The post was a few days old, but I didn’t start seeing it on Twitter until this weekend, when several people I follow were liking and retweeting it. I clicked through to see what it was all about and found one of the most interesting things I’ve read in a long time.

You’ve probably heard of 4chan and Anonymous. Or at least you know what a meme is and have seen Pepe the Frog. If not, maybe you haven’t heard of the Internet and social media either.

…4chan is often explained as being responsible for some early popular memes like “rickrolling”. But this is an understatement. 4chan invented the meme as we use it today. At the time, one of the few places you saw memes was there. The white Impact font with the black outlines, that was them (via S.A.). Terms like “win” and “epic” and “fail” were all created or popularized on 4chan, used there for years before they became a ubiquitous part of the culture.

Do I have your attention yet?

While I’ve certainly heard about 4chan plenty over the years, I’ve never actually understood or looked into what the group was all about. The first half of the post covers their history and the rise of Anonymous, which is necessary to understand where the rest of the post goes.

The author tries to explain a key group of Trump supporters.

…we can append a third category to the two classically understood division of Trump supporters:

1) Generally older people who naively believe Trump will “make America great again”, that is to say, return it to its 1950s ideal evoked by both Trump and Clinton.

2) The 1 percent, who know this promise is empty, but also know it will be beneficial to short term business interests.

3) Younger members of the 99 percent, like Anon, who also know this promise is empty, but who support Trump as a defiant expression of despair.

He also shares some thoughts on where politics are headed.

…left and right are in some sense outdated ideas. The new division in politics is those who favor the current global hegemony and those who are against it. Like the Hollywood heroes, right and left have been competing to become this new radical anti-status quo party. And so far, in both Europe and America, the right has won…

Just a really great post from start to finish if you can open your mind. It is quite long to read, but covers a wide range of topics. Check it out…

4chan: The Skeleton Key to the Rise of Trump