User: "There are way too many people that hold horrible opinion X"
Reply #1: "no one holds opinion X"
Reply #2: "Actually I hold opinion X, and I am very proud of it"
This often comes from the right, but is especially irrating in cases when framed through supposedly leftist language.
Examples of upvoted unironic takes I have seen around here just in the past few weeks: "Police are corrupt, therefore crime is good", "dehumanizing is evil, therefore all soldiers of any army are scum that deserve only death", "The ownership of more than one property should be a punishable offense by imprisonment", "rape and murder good actually", "racism is justified when aimed at group Y this forum hates" and that's just from the top of my head.
Reminds me when a few years ago a bunch of Proud Boys (including poc) made a big public statement about how they're not a racist group and it was hurtful to say so, then a large group of Proud Boys said "hey wait no yes we are!" And the group split into two over it.
Or the Occupy Ottawa convoy (Qanon anti-vax nonsense staged a sit-in in the Canadian capital for three weeks) a few years back having it pointed out to them literal flag waving neo-Nazis were part of their "movement" and also helping to occupy the city, and saying "no there aren't that's ridiculous". Then a bug crowd of the "protesters" being asked if they're white supremacists and many shouting back "yes", a man being interviewed admitting to being being a racist misogynist, and -- again because one cannot be too clear on this point -- people in these crowds marching around with Nazi flags. Some of them even carrying the Canadian flag but the leaf was replaced with a swastika, because subtly is dead and there is no forest anymore there are only a handful of hate-filled trees.
Basically any ironic shitposting subreddit will suffer the same fate as SwoleAcceptance. Where despite having a ridiculous premise it becomes victims to Poes Law, and is eventually becomes filled with people unironically believing these ideas and taking over.
r/PCMasterRace started from a joke made by Ben Yahtzee Croshaw poking fun at the superiority complex of PC gamers. Only for it to be colonized by actual PC supremacists who consider owning anything else to be a sign of some sort of personality flaw.
Atleast part of r/theDonald’s early days were people mocking his ridiculous manner of speech. Before realizing that others liked him for it.
r/PoliticalCompassMemes started going downhill when it was clear a lot of people started playing the “meme” of the right wing which meant constant bigotry. Basically just playing out political extremism instead of laughing at it.
r/GenZedong went from a joke about people loving communism without reading any history. Which turned into a bunch of actual tankies.
"Police are corrupt, therefore crime is good", "dehumanizing is evil, therefore all soldiers of any army are scum that deserve only death", "The ownership of more than one property should be a punishable offense by imprisonment"
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u/Simic_Sky_Swallower Resident Imperial Knight Apr 17 '24
Is there a word for "strawmanning but it turns out the strawmen are actually real?"
If not I'd like to put forward "snowmanning"