So, this first meme is pretty annoying, to me. Posted by Donald Trump Jr on September 10th, 2022, this offers a look into how he views opposition to Donald Trump; it implies that they are emasculated and, thus, ripe to make fun of. This is just one of many memes posted by Trump Jr. that focuses on ridiculing opposition, and only stokes the fires of hatred between the two sides as opposed to reaching for any form of reconciliation. As such, I felt that this was a good meme to choose as a destructive meme; it encourages others to demean left-leaning people and pushes an idea that men aren’t allowed to do whatever they want if it is not within their typical gender role.

I am unsure if this response meme is equal to the Trump Jr. meme, but I think it does well; it shows an uplifting scene in which I laud people who don’t fall for Trump Jr.’s memes of demeaning and hating others. I want to show that this meme can even live in the same worldview as Trump Jr., where, even if you are making fun of people, regardless of that meme’s validity, it’s always preferable to just stop hating others. I didn’t want to stoop to anyone’s level and make a meme that demonized the Right, either; I don’t think that would be constructive, either. I don’t want anyone to end up hurt or otherized by this meme. It definitely won’t go viral, though. 

It’s hard to avoid these disheartening posts. I don’t believe anything tech companies can do will be helpful to stop conservatives from demeaning liberals, and certainly nothing that they can do to stop liberals from trying to laugh at conservatives and pushing them out of their inner circles. It goes down to the people posting these; they used to not be so loud and popular, but figures in power have taken advantage of the political thrust that these memes provide them, and now these sorts of takes are made even by people proclaiming to be moderate. Removing this concept (otherism) from society is pretty much impossible, especially in this situation. We just have to plead for empathy between groups of people, stop shouting over one another, and start mixing with people we disagree with. We are all humans, and regardless of how you feel towards strangers you are told to hate, we will all remain humans.