They’re not relevant in the slightest IRL.
Anyone want to explain why I see so much shit about patsocs in every online leftist space, all of which is totally divorced from things people actually give a shit about IRL?
It seems there’s this trend where some patsocist says something absurd online -> everyone rushes to dunk/criticize/make fun of it -> the patsoc’s message gets amplified to the millionth degree. Do content creators not realize that shitting out 500 videos/threads/posts/etc dunking on something that only exists online is only going to amplify it further?
Content creators have content brain where they see dumb shit and feel the need to turn it into entertainment
I guarantee you they don’t think that far into it
because patsocs are annoying as fuck? but I agree, if people stopped talking about them or dunking on them they’d probably just fade away into irrelevance and join the republican party. I wish people would stop posting those infrared freaks in the dunk tank here because I hate even being reminded of their existence and there’s probably some impressionable weirdos here who agree more with the patsocs than the people mocking them
The tendency that concerns me most is some sort of Strasserite or Longist movement on the right in response to the economy and climate failing. Redistributive politics tied to nationalism rather than class. It speaks to everyone who tries to get rich through pyramid schemes and gives a fascist something to point to as doing more than liberals would, like Trump’s COVID stimulus payment versus Biden’s.
Patsocs are ass dummies, but they’re the most visible form of that kind of tendency waiting for a non-ass dummy to use whatever arguments test best with them. They’re like the disorganised conspiracy theory communities before Qanon. I watch them because they’re funny but could turn scary as things get worse.
Redistributive politics tied to nationalism rather than class.
I don’t think that’s going to happen with this current generation in power, but I could see that happening to the young on the right. So PatSocs of today could be the America First Party of twenty years from now.
Two theories which can both coexist:
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The people talking about PatSocs are too online. PatSocs is an only online thing. They think it’s more relevant than it is, so they talk about it.
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It’s a niche “leftist” infighting that gets Anarchists and ML to agree and shit on together.
lots of weird niche shit on the internet became problematic in a big way and maybe didn’t seem like it mattered before. i kinda just accept that if i’m hearing a lot about something online, it’s going to eventually spill into the mass culture too. look at qanon, i thought i was terminally online talking about it for a while but then my 70 yr old neighbors had stickers on their cars and everyone around me knew someone deep in it.
i don’t see the same potential for the patsoc angle, but all it takes is some rich asshole to see the potential in this movement as a disruption and then funnel some cash into it and whew boy you’re gonna hear more about it than you want. in fact, the rise of this patsoc shit (which wasn’t anywhere on my radar before the past few weeks) is kinda setting off my alarm bells as something that would be really attractive to the intelligence community. so idk, i don’t think people talking about it now as a means to nip it in the bud as much as possible is a bad thing, i’m pretty indifferent to it and i’m glad someone is keeping their eye on it so that if it becomes bigger in the cultural consciousness that at least there is a foundation for de-legitimizing it.
