domain:alexepstein.substack.com
ArjinFerman
Tinfoil Gigachad
35m ago
Yeah, there was a time when people would discuss it so often, the more left-leaning mods decided to ban the entire topic for a month. Partly a result of 1-2 posters having a hobby horse, and partly of the more left-wing posters not being satisfied with making moral arguments it, insisting that it must be false, and stepping on rake after rake in the process.
Most people are happy to leave well enough alone, if you don't press the subject.
anti_dan
39m ago
I am team: "This is different, and is still kinda bad."
My opinion is all these folks should exit public service, if they are in it, for 5 years or so, to mature. There are plenty of jobs at advertising agencies for Coca Cola, and THOSE companies should vigorously recruit these fellows because that is what they would do in a free market based on their comedic stylings and ability to understand the dark comedy of the modern youth.
Then in 5 years these bad jokes should be forgiven and they can do whatever.
This is, of course, a very high standard in comparison to the left, but it is what I prefer. Unfortunately, it also requires leftish cooperation because most ad places are run by the exact sort of people fake-outraged by this. So they kinda have to give up something to be reasonable.
anti_dan
46m ago
I do, at the end of the day the individual actors are responsible for themselves. The average non Nazi conservative is not a Nazi because some other conservatives who are not them are Nazis. Many conservatives have actively condemned the growing nazi problem even, I linked some in the post!
Have any of these people even been credibly accused of being Nazis as opposed to making jokes that offend people who are always on the lookout for Nazis? Its not a joke for me to assert that I have been hearing warning about the "growing influence of Nazism on the right" since I was in 4th grade, and likely the only reason I dont remember hearing about it before then is because I was not listening. To quote the personality who helped found this forum in his better days, "You are still crying wolf"
This also isn't, by contrast, people openly calling for Nazism, nor is it high level politicians calling for political violence, or materially supporting it. It is basically an assortment of group chats by low level people. So we are trying to match like for like, when in reality we are matching pawns with queens.
Mantergeistmann
47m ago
The arguments I've seen are "he says they're good with money, which is stereotyping", and "he's encouraging people to hate them, both by generic bigotry and by doing things like recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, which made a lot of people angry and therefore more likely to attack Jews."
The first one seems more than plausible (Trump, a bog-standard bigot who agrees with stereotypes? Say it ain't so!), even if it's a bit milquetoast; the second is... IMO one hell of a reach.
Iconochasm
2. Bootstrap the rest of the fucking omnipotence.
55m ago
That said, one person's "ragebait" is another person's outside-the-local-overton-window argument.
I expect that a post consisting of four twitter links and a "doesn't this prove all my outgroup are just the worst?" would invite a warning for being obviously boo outgroup antagonism. Like, I can imagine a post talking about Hasan Piker's scandal over torturing his dog and how doesn't this prove Democrats have a psychopath problem? But I can't imagine the community norm thinking that was a good faith contribution.
Failing to engage in good faith is another matter
More concerned about this as a consistent pattern. If it's on the radar, I'm happy enough.
Mantergeistmann
57m ago
If can israel deny a genocide with 4k video proof
That looks like the lead-in to a statement you'd see from someone pro-Palestinian on Reddit, which does not usually line up directly with the far right (who I believe want everyone in the Levant to lose).
The_Nybbler
If you win the rat race you're still a rat. But you're also still a winner.
1hr ago
Goes back WAY further than that, to the days of Muhammad.
Amadan
Enjoying my short-lived victory
1hr ago
It's been noted and he's already gotten a couple of warnings. That said, one person's "ragebait" is another person's outside-the-local-overton-window argument. We're not going to mod someone for being aggravating and unpopular. Failing to engage in good faith is another matter, but we're not mind readers.
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1hr ago
without a community of noted race scientists like the Motte to further radicalize me
I feel like I showed up to this site too late and missed all of this because I keep seeing people make side references to this/HBD but no one ever actually talks about it, they just talk about talking about it.
FarmReadyElephants
1hr ago
My understanding is that the Muslim/Jew blood feud goes back to the Zionist project (A Jewish diaspora was more-or-less tolerated by most Muslim kingdoms/empires until then). So we're talking 1920s or so, after Mr. Hitler was an adult
sodiummuffin
1hr ago
It seems safe to assume that sending multiple GOP congressional offices American flags with "optical illusion" swastikas embedded in them is the action of someone who dislikes Republicans and probably associates them with Nazism. The same way that protestors with signs coupling Bush or Trump with Nazi imagery are virtually always anti-Republican, while protestors combining Obama with Nazi imagery are anti-Democrat, except even more so because of the aspect of deception and trying to produce negative headlines about the targets. So how is it indicative of "the embedded antisemitic and pro nazi rhetoric in lower level staffers", rather than the rhetoric of the person who sent it?
Iconochasm
2. Bootstrap the rest of the fucking omnipotence.
1hr ago
Hey, while you're here I'd like to gesture vaguely in the direction of this entire thread. It's actually pretty well constructed ragebait, slinking right under the rules. I admit I got baited. There's been an uptick in this recently, entirely from two posters, and they seem to be refining the schtick. If this kind of post (especially with the grade of replies from OP) is going to fly, then I expect we'll rapidly descend into just a pure shitflinging forum. FFS, most of the OP is just links to twitter posts.
