Mini-Theory Blog: Intended Purpose

NinaIllingworth November 21, 2022November 21, 2022 Amerikan Musik, anti-LGBTQ violence, anti-trans violence, antifascism, attacks on LGBTQ people, blog, Buffalo mass shooting, Club Q, Club Q shooting, Colorado Springs, eliminationism, FA1, fascism, fascist propaganda, hate crime, hate speech, homophobia, instagram, Lauren Boebert, LGBTQ, LGBTQ issues, LGBTQ rights, mainstreaming hate, mass shooting, Media, Mini Theory Blog, Nina Illingworth, Politics, right wing violence, Social Justice, social media, ST2, stochastic terrorism, Theory, trans rights, Transgender Day of Remembrance, transphobia

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The truth is that I don’t have anything meaningful to say about another mass shooting targeting marginalized Americans, fueled by eliminationist ideology in mainstream Pig Empire discourse. To participate in one more round of spirited “debate” with bad faith reactionaries about the obvious connections between mainstreamed hatemongering as politics, and violent acts towards the communities targeted by fascist rhetoric feels demeaning towards both the truth, and the LGBTQ victims of fascism in Colorado Springs; just as it did after the mass shooting in Buffalo, targeting African Americans, because of that same propaganda. I won’t debate cause and effect with folks who support the cause and love the effects of fascist ideology, any longer.

I would however like to address the secondary discussion raging across corporate media analysis in the wake of this horrifying, and yet entirely predictable reactionary terrorist attack. Realizing that plausible deniability is out the window, apologists and propagandists have quickly adopted the fallback position that you simply can’t accuse fascist politicians of causing these acts of stochastic terrorism “on purpose.” Watching stenographers for power bicker about the intentions of fascist politicians whose rhetoric clearly does inspire these acts of violence, is in itself alarming because it demonstrates that even “pro-democracy” journalists don’t understand the point of fascist propaganda.

Quite frankly the entire debate is at best, naïve nonsense; if not outright apologia. Not only do fascist politicians understand precisely what they’re doing, these acts of stochastic terrorism and violence very much align with the entire purpose of eliminationist politics. Fascists don’t start by “trying to catch them all,” they start by isolating, terrifying, and driving their perceived enemies out of public life entirely. Not coincidentally, mass shootings that target marginalized people do all of these things. Violent acts of stochastic terrorism aren’t some unfortunate side effect of importing fascist ideology into mainstream politics, they’re an additional lever by which the goals of the fascist project are accomplished; albeit an imprecise one.