“The Greatest Trick the Devil Ever Pulled Was Convincing the World He Did Not
Exist.” (The Usual Suspects 1995)
The new US president convinced 49% of voters (About 32% of citizens eligible to vote) that the man whose words we heard and whose acts we watched for half a century did not exist. That he did it is chronicled in scores of books. How he did it is a burgeoning field of journalistic attention. Sadly, in the former case, too few people chose to hear it, and for the latter, it may be too little too late.
MAGA plays to an odd desire to “go back” to a fondly remembered time, ill-defined as to when and for most not a well-remembered time. He spewed populist rhetoric for a decade since he descended a golden escalator. (It was Madison Ave level symbolism that reasonably and mercifully could have descended on to Dante’s 8th or 9th circle).
Actual Populism emphasizes the good of common people, typically in opposition to a perceived ‘elite’. The Populist movement is antithetical to what he did in T-1.0 and his obvious intentions for T-2.0. His priorities are personal survival and wealth for him and his family, rewarding his wealthy enablers, avoiding personal accountability, gigantically egotistical retribution, and clinging to power until the destruction of 250 years of institutions is complete. In the end, you still won’t matter, but he will espouse just enough populist tropes to keep you quiet.
Eventually the scales will fall away and MAGA people will see his throwback to a Shangri-La as a Wizard of Oz illusion to trick them into accepting a distorted reality. Artful illusions are often widely embraced, like the MLM scheme that bleeds your friends, but are not embraced forever. None of his intent, strategy, or shopworn tactics is new. Old as humanity, it is clear throughout history. Simply said, ill-willed tyrants look to divide and conquer, misdirect, and misinform, and are not constrained by truth. Flatter, cajole, intimidate, and bluster to keep your marks in line. It is the game of despots around the world and of politicians here, in or aspiring to, our highest and lowliest offices.
The only new part is that the confluence of societal, technological, and economic change has perfected the tools of chaos and the science of disruption. A generation has been hypnotized by a dysfunctional media purpose-built to dissolve institutional reality and replace it with a facade. Paired with a feckless “reality based” media that did not recognize and acknowledge the systemic distortions, and doing nothing to expose the danger, it amplified our worst human instincts. (How? is a discussion for another time, hint-money).
The Social Media revolution democratized (an odd word to use) the spread and amplification of mis/disinformation. Today anyone can share their most intimate thoughts and feelings, good or bad, along with any conspiratorial fantasy that catches their eye. One might say it is Equal Opportunity access to shared hate and division. We do know amplifying hate and division is the very lucrative business model of Social Media moguls, lucrative enough to fund buying a personal head of state.
The exploitation of differences, real or imagined, is the hammer used to shatter societal norms and bend us to their ends.
Attacking skin color has always been a surefire strategy to assure political power, especially in the Old South. For a century it fueled an unconscionable cost in lives, livelihoods, and community destruction. That part of history is aggressively under attack. Now, though, Gallup reports that 94% approve of interracial relationships, suggesting that skin has lost part of its divisiveness. Focus shifted to LGBQ issues. Now, 69% of Americans accept same sex relationships as valid. Shifting once again, last fall the GOP spent $215 million attacking the 1.6% of the population that identifies as trans/nonbinary. Alarm over men unfairly competing in women’s sports was a consistent theme. The incidence of that is reportedly so small that advocates of bans have difficulty quantifying or even finding an appreciable number of incidents. Sadly, the gas lighting took its toll, and most feel it was a measurable factor in the outcome of the election.
What has evolved lately is an amorphous approach to manipulating hate. Generic demonization may be end-stage MAGA. In these early days of T-2.0 he is making DEI a collective noun for Other. Demonization and avowed eradication of all DEI initiatives as the root of our problems refreshes the outrage on which he thrives. Also, it is an effective way to systematically hollow out agencies that Musk’s DOGE has in its sight (i.e., all). Using fiat to remove a critical mass of capable employees in any organization without due process is fatal to its mission. Trump has invited Musk to bring his Twitter-destroying tactics into his war on government. Musk is enthusiastically doing so, down to reusing word for word his X playbook. The “I” in DEI has never stood for incompetent, regardless of their overblown rhetoric.
The threat to the Republic is clear. Yet the assault may be sowing the seeds of its own destruction. Eventually the suffering will be sufficiently widespread to subsume the MAGA legions, causing an awakening and perhaps even a reckoning. MAGAs will figure out that they are closer to Other than they thought. Trump’s policies will come for anyone who is no longer useful to him. His voters have exhausted their usefulness; the light on them is dimming. Their own pain may already be at the door, but they are yet to hear the doorbell. An often-asked question is “will his followers ever draw the line?”. Logically, it will only be when his actions come home to them. Eventually, for all not irretrievably mired in Trumpism, human self-interest will cause a reassessment. Trump will inevitably shoot himself in the foot. If we last that long and there is still a democratic structure, the healing can begin.
To those who accept my view, keep the faith and keep working. Red voters likely do not. If that is you, and you take offense, I invite you to factually rebut anything here. Otherwise, I ask you not to waste your time and breath. Instead, let’s simply cycle back six to twelve months from now when things are clearer. I truly hope things are better than I fear. After all, presumably like you, I am an American who cares.
Alan Meinus