Charlie Warzel writes:

The truth is, it’s getting harder to describe the extent to which a meaningful percentage of Americans have dissociated from reality. As Hurricane Milton churned across the Gulf of Mexico last night, I saw an onslaught of outright conspiracy theorizing and utter nonsense racking up millions of views across the internet. The posts would be laughable if they weren’t taken by many people as gospel. Among them: Infowars’ Alex Jones, who claimed that Hurricanes Milton and Helene were “weather weapons” unleashed on the East Coast by the U.S. government, and “truth seeker” accounts on X that posted photos of condensation trails in the sky to baselessly allege that the government was “spraying Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton” in order to ensure maximum rainfall, “just like they did over Asheville!”

As Milton made landfall, causing a series of tornados, a verified account on X reposted a TikTok video of a massive funnel cloud with the caption “WHAT IS HAPPENING TO FLORIDA?!” The clip, which was eventually removed but had been viewed 662,000 times as of yesterday evening, turned out to be from a video of a CGI tornado that was originally published months ago. Scrolling through these platforms, watching them fill with false information, harebrained theories, and doctored images—all while panicked residents boarded up their houses, struggled to evacuate, and prayed that their worldly possessions wouldn’t be obliterated overnight—offered a portrait of American discourse almost too bleak to reckon with head-on.

Even in a decade marred by online grifters, shameless politicians, and an alternative right-wing-media complex pushing anti-science fringe theories, the events of the past few weeks stand out for their depravity and nihilism. As two catastrophic storms upended American cities, a patchwork network of influencers and fake-news peddlers have done their best to sow distrust, stoke resentment, and interfere with relief efforts. But this is more than just a misinformation crisis. To watch as real information is overwhelmed by crank theories and public servants battle death threats is to confront two alarming facts: first, that a durable ecosystem exists to ensconce citizens in an alternate reality, and second, that the people consuming and amplifying those lies are not helpless dupes but willing participants. [Continue reading…]

A message on Facebook from Rural Organizing and Resilience based in Madison County, NC, says:

We are deeply saddened by the way outsider politicians and pundits are attempting to politicize this unthinkable disaster that has hit our region. Instead of finding ways to help the thousands of families that have lost homes and loved ones, these people are spending their energy whipping up hate against directly impacted immigrant communities with false stories and spreading hurtful conspiracy theories. It saddens us, that in the time of our region’s greatest need, there are those who chose to sow division, rather than find ways to help. What a waste of energy.

From day one ROAR’s mission has been to work in solidarity with all marginalized communities in WNC, whether that’s working class white families that have been here for 8 generations, Black families whose ancestors were brought to these mountains in chains, recently arrived asylum seekers from Central America, or members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians whose land we all reside on. This work is based on the principles of mutual aid and reciprocity. In other words, your struggle is our struggle.

What we’ve seen ***on the ground*** from day one has been nothing but an affirmation of this mission. People are putting aside the divisions and prejudices we all carry inside us and coming together in the most beautiful ways to save lives and rebuild our mountain communities. The difference between the divisive rhetoric coming from opportunistic outsiders and the solidarity we are seeing on the ground is like night and day. We beg you, please put the politics and hateful rhetoric aside and find ways to support and heal our rural communities that need so much help right now. Trust us, you’ll feel much better when you do.
Love and solidarity, ROAR