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aristarchus [soylentnews.org] writes:

We could be sick. Maybe. Low energy. Aches and pains. Butthurt. And more. But, now this:

The far right in America has received the coronavirus pandemic in much the same manner as any other event: with disinformation, conspiracies and scapegoating. Many seem to see it as a significant opportunity, whether it is for financial gain, recruiting new followers, or both.

The delayed and much criticized response to coronavirus by the Trump administration has helped them, leaving many Americans confused, bereft of information and looking for answers. A situation in which people are panic-buying supplies is ideal for a movement powered by fear and lies.

Fears and Lies? What happened to Uncertainty and Doubt! Has this gotten worse than Microsopht? Can anything, short of course of Global Thermo-nuclear War (Would you like to play a game?), be worse than Miscroentif? Read on, dear Soylentil.

Apocalyptic narratives – whether of societal collapse, biblical rapture, or race war – are the central way that the a spectrum of far-right movements draw in followers and resources. These narratives use fear to draw followers closer, allowing leaders to direct their followers’ actions, and maybe fleece them blind.

For the survivalist elements of the far right, the coronavirus provides an opportunity to say that they told us so, win hearts and minds and make money. If they’re lucky, they might even get a hearing by the mainstream media.

The conspiracy broadcaster Alex Jones, for example, who has been warning of imminent cataclysms for more than 20 years, has used the outbreak to step up his aggressive pitching for bulk food products and other survival goods sold on his website.

Oh Boy, that guy again. Sure he ain't a Mormon?

Farther out on the neo-Nazi right, in the Telegram channels where “accelerationists” – who seek to hasten the end of liberal democracy in order to build a white ethnostate – overlap with “ecofascists” – who propose genocidal solutions to ecological problems – groups are openly talking about how to use the crisis to recruit people to terroristic white supremacy.

Who would not want to join such a group full of fash and deboner gents with no reasonable prospects of self-support? How can they be the superior race when they cannot even hold down a job?

The other way in which various far-right groups and believers hope to gain ground is by proposing conspiracy theories about the causes and origins of the virus, and to use these narratives to scapegoat groups like immigrants, or minorities or liberals.

However, some are still following the lead set by Donald Trump in the earlier part of the crisis, and remain in denial. On Telegram, the has-been alt-right internet personality Milo Yiannopoulos asked his followers in a poll which was the “biggest hoax of our lifetime: Acid Rain, Climate Change, Satanic Ritual Abuse, Coronavirus”.

Others have more elaborate theories with which to focus their followers’ rage.

"Acid Rain", that was Prince, wasn't it? Or was it Prussian Blue? And Patient Zero, whom some call, Trump?

Original Submission