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OPINION:
The terrorists who carried out recent domestic attacks made specific declarations to justify their evil. In Boulder, Colorado, Mohamed Sabry Soliman yelled, “Free Palestine,” and told authorities he wanted to “kill all Zionist people.” He wounded eight, including an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor. In Washington, Elias Rodriguez gunned down a young couple after an event at a Jewish museum and also declared, “Free Palestine.” Cody Balmer, who firebombed Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home on Passover, claimed he did so on behalf of Palestinians.
Attacks like these are on the rise. In every case, the deranged individuals make clear how warped their mindsets are. They celebrate murder based on an insidious ideology.
The day after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Americans of various political beliefs largely stood together against Islamist terrorism. We understood that our free, democratic way of life was under attack from those who seek a fascist, theocratic, global government. However, a mere 22 years later, on Oct. 8, 2023, an entire swath of liberal-minded people were celebrating the Hamas atrocities. They have become like those who celebrated 9/11. It is getting worse as the voices of anti-American anarchists grow louder and more violent.
I have spent decades studying how cultures change and ideas spread. This massive cultural shift did not happen in a vacuum. It has been designed and executed deliberately, and many of our leaders have failed to see what was right in front of their eyes. They stood by, allowing it to happen.
These days, the word “meme” is commonly used to refer to the latest online image or video, many of which are silly. In evolutionary science, a meme is defined as a “unit of cultural evolution, representing pieces of information that spread through imitation from mind to mind.” Paraphrasing Richard Dawkins, who coined the term, a well-crafted meme spreads from brain to brain involuntarily, like a virus.
Propagandists know how to use memetics. Through social media, they have been subjecting Americans, especially younger generations, to a daily onslaught of images and phrases directed at changing their minds. Iran, the chief sponsor of Islamist terrorism, is behind some of this. Qatar uses online tools and financial influence to spread pro-terrorist messages. TikTok may be the worst of all. It is for this reason, I believe, that Congress has been seeking to ban the platform.
Many Americans were especially ripe for this kind of radicalization when well-intentioned diversity, equity and inclusion efforts evolved into rigid frameworks that fractured our shared identity. What began as an effort to address inequalities quickly grew into an ideology based on the drama triangle, in which everyone is a victim, villain or rescuer. People sectioned off into smaller and smaller groups, casting others as enemies.
No matter where someone stands on DEI or places themselves on a political spectrum, the fact is that any extreme ideology will divide. When this happens, cultures break down. People crave being part of a group with a shared identity. Without patriotism, it’s natural for some to glom onto something else — in this case, a sense of standing with “oppressed” people worldwide, in situations they know little about and don’t understand well, captured by the most recent and cleverly manipulative meme.
It is devastating to see how it is possible to spread violence and normalize murder this way. It is a method as old as time. This quirk of human cognition is used to manipulate and pervert human behavior.
The same memetic warfare that got us into this mess can help get us out. Through all the apps and platforms people use, the country must help people rediscover and unleash national pride. We must demonstrate how people of all backgrounds in the United States have freedoms and opportunities that exist nowhere else on earth. We need to show why democracy, for all its imperfections, is the best form of government anywhere, from here to Ukraine to Israel.
It took years to reach this point and will take years to reverse the damage, but it’s necessary to build an American future.
• Jason Korman is CEO of Gapingvoid Culture Design Group.
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