The situation isn't as different as it may seem. There IS a very real social agitation running through the public right now. People are dissatisfied with the status quo, wanting to know why it's so hard to find a job and keep themselves afloat, why it costs so damn much just to get by, is this really what life is meant to be? Work yourself to the bone just to survive? Between the cultural impact of 9/11 (mostly the xenophobia it has caused), the 2008-now economic crisis, and the pandemic, it's the perfect storm for conspiracy theories and scapegoating.

Just like how Germany was grappling with its economy and national identity in the wake of WWI, and Hitler provided the scapegoat of Jews getting in the way of their once great society becoming great again, Trump and QAnon (the two are intrinsically linked) are weaponising the public's economic fears and existing dislike of marginalised people and certain politicians for political power.

QAnon is not entirely harmless virgins in their basements, either. There have already been instances of domestic terrorism from its adherents, and our prime minister here in Australia right now is friends with a hardcore QAnon believer.