Far-right trolls spout baseless theory that storm is a ‘simulation’ as Republicans jump on conspiracy train

Far-right trolls spout baseless theory that storm is a ‘simulation’ as Republicans jump on conspiracy train

As Hurricane Milton ripped across Florida, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake, trolls and politicians alike spawned misinformation about the storm, questioning government preparations and calling it a “simulation” designed to hurt the Republican state.

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Disinformation and conspiracy theories surrounding Milton began long before the storm even made landfall. Since last week, Donald Trump has been spreading lies about the Biden administration’s response to Hurricane Helene, accusing the Federal Emergency Management Agency of “abandoning” North Carolina residents in what is a hotly contested state in the November presidential election.

The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), an extremism and disinformation watchdog organization, told the Guardian that hostile actors are known for using manipulated images and propaganda posts to undermine western democracies in times of crisis.

  • hydroptic@sopuli.xyz
    35·
    1 month ago

    The absolutely breathtakingly idiotic shit conservatives will happily believe never fails to boggle the mind.

    How the fuck these people even manage to function in day-to-day life is completely beyond me.

    • Samvega@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      84·
      1 month ago

      Clearly, day-to-day life is organised such that people who believe absolute bullshit can cope with it. This might be because the human world is built on bullshit, such as the concepts of:

      • humans being superior to other species (“so I’m a winner”)
      • constant economic growth being possible (“so we can keep winning”)
      • the world remaining roughly as it is in a way that suits humans (“so winning will go on forever”)
      • able-bodied people being more important than disabled people (“winners contrast with losers, and I’m not a loser”)
      • also, various forms of difference being disgusting (there’s a lot on the theme of “winners contrast with losers, and I’m not a loser”)
      • the possibility of some kind of immutable ‘strength’ vs a lesser ‘weakness’, ignoring the fact that all living beings die, so neither strength or weakness make an objective long-term difference (“my winningness is part of my strength that will not leave me, losers are gross and should be dominated and treated like shit”)

      Society is literally purposefully organised to entrench privilege in a way that maximises the ability for some to oppress others. That’s why you have people who say they ‘care about children’ while children on their street are abused, or go without food. Humans visibly put more effort (as a group, some individuals are different) into pretending and rationalising rather than actually improving things. They can even rationalise the killing of children in various, pathetic, ways.

      All these, and more, are ideological positions that give false and meaning to human existence. If there were a button that slammed objective reality into everyones’ brains, even if it would kill 90%+ of the population from the sheer terror of the realisation that humans are not important, I would not hesitate to press it.