AusGeoff wrote on Jan 29
th, 2024 at 8:40pm:
This is possibly one of the best articles I've read recently about
why the now-disgraced former president continues to enjoy political
and personal support from an element of the American public.
Many explanations are proposed for the continued rise of Trump,
and the steadfastness of his support, even as the outrages and
criminal charges pile up.
Trump is king of the extrinsics.
People with a strong set of intrinsic values are inclined towards
empathy, intimacy and self-acceptance. They tend to be open to
challenge and change, interested in universal rights and equality,
and protective of other people and the living world.
People at the extrinsic end of the spectrum are more attracted to
prestige, status, image, fame, power and wealth. They are strongly
motivated by the prospect of individual reward and praise. They are
more likely to objectify and exploit other people, to behave rudely and
aggressively and to dismiss social and environmental impacts. They
have little interest in cooperation or community. People with a strong
set of extrinsic values are more likely to suffer from frustration,
dissatisfaction, stress, anxiety, anger and compulsive behaviour.
To beat Trump, we need to know why Americans keep
voting for him. Psychologists may have the answer.
The last para (above) sums up Trump to the letter.
It's a solid article, but honestly, it overcomplicates something pretty straightforward.
MAGA was never about facts, evidence, or any consistent worldview. It's about emotional validation, whatever reinforces their fragile identity, that's the "truth." The moment someone hands them a narrative where they're the enlightened ones, where they get to feel smarter than the scientists, the journalists, the people who paid attention in school, they're all in.
It's a movement built for those who felt humiliated by knowledge and now get to rebrand ignorance as secret wisdom. Flat-Earther logic dressed in patriot cosplay.
You can see it all over the forums too. The rage when someone introduces a fact that makes them feel small again. That's what they really hate, being reminded they don't know what they're talking about.
And now that same delusional mindset is turning on Trump. He lied too many times, even for the cult. Epstein was a line too far for some of the more heavily armed believers. Now he's the one standing in the way of their fantasy, and he's made enemies out of the very people who used to worship him.
Poetic, really. And dangerous. But I'm not looking away.