this post was submitted on 15 Jul 2025
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I tire of the classification of their voters as smooth brained. There's heaps of voters that think the country took a wrong turn at the civil war (and other variations) and believe that lying to the public is in it's own good. They're actively seeking the dismantlement of the constitution for assorted reasons, imagining that the heritage foundation will replace the constitution with "something better". (It's unclear if they all agree on what the country should be reforged into - but they all agree it needs to be reforged and thus have a common goal.)
Sure - some of them are actively deceived - but stop pretending the wolves are only at the top of their pyramid.
I was thinking of the common rust belt dweller when I wrote that. How else would you describe the vast majority of magas who shot themselves in the foot twice by voting orange? He is actively taking whatever they have left and handing it out to the 1%. I hear what you're saying about reforgers etc - I'm sure all kinds of evil/crazy/weird exists - but I cannot believe that the basic maga voter is anything other than uneducated and misinformed.
People have tried to make sense of the don phenomenon saying he's good at selling these ideas etc but I don't believe it. For me his success is down to two things:
I see at least three identifiable separate cults within Maga, by my estimation - the "art of the deal" club for Trump, the techbro frat for Elon, and the outfoxed boobtubers channel for Murdoch.
the club: they view the Don in terms of loyalty. They know he's undermining the system, but respect that he runs things the way they would. There is no crime worse than betraying the leader. The smarter of RM them know Don sometimes sacrifices scapegoats, but are willing to play the game to make sure that's not them getting the short stick. Achieving Trump's lavish lifestyle and celebrity status is the dream
the frat: they are idealistic. They think humans have messed everything up because we're flawed. They believe the world needs to be reborn under the algorithm, that is if we're ever to become a spacefaring species and evade Fermi's paradox. Elon speaks to them, willing to break or reform anything that stands in the way of the future (Roko's basilisk would be proud)
the channel: these people are busy. They are too wrapped up in local life to be paying attention (perhaps with decent reason) they only have time for a summary of the news, and fox has never betrayed them before - sometimes it's good to be king of the hill. Fox was much less obviously conservative before the 90's, it would have been reasonable to trust them as a news source - or even your only news source. Later kids who's parents watch only Fox raise kids that watch only Fox. Murdoch may be evil, but he's got a knack for spin that shouldn't be underestimated.
I don't think any of those groups require the members to be smooth brained - but there, of course, are many fools in any group of sufficient size. Even the boobtube group, who gets the stereotype of brainless TV watchers - many of them are caught in a system designed to be eternally distracting. If you make minimum wage and have to take care of older family members and are working 3 jobs, maybe your only news source is what the boss puts on the lobby TV.
Appreciate you taking the time to break it down! I see where you're coming from and I'm sure all these 3 groups exist, but I see it quite differently. I'd say the first two groups are very niche compared to the 3rd, to the point where they don't matter much.
Way I see it, the average maga voter is a much simpler beast. As an outsider, I view Americans - especially people outside of the two big cities which act as cultural centers - as a happy go lucky bunch in their core. There's these generations after the first settlers who found it easy compared to the rest of the world to make money and live prosperously. That makes them very open and positive to the point where they seem gullible sometimes. These people have been seeing their quality of life deteriorate as capitalism inadvertently pushes wealth to the rich and they feel deeply betrayed by the previous administrations of career politicians. They want things to go back to better times and their lack of education points them in the wrong direction. They are not inherently racist but they are afraid of the future. Fear makes them huddle close to the familiar. It's super easy to blame the foreign for one's problems and that's what we see here too. That's why you'll see the pattern where they're hostile towards foreigners but at the same time if they know you personally you get a pass. Juan is a good Mexican, it's those others that are up to no good. They view Don as a successful businessman - probably because of too much Fox as you said - and they also recognize that he is different in the way that he speaks and acts. He's raw and simple, doesn't hide what he ultimately wants, it's a stark difference from normal politicians. From there, it all goes downhill with the injection of racism and national pride. Ultimately, from Nixon onwards to say the least, all administrations have consistently contributed to the slow decay of the American middle class and people want actual change. Obama failed them miserably because he looked and acted different but his policies were not. So now it's time for the unhinged ultra right to have a go. If this doesn't lead to the end of the world somehow, we might see a swing of the pendulum. Doubtful without a big investment in basic education but one can only hope.