This explains Trumpism and MAGA (1 Viewer)

[bird]

I found this on DemocraticUnderground. It is a bit of a long read but well worth it because it comes closest, imo, of explaining Trump, Trumpism and MAGA.

The Agonizing Work of Art That Helps Explain Trump’s America - WhoWhatWhy

What can “Adolescence” tell us about our country?

whowhatwhy.org

We are swimming in a sea of deliberate cruelty. Everything done by Trump and MAGA is based upon cruelty. It has been said that cruelty is the point. What the link does is, imo, critical. It points to the one question that must be answered. That question is WHY.

 

[Dragon]

Lately, I find myself musing over how we became so divided—and why strongmen have suddenly become not just tolerated, but celebrated by so many. Figures like Trump, Poilievre, and others on the far right seem to offer a kind of certainty, a strict set of rules that simplify the chaos, even if those rules end up harming the very people who follow them.


What’s strange is that I don’t think there’s one clear answer to how we got here. It feels like a convergence of many things. Humans are social creatures, and the isolation during COVID fractured something essential in our shared fabric. But even before that, something was already shifting. Traditional family structures were evolving, roles were becoming less defined, and for some, that felt deeply destabilizing—like the old rulebook had been tossed out and no one handed them a new one.


In that vacuum, authoritarian voices like Trump offer an appealing clarity: "Here are the rules. Follow them and you’ll be safe." It’s seductive, especially when people feel adrift. But the irony is that this kind of control often strips away personal freedom and stifles growth.


Still, despite the rise of these strongmen, I’m heartened by the growing opposition. More and more people are waking up, questioning the narratives, organizing, and pushing back. That gives me hope—that maybe we’re at the end of one cycle and the beginning of another, more compassionate and inclusive one.

 

[bird]

Lately, I find myself musing over how we became so divided—and why strongmen have suddenly become not just tolerated, but celebrated by so many. Figures like Trump, Poilievre, and others on the far right seem to offer a kind of certainty, a strict set of rules that simplify the chaos, even if those rules end up harming the very people who follow them.


What’s strange is that I don’t think there’s one clear answer to how we got here. It feels like a convergence of many things. Humans are social creatures, and the isolation during COVID fractured something essential in our shared fabric. But even before that, something was already shifting. Traditional family structures were evolving, roles were becoming less defined, and for some, that felt deeply destabilizing—like the old rulebook had been tossed out and no one handed them a new one.


In that vacuum, authoritarian voices like Trump offer an appealing clarity: "Here are the rules. Follow them and you’ll be safe." It’s seductive, especially when people feel adrift. But the irony is that this kind of control often strips away personal freedom and stifles growth.


Still, despite the rise of these strongmen, I’m heartened by the growing opposition. More and more people are waking up, questioning the narratives, organizing, and pushing back. That gives me hope—that maybe we’re at the end of one cycle and the beginning of another, more compassionate and inclusive one.

The opposition is growing but so is the extreme right.

https://www.npr.org/2025/04/25/nx-s1-5371718/pronatalist-birth-rate-musk-natal-conference

I have little faith which, perhaps, is my problem. Democracy is sliding because charlatans offer simplistic, emotionally centered agitprop. Racism as the link mentions is being used as a virtue. I fear that the U.S. is at a point that the 2026 elections and the 2028 elections, should they actually happen, will become a referendum on democracy.

I find it interesting that social issues have been disparaged by the right while the right focuses on them via radicalized religionist and misogynistic “influencers”.

All politics is identity. All politics is social issues. Political economy is social by its very nature and definition. Until the left actually understands this in their bones and develops responses that are directly, intellectually, and emotionally coordinated in such a way as to destroy the right I think things are likely to get worse.

And they may not get better. The U.S. is on the verge of becoming a backwater. The West is too. The rise of extremist eugenics which is basically what the right has become will destroy humanity.

 

[Dragon]

The opposition is growing but so is the extreme right.

https://www.npr.org/2025/04/25/nx-s1-5371718/pronatalist-birth-rate-musk-natal-conference

I have little faith which, perhaps, is my problem. Democracy is sliding because charlatans offer simplistic, emotionally centered agitprop. Racism as the link mentions is being used as a virtue. I fear that the U.S. is at a point that the 2026 elections and the 2028 elections, should they actually happen, will become a referendum on democracy.

I find it interesting that social issues have been disparaged by the right while the right focuses on them via radicalized religionist and misogynistic “influencers”.

All politics is identity. All politics is social issues. Political economy is social by its very nature and definition. Until the left actually understands this in their bones and develops responses that are directly, intellectually, and emotionally coordinated in such a way as to destroy the right I think things are likely to get worse.

And they may not get better. The U.S. is on the verge of becoming a backwater. The West is too. The rise of extremist eugenics which is basically what the right has become will destroy humanity.

Pro-natalism is often a hallmark of authoritarian regimes—just look at the rhetoric coming out of the U.S., Russia, or China. It’s rooted in control: of bodies, of family structures, of futures. In contrast, much of Europe has moved beyond rigid gender roles, and policies like paid paternity leave have played a huge part in that evolution.

I've seen it firsthand. Several of my male colleagues took paternity leave and came back fundamentally changed. Not just as parents, but as people. Once they've experienced that kind of deep involvement in their children’s early lives, they never want to miss it again. It shifts how they see parenting, partnership, and the outdated norms they may have grown up with.

One of the most striking examples was a male project manager I worked with. After his first paternity leave, he started posting pictures of himself baking rolls with his kids on our company’s internal social channel. And he wasn’t alone—suddenly, the image of fatherhood became more visible, more hands-on, more human. That’s the kind of quiet revolution policy can spark—one that authoritarian systems fear, because it empowers individuals to redefine what strength, care, and masculinity look like.