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NOTE: if you like this post, you might like this one as well:
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Someday, let us hope, history will look back at
this time objectively. When it does,
it shall conclude that the GOP has abandoned truth in major ways, with
devastating consequences. And yet, they
have not done this out of ignorance.
Caricature, lampoon or otherwise deride them, the Republicans
are using a highly effective rational strategy to gain and maintain power. The strategy involves the creation of a base of
followers so committed that they are completely loyal, regardless of the truth.
The GOP project is all about gaslighting. It claims to be good and righteous, while
labeling its opponents as evil. Despite the rhetoric, it intends
to destroy democracy. It champions White
heteronormative patriarchal supremacy. It rewards blind obedience and punishes
decency, empathy and ethics. It replaces
human rights with might-makes-right.
This project requires immense deceit, part of which is
denying that there is any deceit. It holds up the Big
Lie that the 2020 election was stolen. It
is, at the deepest level, dedicated to hiding what it is. Hence, the GOP
path, in general, has become the Maximum Lie.
This is evil. But
it isn’t stupid. Calling the GOP stupid
and ignorant, in fact, reveals the liberal side’s own ignorance and
vulnerability.
Again, Donald Trump is often called stupid. But he is no more stupid than a cunning crime
boss. He currently leads a movement that
has forever changed America. It may gain
complete control of all three branches of government. Given the goal, the strategy has been wildly
successful and is completely logical.
Trump may already have reached the point where his sheer
power completes his metamorphosis from the greatest con man of our times to the
most powerful leader, someone who could in the near future, be discussed as
widely and reverentially as, say, Napoleon.
If that conclusion seems absurd to you, or repels you, my
response is this: Wake up. The
Republicans are not foolish. An
organized, impassioned zealous minority, united behind a charismatic authority,
can defeat and control a disorganized and internally divided majority. This is a simple fact, demonstrated over and
over through time.
Fear and hate can--and have--defeated science and
unpleasant major truths. An example of
such a truth is that the covid vaccine reduces death. That is obvious. But it doesn’t matter. It won’t stop a populist movement with
momentum on its side, and a magnetic leader who can herd a sizeable minority of
citizens into cult-like fawning.
Death, economic ruin, the decline of the American Empire,
these accompany the fall of democracy. None of that matters, if your goal is a less
vibrant, less decent, less competent country under your thrall, a country whose
primary goal, above all else, is to protect and preserve the power
of its leader.
Why would intelligent human beings throw away freedom
for this? Fear, first of all. But also because their own fortune, as they
define it, is tied to their leader. A charismatic
takeover works for those who can ride the coattails of the nascent autocrat. They get more money, more attention, more
ego-pampering.
The psychology of this is intricate, and varies from follower to follower. Anne Applebaum brings this out in her chilling, meticulous piece on collaborators in The Atlantic [1]. The bottom line is this: conscience will not stop people from knuckling under. And yes, some will eagerly abandon ethics for power.
Note that many Republicans might not even consciously know
the path they are following--even though it is blatant in their actions. If you want to get Biblical: The tree is known by its fruit.
Denial is useful for those who have chosen evil. It removes the shackle of guilt in the rush to destroy equality and erect a throne. Total
belief in a false worldview has advantages for the plotters of a coup. For instance, if you adamantly claim you are
not doing what you are actually doing--with convincing body language and
delivery--it can stymie and slow the opposition, while assisting in the
recruitment of more followers.
If you think denial cannot partner with effective
goal-seeking, then you are not doing justice to the complexity of the human
mind. Is this rational? It is within a framework of seizing power. The logic of the Maximum Lie is efficacious
for usurpation.
The price of a GOP takeover is absolutely devastating. Equality, empathy, freedom of the press, indeed,
freedom to express, all gone--and so much more.
Worse of all, an all-powerful narcissism invites war; and in the nuclear
age, war is global doom.
The best defense is to stop calling Republicans stupid or
ignorant. Accept that they are fearless
in their realpolitik. Be honest. Call them authoritarians, not
conservatives. Stop pretending that the
threat isn’t real.
Remind yourself, too, that ethics, empathy and compassion are wonderful things. We need them as torches to light the way as we stumble into the future
[1] https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/07/trumps-collaborators/612250/
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