I have noticed a trend among conservative commentators that one of their primary reasons for voting for Trump was that he was an outsider, someone who wasn't part of the establishment, that they voted for him to shake things up and change the status quo.
Putting aside for the moment that the change they apparently voted for was outright oligarchy, a cratering economy, open support for historical enemies and contempt for our closest neighbors, unforced errors and outright stupidity, I find their language interesting.
I've heard it before, you see. They voted for him because they felt unrepresented by the politics of the time. They voted for him because he made them feel seen. They voted for him because they found some kindred identifying mentality.
Almost like, I dunno, how they think minorities vote.
But they're the 'silent majority', right? The country is obviously mostly people just like them who were tired of politics as usual and decided to finally stand up and use their voices, right? White, angry men are still the majority race of the country, right?
Well... that's complicated by adjectives, isn't it? For example, I myself am White, a Man, but not (until recently) all that Angry. I wouldn't use that word to describe myself most of the time. And I know several other White Men who are not Angry. They are Empathetic, Well-Adjusted, or Open-Minded. Some of them are, and I know this is hard to believe, Happy.
And if we're gonna boil everyone down to three descriptors, White Men of any disposition are factually not the majority of the country. There's these people called Women, you see, to say nothing of everything else a person might identify as. There's a healthy population of people who do not see themselves as White. I'd even go so far as to say that, current circumstances aside, less than half of the country would be considered Angry.
I think some, not all, of their problem stems from the dissonance of using minority language to describe themselves when they feel like they aren't a minority. This transition of White Men to a group without all the advantages has been rough going for everyone that ISN'T White Men for a long time, and in classic fashion the millisecond White Men THOUGHT they might not actually be in control of EVERYTHING, they whined and bitched and moaned and appropriated the language of oppressed minorities as if everyone else in the room wasn't going to immediately call bullshit on that.
This is a situation where the fat, contented establishment of White male dominance is being challenged from all sides, including from other White Men. The walled city with all of the money and food and advantages is crying that it isn't FAIR that all of these poor, destitute peasants have risen up and politely pointed out that they aren't being fair or equitable or even sane. And the galling thing is that by using this language and keying into this feeling, that walled city has convinced a lot of the very people that should be absolutely be laying siege to it with the rest of us that THEY are actually under siege too, despite being outside of the wall, having none of the money, and no advantages.
Most, not all but most, of MAGA can be described this way. Ideological hostages, convinced they are somehow part of a club that does not care about them and is, in fact, eager to use them up and toss them aside. They are the philosophical equivalent of Free Real Estate, with not one critical thought given to their situation that might shatter the illusion.
This mentally twisted subservience is a minority. They don't want to be one or admit they are one, but they are. Maybe instead of deriding them, they need to be approached from this lens of Stockholm Syndrome suffering minorities who have been convinced to vote and cheer against their own self interest.
I know that sounds hard and probably a pain in the ass, and I get that. Fortunately, it is getting easier as the knock-on effects of their misguided vote become more and more apparent.
Don't give up on them. Keep trying. And maybe point out to them that minorities don't have to vote as a block, or all hold the same opinion.
Oh, and before anyone gets the wrong impression and in case I didn't make myself clear: Pete Hegseth is a blithering idiot, working for a man who is so unacquainted with his feet because of his spray-tanned girth that the reason he was able to dodge military service is a mystery to him now. I think the entire administration is full of idiots, con men, and idiotic con men who are all happily beholden to a foreign adversary because of precisely this same phenomenon. There's always a bigger fat cat, and in this case his name is Putin.
