It's not all that odd, Dr Tingle.
Now, I'm not American, but from what I've seen over the last decade, a lot of MAGA supporters are people who are genuinely hurt by systemic issues. People who's jobs have been outsourced, people who struggle to access healthcare, people who's communities have been on the downturn for decades and have never seen recovery.
People who are in the conditions in which rebellions and revolutions are formed.
But these people have been fed a diet of lies by Republican-leaning media for decades, a diet which only grew larger with the rise of internet misinformation. They've had their justified anger pointed at scapegoats, have been told that "deep state" run by Democrats is at the heart of all their issues, and that it's giving all the resources that they "deserve" to migrants, LGBTQ people, and ethnic and racial minorities.
They have been told that the people with the least power are the people with the most, that they are the authority that needs to be rebelled against.
And while those lies have led them towards Republicans, they've still sought out "rebels" within the party, those who claimed they would fight against the party establishment. First, it was the Tea Party, and then it was Donald Trump.
The Republicans didn't embrace Donald Trump with open arms in 2016. They only hitched their wagon to him when he started to win. Trump came along, a political outsider, and grabbed a hold over the massive swathe of American society who have been convinced for decades that a revolution is necessary, but have been convinced it needs to be a right-wing one.
And the Mainstream Republican Party, who had spent years formenting this movement, was consumed by it.
Trump ultimately is a political revolution. His supporters are looking for massive change in their society. But they have been fed the lie that steps towards equality for others have been steps toward oppression for them.
So their revolution has been reactionary, conservative, and fascistic. Their revolution has been towards authoritarianism.
They are rebels. Rebels against democracy and democratic norms. Rebels against any steps towards a fairer and more equal society. Rebels against progress.
Because there is nothing inherently progressive about revolution.
janainaart
theartofmadeline
snowghoul
germansingergirl
