When High Control Politics Meet High Capacity Firepower

"Recent events have demonstrated a dangerous convergence of heated political rhetoric and the easy availability of powerful weaponry. The targeted assassination of political figures and commentators is rising. The impact of such acts on society's sense of safety and democratic norms is profound. As fear and fury increasingly mix with firearms, it's critical to examine how we got here and how we can respond."

"One important concept to understand in today's political ecosystem is stochastic terrorism. In plain terms, it refers to the statistically predictable acts of violence that emerge when hateful or dehumanizing rhetoric is spread widely. A leader doesn't need to explicitly order followers to commit violence. Instead, their repeated vilification of a target group or person increases the odds that someone, somewhere, will feel justified in attacking."

"As someone who studies cults, I recognize familiar patterns in today's extremist politics. Propagandists employ classic tactics to secure power and loyalty. They foment an us-versus.-them siege mentality in followers, often portraying political opponents as existential threats. The modern twist is how such inflammatory narratives spread through mass media ecosystems. Traditional guardrails against demagoguery have increasingly eroded. Cable news and social media now allow propaganda to flourish seemingly unchecked. Grievance and crisis rhetoric can become self-reinforcing, normalizing extreme ideas."

Recent events show a dangerous convergence of heated political rhetoric and easy availability of powerful weaponry, producing rising targeted assassinations of political figures and commentators. Such acts deeply erode public safety and democratic norms. Extremist politics displays cult-like tactics: propagandists foster an us-versus-them siege mentality, portraying opponents as existential threats. Mass media ecosystems amplify inflammatory narratives as traditional guardrails erode, allowing propaganda to spread via cable news and social media. Stochastic terrorism describes statistically predictable violence resulting from widespread dehumanizing rhetoric; leaders need not issue explicit orders for such rhetoric to increase the odds of lone actors committing attacks. Easy access to lethal weapons amplifies these risks.

Read at Psychology Today