A New “InSURgent” Movement: Just Memes or Something New? I’ve been observing a concerning online shift—one that’s still taking shape and doesn’t yet have a neatly packaged label. For now, let’s tentatively call them InSURgents. This term isn’t perfect, but I’m using it as a placeholder to describe an online community that seems to have started with targeted resentment toward the healthcare insurance industry and its executives, and has since broadened its anger to include billionaire CEOs and powerful corporate figures across various sectors. From Healthcare-Specific Rage to a Broader Class Revolt Originally, these InSURgents appeared to be channeling frustration about opaque billing, complex insurance claims, and profit-driven healthcare practices. However, as their commentary and memes spread through certain corners of the internet, their outrage seems to be spilling over into a more expansive critique of income inequality and corporate influence. Now, billionaire hedge fund managers, luxury brand moguls, and tech giants are all drawn into the crosshairs of their discontent. Parallels with Incels and Other Movements: • Echo Chambers & Meme Culture: Much like incels, these groups congregate in niche forums, sharing memes and coded language that reinforce their anger. Instead of focusing on personal or romantic failures, though, the InSURgents set their sights on systemic economic injustices and those who appear to benefit from them. • Radical Narratives: Just as incels justify hostility towards specific targets, InSURgents create an ideological framework that rationalizes antagonism toward the wealthy elite. Their memes and messaging often recast complex socioeconomic issues as a moral struggle against “exploiters.” Key Differences from Incels and Earlier Anti-Capitalist Movements: • Broadening Targets: While incels remain fixated on sexual hierarchies, the InSURgents began in the healthcare sector and have since extended their ire to a wide spectrum of billionaires and CEOs. • Beyond Occupy’s Approaches: Occupy Wall Street highlighted inequality but largely embraced nonviolent protests and real-world gatherings. In contrast, InSURgents rely on digital tactics—viral content, provocative memes, and sometimes hostile rhetoric—to capture attention, sometimes flirting with extreme language that Occupy generally avoided. • Moral Justification: Many earlier economic justice movements aimed at structural reform. The InSURgents, on the other hand, may flirt with framing more aggressive actions as morally justified, a shift that risks amplifying extremism rather than channeling discontent into constructive change. Even if “InSURgents” ends up being just a throw away label, understanding this phenomenon is important. Turning a blind eye to emerging digital radicalization—especially one that ropes in broader issues of inequality—could allow resentment to grow unchecked.

A New “InSURgent” Movement: Just Memes or Something New?

I’ve been observing a concerning online shift—one that’s still taking shape and doesn’t yet have a neatly packaged label. For now, let’s tentatively call them InSURgents. This term isn’t perfect, but I’m using it as a placeholder to describe an online community that seems to have started with targeted resentment toward the healthcare insurance industry and its executives, and has since broadened its anger to include billionaire CEOs and powerful corporate figures across various sectors.

From Healthcare-Specific Rage to a Broader Class Revolt

Originally, these InSURgents appeared to be channeling frustration about opaque billing, complex insurance claims, and profit-driven healthcare practices. However, as their commentary and memes spread through certain corners of the internet, their outrage seems to be spilling over into a more expansive critique of income inequality and corporate influence. Now, billionaire hedge fund managers, luxury brand moguls, and tech giants are all drawn into the crosshairs of their discontent.

Parallels with Incels and Other Movements:

• Echo Chambers & Meme Culture: Much like incels, these groups congregate in niche forums, sharing memes and coded language that reinforce their anger. Instead of focusing on personal or romantic failures, though, the InSURgents set their sights on systemic economic injustices and those who appear to benefit from them.

• Radical Narratives: Just as incels justify hostility towards specific targets, InSURgents create an ideological framework that rationalizes antagonism toward the wealthy elite. Their memes and messaging often recast complex socioeconomic issues as a moral struggle against “exploiters.”

Key Differences from Incels and Earlier Anti-Capitalist Movements:

• Broadening Targets: While incels remain fixated on sexual hierarchies, the InSURgents began in the healthcare sector and have since extended their ire to a wide spectrum of billionaires and CEOs.

• Beyond Occupy’s Approaches: Occupy Wall Street highlighted inequality but largely embraced nonviolent protests and real-world gatherings. In contrast, InSURgents rely on digital tactics—viral content, provocative memes, and sometimes hostile rhetoric—to capture attention, sometimes flirting with extreme language that Occupy generally avoided.

• Moral Justification: Many earlier economic justice movements aimed at structural reform. The InSURgents, on the other hand, may flirt with framing more aggressive actions as morally justified, a shift that risks amplifying extremism rather than channeling discontent into constructive change.

Even if “InSURgents” ends up being just a throw away label, understanding this phenomenon is important. Turning a blind eye to emerging digital radicalization—especially one that ropes in broader issues of inequality—could allow resentment to grow unchecked.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jameson-ritter-ctm-cpp-psp-pci_a-new-insurgent-movement-just-memes-or-activity-7273432241261670403-6Lhm?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

-Jameson Ritter, CTM, CPP, PSP, PCI