The congressional district of Georgia that I grew up in is deeply Christian Conservative, and up until recent years, it was majority white. Since the years leading up to the 2016 presidential election, the area has become a hotbed of Alt-Right propaganda and fear-mongering. People believe to this day that the “Libs” are coming for their kids, trying to ban Christianity, trying to make being straight a crime, and letting “illegals” across the border in large numbers in order to intentionally destabilize the US economy.
A large proponent of these conspiracy theories is the district’s congresswoman, Marjorie Taylor Greene, a charismatic mouthpiece for the fringe group of conservatives that seems to have a chokehold on the party at large, and supporter of Donald Trump as well as the Jan. 6th insurrection at the capitol.
These are the type of people that I grew up listening to. I’d parrot their talking points without a second thought, because that is what was expected of us. Holding even the slightest opinion that contradicted anything that seemed “left of center” meant that we were supposedly being groomed and indoctrinated by the “evil libs”, who, according to our politicians, wanted to turn everyone homosexual, kill babies, completely dismantle any law enforcement, open the borders, and burn the constitution. There were, and still are, entire conspiracy theories around using pizza terms as a cover for child s*x slaves, and even satanic sacrifices, both of which likely stem from the much older Adrenochrome conspiracy theory. Many of the people I grew up around are so convinced that the “left” is purely evil, that believing anything they are told has simply become natural, and they largely don’t give any accusations a second glance before sharing them to social media, further stoking the fire of division.
A frightening amount of people have become so convinced that the American Dream is directly tied to far-right ideologies, that any divergent opinion is seen as a personal attack. Meanwhile, the politicians they so desperately cling to are simply using them for profit and as insurance that they will stay in office as long as possible. It is interesting that many people I have spoken to about this topic largely agree with more Libertarian views, but refuse to vote third party for fear of the people they see as the enemy gaining more power.
