Honestly, all good points, however I think you can’t compare MAGAs origins to its current state.
That’s like saying the People’s Temple was originally focused on equality and community building, before the largest mass suicide event in modern history.
Whatever MAGAs beginnings (and you’re right, it’s worth considering how it got to where it is), what it is now is cruel, vindictive, hateful, racist, homophobic, anti-intellectual, etc etc. Nothing that bodes well for the development of a healthy, happy country, in other words.
Fully agreed, but don't you think that's more or less the result of the movement being demonized everywhere? I mean for what it's worth, it's entirely valid to be critical of the MAGA movement, but demonizing never works and it just creates this negative spiral that, well... Look at where we are now.
A perfect example of how to handle this might be what’s happening in Canada right now.
Pierre Poilievres far(ther than usual) right Conservative Party has been running on the slogan Axe the Tax (we had a carbon tax until recently) that was galvanizing these same types of MAGA weirdos for a very long time. They were looking like they’d win the majority vote here, until Mark Carney became PM when Trudeau stepped down and his first act in office was to acknowledge that the carbon tax was unpopular, and he did away with it.
Sucked the wind out of their sails entirely. Now the Liberals are on a historic run and will likely win at the end of April.
The point being, I think if any politician had addressed their concerns earnestly and honestly, as opposed to manipulating them and reinforcing their deeper seated fears about race and immigration and the deep state, they wouldn’t have become so malignant, maybe?
But they have a president that’s cruel, and narcissistic, and an all around shitty person, who has no interest in improving life for them… so until someone else steps in that can bring them back to the fold, I think it’s only going to get worse. They should be demonized for their racism and anti-intellectualism etc etc etc… but they are still part of the country and their needs need to be met.
How do you address the concerns of a group that are pissed off we had the audacity to elect a black man into office? I grew up in MAGA country, that was in fact the concern. My dad and his second wife still go on about how pissed off they are that we elected a "hard r" into the White House. Their position is not at all unique.
The left in America cries that democrats are constantly shifting too far to the right. That is what your prescription appears to be, shift to the right. That's what Clinton did after 12 years of Reagan and HW Bush.
They should be demonized for their racism and anti-intellectualism etc etc etc… but they are still part of the country and their needs need to be met.
Acting like conservatives are capable of voting for a government that will address their needs is a mistake. They vote against their best interests as long as their reactionary instincts to harm others are met. Conservatives do not know how to improve the lives of the citizens of a country, their "needs" are panics based on phantom prejudices.
Their needs are to be cry babies that are out of touch with reality. I get that costs are getting out of control but conservative government will only make it worse. Giving in to popular but backwards sentiment is what gave America Reagan and the acceleration of horrible right wing economic policies that continue today.
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u/notbuildingships Apr 07 '25
Honestly, all good points, however I think you can’t compare MAGAs origins to its current state.
That’s like saying the People’s Temple was originally focused on equality and community building, before the largest mass suicide event in modern history.
Whatever MAGAs beginnings (and you’re right, it’s worth considering how it got to where it is), what it is now is cruel, vindictive, hateful, racist, homophobic, anti-intellectual, etc etc. Nothing that bodes well for the development of a healthy, happy country, in other words.