berg80
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- Oct 28, 2017
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https://www.politico.com/video/2019/11/01/fdr-i-welcome-their-hatred-069035
The sentiment he expressed has a familiar ring to it. FDR positioned himself as an anti-establishment populist. However, in those days he defined the institutions he fought as being enemies of peace, business and financial monopolies, speculators, reckless bankers, class antagonists, sectionalists, and war profiteers. He accused them of being in favor of a "do nothing" government in order for their power to be unchecked. They relished the concentration of power they amassed, holding FDR in contempt for trying to take it away. In FDR's view, institutional power needed to be given to the people.
He was seen, rightly so, as the champion of the little man. A vision of him he went on to earn many times over.
I thought of his speech while I was reading this op-ed from the NYT's resident conservative, David Brooks.
The Moral Challenge of Trumpism
MAGA morality is likely to regard people like me as lemmings. We climbed our way up through the meritocracy by shape shifting ourselves into whatever teachers, bosses and the system wanted us to be. Worse, we serve and preserve systems that are fundamentally corrupt and illegitimate — the financial institutions that created the financial crisis, the health authorities who closed schools during Covid, the mainstream media and federal bureaucracy that has led the nation to ruin.
What does heroism look like according the MAGA morality? It looks like the sort of people whom Trump has picked to be in his cabinet. The virtuous man in this morality is self-assertive, combative, transgressive and vengeful. He’s not afraid to break the rules and come to his own conclusions. He has contempt for institutions and is happy to be a battering force to bring them down. He is unbothered by elite scorn but, in fact, revels in it and goes out of his way to generate it.
In this mind-set, if the establishment regards you as a sleazeball, you must be doing something right. If the legal system indicts you, you must be a virtuous man.
Opinion | The Inverted Morality of MAGA
I have lost count of the times I've seen a MAGAist say, "If Dem's object to trump's cabinet picks he must be doing something right." Or pointing to his indictments as a badge of honor.
In this morality, the fact that a presidential nominee is accused of sexual assault is a feature, not a bug. It’s a sign that this nominee is a manly man. Manly men go after what they want. They assert themselves and smash propriety — including grabbing women “by the *****” if they feel like it.
The Right has tried to diminish FDR for the very thing making him so wildly popular in his day. Standing up for the little guy against monied interests. Proposing government could be an agent for the good of the people. And by his force of will he made it so.
These days, government has been demonized by a populist trying to convince the public he and he alone is the agent for good. To achieve his goals he must be given unbridled power. To MAGA he must reshape the government in his own image. In Baby Donald's view, institutional (defined by the fictional "deep state") power needs to be given to him.
The sentiment he expressed has a familiar ring to it. FDR positioned himself as an anti-establishment populist. However, in those days he defined the institutions he fought as being enemies of peace, business and financial monopolies, speculators, reckless bankers, class antagonists, sectionalists, and war profiteers. He accused them of being in favor of a "do nothing" government in order for their power to be unchecked. They relished the concentration of power they amassed, holding FDR in contempt for trying to take it away. In FDR's view, institutional power needed to be given to the people.
He was seen, rightly so, as the champion of the little man. A vision of him he went on to earn many times over.
I thought of his speech while I was reading this op-ed from the NYT's resident conservative, David Brooks.
The Moral Challenge of Trumpism
MAGA morality is likely to regard people like me as lemmings. We climbed our way up through the meritocracy by shape shifting ourselves into whatever teachers, bosses and the system wanted us to be. Worse, we serve and preserve systems that are fundamentally corrupt and illegitimate — the financial institutions that created the financial crisis, the health authorities who closed schools during Covid, the mainstream media and federal bureaucracy that has led the nation to ruin.
What does heroism look like according the MAGA morality? It looks like the sort of people whom Trump has picked to be in his cabinet. The virtuous man in this morality is self-assertive, combative, transgressive and vengeful. He’s not afraid to break the rules and come to his own conclusions. He has contempt for institutions and is happy to be a battering force to bring them down. He is unbothered by elite scorn but, in fact, revels in it and goes out of his way to generate it.
In this mind-set, if the establishment regards you as a sleazeball, you must be doing something right. If the legal system indicts you, you must be a virtuous man.
Opinion | The Inverted Morality of MAGA
I have lost count of the times I've seen a MAGAist say, "If Dem's object to trump's cabinet picks he must be doing something right." Or pointing to his indictments as a badge of honor.
In this morality, the fact that a presidential nominee is accused of sexual assault is a feature, not a bug. It’s a sign that this nominee is a manly man. Manly men go after what they want. They assert themselves and smash propriety — including grabbing women “by the *****” if they feel like it.
The Right has tried to diminish FDR for the very thing making him so wildly popular in his day. Standing up for the little guy against monied interests. Proposing government could be an agent for the good of the people. And by his force of will he made it so.
These days, government has been demonized by a populist trying to convince the public he and he alone is the agent for good. To achieve his goals he must be given unbridled power. To MAGA he must reshape the government in his own image. In Baby Donald's view, institutional (defined by the fictional "deep state") power needs to be given to him.
