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Culture War Roundup for the week of November 11, 2024

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I think there’s some subset of people who at least unconsciously want these bizarre nightmare 1984 and literally Hitler and handmaid fantasies to be real. I say that because most of the people doing this seem to have similar profiles: almost invariably white, upper middle class, professional, college educated, and highly likely to be female as well. Which if you’re keeping track, is the one demographic, that even if the absolute worst nightmare scenario happens is going to be affected the least.

This would be pretty parallel to the (extremely) male fantasy of the zombie apocalypse, Red Dawn, preppers, etc. Disproportionately fantasies held by men who are wealthy and/or secure.

The fantasy in both cases being the suspension of ordinary life and moral responsibilities. I have friends who are panicking about Trump and "how can I bring a child into a world like this?" This neatly solves all the doubts or fears one might have about having or not having children. Similarly, "I have to kill everyone else before they kill me" solves the problem of one's inability to get along with others, and the sudden disappearance of existing hierarchies solves the problem of why one finds oneself at the bottom of them.

This would be pretty parallel to the (extremely) male fantasy of the zombie apocalypse, Red Dawn, preppers, etc. Disproportionately fantasies held by men who are wealthy and/or secure.

This comparison is appealing on the face of it but, I think totally different under the covers. The male disaster action hero fantasy is characterized by the main character specifically having a chance to massively increase their relative social standing and personal control over their life. If you're in white-collar management you're in charge of maybe 12 people and at the same time extremely aware of all the levels of management above you that decide your fate and interfere with your attempts to exert authority. Or even if you're a billionaire-- you're still in a social environment where you're in close competition with a number of near-peers and constrained by the actions of various governments and laws. Meanwhile, If you're a prepper in a zombie apocalypse you have a reasonable shot at being the undisputed leader of a gang of 20-30 people with total control over whether you all live or die.

The female equivalent are fantasies about being reborn as a villainess and in general being put in situations where they face ludicrously outsized social threats-- but from peers who oppose them personally and openly, rather than faceless social media egregores. It's the same sort of fantasy about having the tools and relationships to take a high degree of agency in solving their romantic and economic problems.

Meanwhile, the people obsessing about extreme political outcomes and oppression* are engaging in a more typical form of catharsis-- they already feel anxious and terrified and stressed out and uneasy. Imagining that they're under imminent threat from shadowy fascists puts that all into context and gives their negatives emotions justification and meaning. It's the same mechanism that leads schizophrenics to conclude they're being gangstalked.

* mandatory note: these people exist on both sides of the aisle

The male disaster action hero fantasy is characterized by the main character specifically having a chance to massively increase their relative social standing and personal control over their life.

The female equivalent is the increase of one's social status massively, by way of her sexual value being threatened/desired for control by multiple parties. If you're a pink collar woman in HR, you have maybe an inattentive leaf-eating boyfriend or husband who doesn't really get that worked up over you or value control over you. In Handmaid's Tale type fantasy/dystopia the entirety of society is built around controlling and possessing you and your sexuality.