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Comment by ARandomerDude | Hacker News Reader

While FB no doubt contributed to the Jan 6 riot, it's too simple and tidy to blame it on social media. There is a complex web of factors, including interpretation of the Constitution, view of history, fear of tomorrow if the other side takes over, frustration with a sense of powerlessness, etc.

Frankly, the Jan 6 episode is not all that different from the BLM riots last year, in that their causes are analogous and the sense of powerlessness led to rioting.

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> sense of powerlessness led to rioting

Middle-class and rich white people from politically-advantaged parts of the country, that famously powerless group.

I don't mean to defend those who stormed the capitol, who to be clear I don't agree with, but the important thing to note here is sense of powerlessness. These people felt powerless, regardless of whether or not they were in any kind of objective sense, and that feeling motivated their actions.

This is relevant to the current discussion inasmuch as FB (and social media generally) may have contributed to, stoked and fomented said feelings of powerlessness for the sake of engagement / eyeballs / ad clicks.

I don’t think I believe that they actually feel powerless, though. The right-wing and centrist press spin that narrative, because it’s the only way to justify their actions, but it doesn’t square with reality: people who feel powerless do not violently threaten the workings of government, believing that they will succeed and avoid any negative consequences if they fail. Those are the actions of people who are used to getting their way all day every day, who cannot believe that they won’t get their way again.

I will never forget the exhausted desperation in the voice of a young woman talking to her parents in an undisclosed middle America location: 'there are no jobs'. The words are cliche, I know. Nonetheless I'd recommend taking a few days and visit such a place as opposed to yet another scuba trip in French Polynesia. Won't get as many likes on Instagram, but may give a bit of a perspective. There are vast swaths of this country that are not thriving.

(a) I live in rural America. (b) That has almost nothing to do with Trump support, despite what the media says. (c) Those are not the people who broke into the capitol. They can’t afford a trip to DC.

Except that one of them occurred at the time & place of the major transition of power and actively stormed a congressional session resulting in deaths in a core federal government building. But sure... other than that "not all that different".

No disagreement there, and for the record I am glad the Jan 6 rioters are being prosecuted.

The point I was raising is that "Facebook = riot" is too simplistic an explanation. Moreover the contributing factors are not isolated to one event or political persuasion.

I remember a church being set on fire across the street from the White House. I guess arson, especially if directed at Christian churches, is just the way we exercise our 1st Amendment rights in this country.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/historic-church-nea...

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