You wrote: "...The MAGA movement never truly wanted a president. It wanted a patriarch—a figure who would punish outsiders, silence dissent, and restore a rigid social order with them on top." And WHY did they want this? Because most of them score high on the chart of Adverse Childhood Experiences (as did this current leader). The phrase "hurt people hurt people" is going on right now...and from a position of power. If only more people knew about the ACE Study (that proved the relationship of childhood trauma to adult health), perhaps more of the MAGAs would seek modalities of personal healing and self-empowerment to enjoy the freedoms that democracy granted them.
Bill Maher, the POT HEAD Says "Do NOT Hate MAGA ! Yeah, Bill - in Your Hollywood Hills Mansion ! Bill, Dick Weed ! SHUT Your Pie Whole ! ALL Sane People Detest MAGA ! MAGA Cannot Be REFORMED ! I Wish ALL MAGA "in an Urn on a Mantel at Mar a Lago" === NEXT to Tubby !
Luckily, as Ron Reagan (the son) is an Atheist, as I am --- So, I am Prepared to Go to HELL (which Does NOT Exist) for Wishing MAGA to Go Down Into Davy's Locker !
You’re absolutely right. MAGA followers are bound to Trump by emotional needs, not logic or policies.
Most of them are aggrieved about their lives somehow not having turned out as well as they expected. The vast majority are whites who feel they were entitled to higher income levels and greater social status.
They’re angry at “the system.” Trump — whose greatest skill is the con artist’s ability to read the room — picked up on this and provided scapegoats for them to blame.
He assured them that higher education is not only unnecessary, but a foolish waste of money.
He plays to their need for status by demonizing trans people, immigrants, and people of color. He makes sure they can disparage others as “inferior” without any shame, but with group approval.
I don’t know what will become of this alienated and alienating group. Most cults disband with the death of their leader. Fortunately, Trump is old and not in optimal health.
No other GOP politician has successfully garnered the affection of the MAGA cult members. They will accept no substitutes for their strongman father figure.
But this is an unusually large cult with tens of millions of members. It’s hard to imagine them simply melting into the background.
Excellent analysis that gets right to the heart of the problem. Ten years ago I thought the country had matured enough not to succumb to "Jim Jones" types and authoritarianism, but Cicero of ancient Rome was so right about human psyche manipulative vulnerability. Enjoyed your book!
You wrote: "...The MAGA movement never truly wanted a president. It wanted a patriarch—a figure who would punish outsiders, silence dissent, and restore a rigid social order with them on top." And WHY did they want this? Because most of them score high on the chart of Adverse Childhood Experiences (as did this current leader). The phrase "hurt people hurt people" is going on right now...and from a position of power. If only more people knew about the ACE Study (that proved the relationship of childhood trauma to adult health), perhaps more of the MAGAs would seek modalities of personal healing and self-empowerment to enjoy the freedoms that democracy granted them.
MAGA Cannot Be Reformed Nor "HEALED"
Dream On, Peter Pan !
Bill Maher, the POT HEAD Says "Do NOT Hate MAGA ! Yeah, Bill - in Your Hollywood Hills Mansion ! Bill, Dick Weed ! SHUT Your Pie Whole ! ALL Sane People Detest MAGA ! MAGA Cannot Be REFORMED ! I Wish ALL MAGA "in an Urn on a Mantel at Mar a Lago" === NEXT to Tubby !
Luckily, as Ron Reagan (the son) is an Atheist, as I am --- So, I am Prepared to Go to HELL (which Does NOT Exist) for Wishing MAGA to Go Down Into Davy's Locker !
You’re absolutely right. MAGA followers are bound to Trump by emotional needs, not logic or policies.
Most of them are aggrieved about their lives somehow not having turned out as well as they expected. The vast majority are whites who feel they were entitled to higher income levels and greater social status.
They’re angry at “the system.” Trump — whose greatest skill is the con artist’s ability to read the room — picked up on this and provided scapegoats for them to blame.
He assured them that higher education is not only unnecessary, but a foolish waste of money.
He plays to their need for status by demonizing trans people, immigrants, and people of color. He makes sure they can disparage others as “inferior” without any shame, but with group approval.
I don’t know what will become of this alienated and alienating group. Most cults disband with the death of their leader. Fortunately, Trump is old and not in optimal health.
No other GOP politician has successfully garnered the affection of the MAGA cult members. They will accept no substitutes for their strongman father figure.
But this is an unusually large cult with tens of millions of members. It’s hard to imagine them simply melting into the background.
Excellent analysis that gets right to the heart of the problem. Ten years ago I thought the country had matured enough not to succumb to "Jim Jones" types and authoritarianism, but Cicero of ancient Rome was so right about human psyche manipulative vulnerability. Enjoyed your book!
The USA Right Now --- IS --- "Schrödinger's Cat" IS IT Dead Or Alive ?