. Part of the quiet psychological aspect of stochastic terrorism is using a big American flag as their backdrop to reinforce the truism they spout off as truth under the name of patriotism. Thus riling up their base and radicalizing them. You might be asking yourself "Why would they do that? Well, that's easy enough to answer. It's so they can get the "dirty" work done that they need to sow outrage and discord, but still keep clean "hands" while passing more sinister pieces of legislation without too much of attention. Because let's be honest, it's easier to slip the nastier stuff when folks are too busy trying to put the other fires out that these people started or left so exhausted that apathetic tendencies start to set in on the masses. So how do we fight against this kind of domestic terrorism? Well, let's get into a little because it's a complex topic. The first battle to fight against stochastic terrorism is to first recognize it and acknowledge it. Once you recognize it, you can start to see past the distinctive and performative politics. Then you can start to process some of the absolute madness it causes and start thinking about what you can do. Be it get loud, write your congressional members (or yell at them on Twitter), etc. It also opens your eyes to the needs and the happenings of your community. You can see firsthand how that madness is going to affect your neighbors, friends, and family directly. Now, I get folks really don't have the time or energy to surf their state houses docket for villainous legislation. But start paying attention to the news that comes from the statehouses and really start listening to what's being said and acknowledging it. Pay close attention to the backdrop and what kind of symbolism is being used to see past the political theater and get a better view of the picture. Then once you start to see how much trouble we're in, you can start moving towards getting involved with others in the community and start getting other folks aware. I say that because stochastic terrorism requires folks to be isolated and closed off, so they can get worn down and scared, feeling like they're alone in the world to be effective. It needs good folks who are worn down. They're too tired to fight and hold their elected officials accountable. Especially when a supermajority of a political party starts making compulsory laws on their constituents. Like the anti-LGBTQ+, religious instruction in a classroom, Anti-DEI laws, etc that every MAGA-controlled state has seen over the past two years. In short, this form of domestic terrorism (or at least the enablement) of it is by design and serves a purpose. It's part of the Republican's war machine on democracy and the American people. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk. As always, take care and take care of another, Much love, Jojo
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