Is there a single line here that seems intended to shed light, instead of generate heat?
FarmReadyElephants
1hr ago
Perhaps the best example of this mentality from the great Ye
Skeletor
1hr ago
I barely remember who this guy is, does it really mean anything if his project tanks?
Amadan
Enjoying my short-lived victory
1hr ago
You know, I appreciate that you immediately thought better of that post and deleted it, but I'm still giving you a one-day ban because it was up long enough to attract four reports and you really need to control yourself.
Skeletor
1hr ago
Bruh if you're going to invite a mod spanking at least do something funny to earn it.
Iconochasm
2. Bootstrap the rest of the fucking omnipotence.
1hr ago
He was briefly one of the most prominent Indian people in American showbiz, which was important because the actual most prominent Indian guy was Raj from the Big Bang Theory.
daguerrean
1hr ago
You know I don't think people are being fair to you. I can only address this by speaking to my own experiences.
I remember being there in 2007 or so, forming swastikas in Club Penguin with the other anons. Obviously at the time this was pure shock value and didn't indicate any serious ideological commitment. Now we may argue about exactly how serious /pol/ is today, but it's hard to deny that it is a lot more serious about Nazism than we were as teenagers in 2007 harassing kids in Habbo Hotel and Club Penguin.
But what about me? Am I meaningfully more Nazi now than I was in 2007? Did those formative years on 4chan have any lasting influence on my politics? It's hard to say, of course from my own perspective our jokes in 2007 had nothing to do with it. My beliefs seem to me to be merely a logical progression based on what I've learned and experienced over the past 18 years. But either way I've somehow ended up reading SecureSignals posts thinking to myself "Hey this guy may have a point" and to some degree embracing beliefs that would be described by many as white nationalist.
Perhaps this is just another manifestation of the fully generalizable Toaster Fucker Problem. 30 years ago I may have done my fair share of "noticing" but dismissed it without a community of noted race scientists like the Motte to further radicalize me. It seems obvious to me that while "haha just joking" extremism doesn't literally mean the jokers hold those specific beliefs in earnest, it does meaningfully shift the Overton Window and creates a space where serious discussion of previously taboo beliefs can blend with the jokes. If you believe that White Nationalism and Antisemitism are very evil then it is reasonable IMO to be concerned about these jokes and want to stamp them out.
Basically I don't think most of the people engaging in these jokes are seriously Nazis but I do think it creates a space for those ideas to spread and does probably contribute to aiding the popularity of taboo far right beliefs if not outright Nazism. To be clear I think the Left has their own version of this same problem, in fact, to a much more advanced and concerning degree.
anti_dan
1hr ago
Aziz Ansari was always a confusing pelt on the MeToo wall. Firstly, is he even good? I haven't been entertained by him in a long time, if ever. His Parks and Rec character was easily one of the blandest and most boring on a decent but not great show. What else is even his claim to fame? Next his creepy thing was just kinda odd IIRC, but I never really dove into it, him being quite irrelevant to me at the time.
Perhaps someone who was once an Ansari fan can enlighten us as to what we have lost without him for a few years?
Ademonera
1hr ago
This is really bad faith. You just can’t pretend like this is a massive problem on the right when in the last six months, there have been multiple left‑aligned incidents that are as bad or worse.
• Western University (May 2025) – A WhatsApp group of pro‑Palestinian students contained Hitler memes, calls for “taking action against the Yahoodis (Jews),” and videos praising Hamas. The university refused to investigate despite clear antisemitic intent.
• Colorado attack (June 2025) – Egyptian guy attacked pro‑Israel demonstrators in Boulder with a makeshift flamethrower while shouting “Free Palestine.” He told the fbi he wanted to “kill all Zionists”.
• D.C. shooting (May 2025) – Guy shot and killed two Israeli embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum, yelled “Free Palestine,” and later told police he did it “for Palestine.” The indictment noted he had posted “Death to Israel” online.
Add to that several other campus incidents: the University of Washington’s “Super UW” statement that called the Oct 7 Hamas massacre a heroic victory and the UC Berkeley protest where demonstrators chanting “Long live the intifada” forced police to evacuate a Jewish event.
Trump has made elite progressive universities take account for their indifference to antisemitism btw, because it’s very popular on the left to be anti Israel / seem super compassionate by being pro Palestine. I agree with another poster that even if your examples are real, they sure aren't affecting the stance of the biggest people on the right. Honestly I feel that there are probably foreign influence ops trying to grow antisemitism in both parties - but at least be honest that there is a bigger problem on the left.
Frankly, it seems like the left will have a harder time sidelining their antisemitic supporters. Do you think Ilhan Omar is a friend to the Jewish people?
Bingbong
2hr ago
He's got a sufficient force of minorities in this that he probably won't have lingering cancellation effects here, but also not expecting it to sweep the box office and win an Oscar. Probably does okay?
Is there any particular reason you're posting about this, and then ignoring anyone who raises points that make your entire thesis look it relies on manipulating information, if not outright lying?
More options
Context Copy link