Interesting theory but anecdotally doesn't fit with my experience.
The most compliant, least critical, and laziest thinkers in my acquaintance are all squarely "anti-institutional" now.
> Alt-media arose in maybe the last 10 years. Most of these anti-vaxxers were fully baked (intellectually) by then
This isn't true. There was definitely a crunchy left-wing anti-institutional anti-vax cohort that's very old, but the modern energy behind the movement is not from this group. And alt-media is much older than you give it credit for. Rush Limbaugh premiered in 1988. Alex Jones' InfoWars was founded in 1999.
The most compliant, least critical, and laziest thinkers in my acquaintance are all squarely "anti-institutional" now.
> Alt-media arose in maybe the last 10 years. Most of these anti-vaxxers were fully baked (intellectually) by then
This isn't true. There was definitely a crunchy left-wing anti-institutional anti-vax cohort that's very old, but the modern energy behind the movement is not from this group. And alt-media is much older than you give it credit for. Rush Limbaugh premiered in 1988. Alex Jones' InfoWars was founded in 1999.