Kill All Normies

Did the internet meme Trump to presidency? It certainly felt like it back in the day: Donald Trump was such a polarising figure before his first presidency that it caught the eyes of online pranksters and trolls. And this internet culture is the focus of this pamphlet, arguing that western liberal culture's pontifications of transgressive individuals and political purity laid the foundations to the rise of Trump and the alt-right.

So how did a website like 4chan lay the foundation to a nightmare? Nagle points out one single event as a turning point: Gamergate.

Remember Gamergate? Ah, bad times. I'm not going to remember it for you, but it was the internet shitstorm to end all internet shitstorms – and all because of video games and "ethics in gamejournalism". And in those battlefields a bondage was formed between apolitical trolls and right-wing extremists, hence the appearance of "ironic nazis". And suddenly the cultural zeitgeist swinged to the right, with such figures like flamboyantly gay Trump supporter Milo Yiannopolous would play onto the role of cultural transgressor in such a way, that the left felt a bit weak.

And the left were weak, stuck in their identity battles and other micropolitics. I have little experience of tumblr, but the descriptions of it being an almost Stasi-like surveillance society, where every action – past and present – were scrutinised for interpreted slights against perceived victims sounds familiar. This internet culture then filtered down to campuses, where students would campaign against pet grievances in similar fashion, which in effect alienated some people from the left. Basically the worst excesses of feminism was brought to the front. The left had lost their sense of humour, and thus became boring prudes. The left "couldn't meme" anymore.

A huge gain for conservatism, then? Not quite, for the alt-right also despised "cuckservatives" for their perceived softness. Nagle paints them as angry nerds who act as Nietzschean übermensch, individuals who rise above "normies" and their morality (all the while hiding behind their mob anonymity). Their seething hatred for women in general is concerning, and the ample examples sprinkled in the texts have a disquieting effect.

Now this is probably not the whole story – Trump has massive support in the rust states after all, he's very good at tapping into people's frustrations – but it does explain some of the background culture wars raging in the US to us outside the borders. And since the US has a hegemonic hold of the internet, the reprecussions are also felt elsewhere.

This book was written 7 years ago, and much has passed, but Trump is running for presidency again, with close polls – god knows how. But one sign is encouraging: I see little to no memes about Trump compared to 2016.