MAGA seems to mean different things to different people. When all the different MAGA elements are put together, MAGA, in totality, might be something different/ more than its parts.
What is MAGA?
I’m not MAGA, so I admit my ignorance.
But as I see it, I believe MAGA means loyalty to Trump and whatever he does or wants to do. Nothing more and nothing less.
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TMi posted an Atlantic article that I thought did a pretty good job of summing it up:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/the-democratic-delusions-that-led-to-a-historic-defeat/ar-AA1v7flN
While there are a lot of thought that could be attributed to it, I think the core is an attempt to walk back some of the changes that have lead a feeling of a shrinking middle class. The main regression would be a return to a more manufacturing based economy combined with a decoupling from global trade. However, that is too economically focused with the ultimate platform about empowering individual US citizens through a move away from global communities and economies.
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Nice theory but Trump’s policies led to a larger trade imbalance and Biden’s led to a spike in manufacturing investment.
MAGA is not about policy, they run from any discussion of it. MAGA is about feelings, belonging to a group, and loyalty to Dear Leader.
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What Trump is able to accomplish has little relevance to what Trump is selling.
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My question asks for opinions, so I don’t think there are any wrong answers.
This morning, I was projecting myself to the future and trying to imagine what people might think about MAGA. I was imagining people explaining why they supported MAGA. I was imagining people talking about what defines this movement.
I think I know people support MAGA because of their current dire economic position— they feel very vulnerable financially. It doesn’t seem anything like a depression or recession to me because I’m not facing an inability to buy what I need or want, but other people can’t buy eggs or concert tickets or other things.
I think some MAGA people really dislike Democrats and so MAGA is attractive by comparison.
I think different MAGA have different reasons.
That’s because only trump can root out the swamp, the deep state and MAGA. Everyone else sees how corrupt he is, but they don’t.
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Depending which “side” you’re on, you know it when you see it.
MAGA - anything not allayed with the Dems, Wokeness (whatever that means to), or left (even centrist) leanings.
MAGA - a feeling of empowerment to act with impunity regarding racism, incivility, misogyny, inconsideration; A justification to be in the cult.
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So this has been asked many many times in threads. Probably could find one if the search function works and it wasn’t dropped during the transition.
And each time it ends up being about 30-60 posts of people who are not part of the MAGA movement projecting their thoughts. And those who support MAGA, keeping quiet, because anything they say will be met with opposition and confrontation that they must prove their opinions. So you probably won’t get any answers from the MAGA folks.
I think it has very little to do with finance. But more the ability to live “your” life, not the life that government or anyone else tells you is the correct way. Where we could respect one another. We didn’t have to agree with each other but we could accept one another.
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Many “MAGA” are voting because they want different policies. They don’t like policies that in reality don’t affect them. They don’t realize that many of the policies that are hurting them are being made by the people they vote for.
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It’s all about loss of status;
White males used to be the top of the heap, just by being mediocre. Now they are being surpassed by others who are smarter and work harder.
Trump tells them that it’s not their fault, the tables are stacked against them by woke Democrats.
It has nothing to do with the price of eggs.
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Serious question. Who has to live their life the way that government or anyone else tells them? What does that even mean in practical purposes?
And you do know that respect and acceptance goes both ways, right?
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I don’t think it is a set of core values. I think it it more a desire to how things used to be. And not the racism,sexism stuff. I follow a FB page that shows old pictures from around Ohio. And one of the things that stuck out to me is how all these small towns used to have their own thriving downtowns. They’d show two or three general stores, a barber shop, hardware store, etc. I know a lot of these towns and drive through the shell of what is left. And none of them have anything, just empty buildings or a rundown antique shop in what used to be the general store. It gave people a sense of community. And they worked within a few miles of where they lived. It used to be a “trip into town” was a big deal so you went to your local stores.
A lot of people want this back. Of course these same people will drive 20 miles to the nearest Walmart/Target instead of the small hometown store and get a daily Amazon delivery. So they want the feeling back without it costing them a penny.
If you look at where MAGA has really taken hold, it is rural areas and small towns.
I’m not ignoring the racism and sexism that is there. I grew up in MAGA-land and still live there. I think what they think they miss is that sense of community and knowing everyone and their business. But that is gone and it ain’t coming back.
Or, I could be full of shit.
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Unless you are trans or want an abortion or…
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Thank you for stepping into this knowing that you will get some pushback. I would like to respectfully disagree with you on the bolded point. MAGA has been very vocal about restricting the ability for some people to live their lives - i.e. LGBT and women who are pregnant and aren’t ready to birth a child yet.
They certainly want to live their lives, but they also want to dictate how others live their lives.
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Interesting view.
The MAGA movement paints anyone who is outside of their movement as evil, vermin, who infest their country and need to be destroyed. Trump says he is their “retribution”. He repeatedly threatens to prosecute political rivals. Threaten to use the military against them.
Today’s GOP pass unconstitutional laws that try to restrict what you can read and hear in school, what health care you can have, what religious texts you will be forced to see every day in schools, what books should be destroyed. They want to limit how you can protest, shut down media that fact checks them, etc.
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It is more of a feeling than a well thought out philosophy.
The people you are using as examples are either freaks or immoral, or both. They should be able to call a freak a freak, homosexual sex is immoral and you SHOULD shame a woman who had sex and got pregnant. Public shaming is how you keep people in line. (This paragraph does not represent my actual personal beliefs)
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And as I stated. People will call out peoples opinions.
I’m not going to elaborate. I’m not MAGA. I don’t support it. I didn’t vote for Trump.
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you walked right into that one and got bopped in the nose.
MAGA is what anyone wants it to be. It’s like Gossomer, one does not dissect Gossomer.
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I think it is similar to the support of Brexit and that of Marine La Pen in Germany etc. A feeling of dislocation from work and other institutions that used to provide meaning. Think also unions social clubs churches etc. A feeling that gov’t is increasingly distant and ineffective therefore a strong leader (the demagogue) is needed to set things right. Rural community life in particular is disintegrating along with globalization.
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