I am newer to this sub; is it just me or is there energy right now? Was this (post) election REALLY some sort of breaking point/ was it different from previous ones?

No, this is totally unprecedented. Let's look at a few narratives.

1) The media/intelligence/Reddit community narrative:

It appears that a major candidate for office, who just won the Presidency and currently occupies the White House, may have colluded with our nation's biggest historic geopolitical rival to win the election. The Pentagon now believes that our intelligence is compromised. It appears that people high up in this administration have been actively collaborating with "the enemy."

If true, this is one of the biggest conspiracies in American history. Nothing really comes close.

2) The Trump/the_Donald/conservative r/conspiracy narrative:

A bold reformer has taken the White House, and is under assault from the Deep State in a vast conspiracy involving all media outlets, non-Trump government officials, business leaders and, essentially, millions of Reddit users who are "paid shills." This is done both to bring him down and to cover up a pedophile ring which ensnares... everyone? All elites? Patrons of a DC pizza restaurant? (I'm honestly having a hard time following it at this point, but apparently it's huge and everywhere, but in particular was deeply enmeshed in a major political campaign). And the new administration is on the verge of bringing it all down. If true, this is one of the biggest conspiracies in American history. Nothing really comes close.

3) Something is definitely happening. And it's happening fast. The National Security Advisor just stepped down after three and a half weeks on the job over a scandal involving illegal contact with Russia, a historic geopolitical rival (for those who think Flynn had every right to do what he did, Trump disagrees with you). This is unprecedented and it appears to only be the beginning of the fallout.


So yes, this is historic. We are living in one of the craziest periods of history we'll ever see (hopefully?). Add to that the fact that we all get our news from the internet, which allows for a couple things. First, we silo ourselves off in echo chambers like r/politics (which, famously, downvotes all dissent) or the_donald (which, famously, bans all dissent). Secondly, these echo chambers exist right alongside each other, so we are constantly interacting with one another, not in a way that leads to compromise, but one that continues to reinforce a mutual hostility and tribalism. We are more divided than ever, and we're being led by an administration that promotes that as well, calling dissent "fake news" and seeing press as "the opposition" while also embracing culture wars, which are increasingly sweeping up all aspects of life (Who dissed Trump at the Grammy's? Who praised Trump at the Grammy's? Did Beyoncè deserve an award over Adele? Was that a political statement?)

This leads to an endless cycle of news, a people who are voracious consumers of it, and who see each story as a weapon to be used for or against them. We all know by now what happens when a terrorist kills people--the most important aspect becomes the identity of the killer, which we use to shove in the face of our opponents and reinforce our own moral righteousness. Combine all of that with the fact that trust in institutions is at a historic low, so that people whose tribe loses out on court decisions, FBI inquiries, elections, or whatever don't implicitly trust the judgements rendered, but instead look for the "real" reason behind it.

Things are definitely, increasingly, insane. The lines between conspiracy and reality are starting to fray.

/r/conspiracy Thread