MSNBC recently published an opinion piece about the rise in racism in online fitness groups that have spread since the beginning of the recent quarantine era. The article comes off as less personal opinion and more directed attempts at discrediting certain groups of people. MMA and other types of combat/contact sports were directly named as targets of “far-right” online radicalization. The idea is that when young, unsuspecting men were searching for ways to get fit during an idle time, they were “lured” into “far-right” networks and recruited. Some of the most obscure groups were mentioned in the article. And of course, the writer somehow found a way to shoehorn in the January 6th riot of 2021 and the Unite The Right Rally from Charlottesville in 2017.
The mentioning of MMA appears like a direct hit on Joe Rogan. He has become one of the most (if not then the most) popular podcasters in the world. The problem that the left, who typically read MSNBC, has with Joe is his narrative on certain issues. The main issue they have with him is his take on the virus. He doesn’t believe in getting the shot as the end-all-be-all solution. This is enough to make him public enemy number one. Rogan has a deal with Spotify that came up under the radar in the past year or two due to those controversial takes. Employees of the company threatened to quit. Several prior episodes have been pulled off of the platform. If the left had their way, then he would never have a voice again. This article appears to be aiding and abetting the vilification process of Joe Rogan similar to what happened with Vladimir Putin.
One might also add that there is some resentment of physically fit people from a certain sector of the left. The “body positivity” and “anti-fat shaming” movements are both still relatively strong. This is in spite of the overwhelming evidence that obesity is very dangerous to anyone regardless of race or nationality. So instead of attempting to reconcile that some of their movements may be harmful, they attack other movements counteractive to their destructive ones as destructive themselves. Simply a form of projection. A dangerous form of it, no doubt, because this type of information further confuses masses of the general public as it relates to what the truth is and is not.
SOURCES:
Pandemic fitness trends have gone extreme — literally
‘Fascist fitness’: how the far right is recruiting with online gym groups | Far right | The Guardian
MSNBC opinion article ridiculed for warning about ‘fascist fitness’ | Fox News
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