Donald Trump and MAGA tapped into a deep well of insecurity within American society to accelerate a movement that destroys families and threatens democracy with fascism. Deprogramming these extremists is difficult but possible, and understanding paranoid extremism is necessary.

This is the first part in what should be a three-part series explaining paranoid extremism, how to possibly deprogram extremists, and how to possibly save America.

Sources

Roy Moore accusations in Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/woman-says-roy-moore-initiated-sexual-encounter-when-she-was-14-he-was-32/2017/11/09/1f495878-c293-11e7-afe9-4f60b5a6c4a0_story.html

Hoax robo-call: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/11/14/alabama-pastor-says-man-posing-as-washington-post-reporter-offered-reward-for-dirt-on-roy-moore/

School of Life "How to Resist Conspiracy Theories": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoYjIDwbzLY

The Guardian "Why we are all attracted to conspiracy theories": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9xtpqXzyfA

TED-Ed "The origin of countless conspiracy theories": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88_C-fogY40

XKCD "Conspiracy Theories": https://xkcd.com/258/

Karen Douglas et al "Dead and Alive": https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1948550611434786

0:00 Believing the Lie
1:47 The Enigma of Reason
8:06 The Second Edge of the Sword
17:32 Why There Is Hope