Excellent post on the "meme war" and continuing role of memes in modern political warfare. Much of what you said is spot on, but I'd like to add a couple aspects from the perspective of the younger generation.
A major function of memes is to mock. Many of the people using these images are "red-pilled" and see the entire idea of a polarized dualistic structure of government idiotic in the extreme. So while they may appear to exacerbate conflict, the underlying purpose is to show the complete absurdity and dysfunctionality of the inertia-ridden system.
They function as a method of tough love. Why do I call them tough love? Because the trolls are showing you elements of existence, (aptly termed a tragicomedy, i.e. "all the world's a stage") that you are taking far too seriously when in the grand scheme of things, everything is merely energy constantly transforming into new permutations.
Great post, and I'm glad to see a growing awareness of the "meta-culture" that has been arising for the past decade or so.