What does MAGA mean in 2022? An aging movement longs for an America that never was

[marmar]

What does MAGA mean in 2022? An aging movement longs for an America that never was
Trump's core loyalists are older, less educated, more Southern, more Christian — and driven by resentment

By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 5, 2022 6:30AM (EDT)


(Salon) Donald Trump formally became the leader of the Republican Party in 2016 — but this should not be considered a hostile takeover. If the courtship was reluctant at first, Trump and the Republicans both realized in due course that they needed each other, and indeed fulfilled each other.

Trump's relationship to his followers is that of a god-king - fascist cult leader, based upon collective narcissism, fantasies of violence, cruelty and an entire set of shared delusions. When Trump began his presidential campaign In 2015, he attracted large crowds. Then he gave them a collective identity by embracing "Make America Great Again" as his slogan. The MAGA movement was born.

Seven or so years on, what does MAGA mean now? And what have Trump and his movement accomplished? By any humane, reasonable or moral standards, nothing worth doing, or in any way "great." They pushed American democracy to the brink of chaos. They normalized right-wing political violence, culminating (for now) in the Jan 6 coup attempt and attack on the Capitol. They strove to reverse the civil rights and human rights progress of the 20th and 21st centuries in America.

They elevated conspiracism, anti-intellectualism, a rejection of empirical reality and science, Christian nationalism, white supremacy, misogyny and hostile sexism, and a total disregard for the rule of law. America's global reputation as an "indispensable nation" and the world's greatest democracy (which was already damaged) was permanently stained by the Age of Trump. At least a million people died in America because of how the Trump regime and the Republican Party willfully sabotaged public health and relief efforts in response to the COVID pandemic. ..............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2022/10/05/what-does-maga-mean-in-2022-an-aging-movement-longs-for-an-america-that-never-was/

[Chakaconcarne]

1. Japanese Definition: wickedness, evil, calamity, disaster

https://jlearn.net/dictionary/%E7%A6%8D-%E3%81%BE%E3%81%8C

[yankee87]

2. MAGA equals terrorists

The movement is nothing but terrorism and anti- democracy. Before his rallies were ridiculous, now they are freak shows.

[Elessar Zappa]

3. Interesting (and disturbing) article.

One thing that stood out to me is that most maga Republicans are suburban, blue collar whites who have a slightly above average income as opposed to the stereotype of maga, which is rural white with a low income.

[Skittles]

4. that was pretty much proven by the morons arrested for Jan 6 activity

very few of them seemed to be economically disadvantaged

[dalton99a]

7. +1. The "economic anxiety" thesis was absolute bullshit

[scarletlib]

5. Poor people don't have money to fly to D.C.;stay in a hotel/motel for several days away from

work to riot at the Capitol.

[scarletlib]

6. Trump's Covid lies and policies have killed off a large chunk of them and still is.