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I promised I’d come back to China, so here I am, going back to China.
Necessary backstory for those of you who don’t know me. My name is Amanda, and I am the leftist black sheep in a family of QAnon believing, Trump loving, Iraq War supporting, Reagan worshipping Republicans.
Necessary backstory for those of you who don’t know me. My name is Amanda, and I am the leftist black sheep in a family of QAnon believing, Trump loving, Iraq War supporting, Reagan worshipping Republicans.
Everything I say here comes from my experiences growing up within in very terrifying, far right family. We only watched Fox. Far-right talk radio played in the house all the time.
Some perspective: my mom asked me to repair her QAnon hoodie this week. So. Yeah. That’s my family!
Some perspective: my mom asked me to repair her QAnon hoodie this week. So. Yeah. That’s my family!
So, why all of the mentions of China by Pence?
China has been a main point of rallying by far right conservatives for years. I remember as a child hearing my dad go on a rant about how China was going to invade and strip of us democracy.
Wish that was a joke. It’s not.
China has been a main point of rallying by far right conservatives for years. I remember as a child hearing my dad go on a rant about how China was going to invade and strip of us democracy.
Wish that was a joke. It’s not.
(Side note: my autistic brain is always rattled after debates, so pardon any other ridiculous butcherings of phrases like “point of rallying”. Please know this is The Embarrassing Thing that will keep me up tonight.)
Far right conservatives have used China as a fear mongering tool for decades. From outright fear of invasion by China, to the threat of biological warfare, to toys and electronics imported from China being used as communist indoctrination - it’s all there.
That is why COVID originating in China has worked out so well for the Trump crew. To people who have for YEARS been looking for China’s attack, this was everything they’d been planning for.
That’s why the Trump team put a spotlight in the trade war. They knew that to a base terrified of China, the trade war would make him look like a hero. Finally! A president who will knock out the threat!
I’m not sure how widely known the China conspiracies are, but within the far-right conspiracy groups, they’ve been around for a loooong time, and by this point it is a deep seeded fear, one that is easy to manipulate.
And that is why Pence brought up China so much. To the average American who hasn’t spent time in the terrifying atmosphere of the far right, it seems bizarre to suggest that Biden loves communist China.
To the indoctrinated, it makes sense.
To the indoctrinated, it makes sense.
I wish I were exaggerating, but seriously, I’ve sat through so many hours of China-centric conspiracy rants that my gifted teacher had to sit down with me when I was 9 and explain that no, China wasn’t using Barbie to indoctrinate American girls into being lesbians.
Again, wish that was a joke. It’s not.
But maybe this thread can give you hope that even children who grow up being indoctrinated with far-right nonsense can grow up into somewhat ok humans? Maybe?
But maybe this thread can give you hope that even children who grow up being indoctrinated with far-right nonsense can grow up into somewhat ok humans? Maybe?
See also: reason #127492 that I don’t waste my time with Trump supporters on my Instagram. Every single bit of energy I have to argue with conservatives gets spent on my family. I like to think I knock their radicalism down a notch, but that comes at great emotional cost.
