The Psychology of MAGA

[Dragonlady]

You and a lot of others on the left really like to fixate on Trump. Contrary to your assumption, my support for him isn't from some devotion to him. Granted, I realize the personality cult you attribute to Trump is probably just projection given the personality cult that Progressives formed around Obama.

I just see Trump as a convenient wrench to throw in the gears of the machine that runs our despicable government.

You can attribute OBD all you want, but I see your behavior and those of much of the left as the all too common deference to authority. You trust the system that propagandizes you daily through media, academia, and government. I don't. It's funny how things have inverted so much from the 60s. The left used to be about counterculture. They used to distrust the establishment. Now that they are the establishment, they unconditionally trust it unless a Republican enters office. Even then, they still trust most of the faceless bureaucrats that form the "resistance" to Trump.

I've been skeptical of the system since long before Trump. I didn't support Bush, for example. I viewed him as a corporate shill that was representative of the war machine. Obama proved to be just like him in that regard. So did Biden.

One of the first indications to me that humans were sheep were their reactions to 9/11. If we believe the official story, terrorists got past our security infrastructure and managed to kill about 5,000 people. What was our reaction to this? Give government more power and have a rather lacking investigation. When government supposedly fucks up that bad, the last thing you should do is give it more power. Yet, we ended up with the expansion of the surveillance state and the professional groper patrol (the TSA).

Trump didn't kill "1.2 million" Americans. That's a retarded take, but I guess I should have expected it. You should work for MSNBC.

Yeah, when somebody is trying to destroy the country next door, or take over your country, you tend to fixate on just whatever the fuck the crazy old idiot is doing.

Also, Trump likes to do crazy things and control and dominate the media.

Trump most certainly did kill 1.2 million Americans with his failed Covid response.

No other first world nation handled it so badly as Trump. First, by doing nothing for the first three months until the disease had a firm grip on the USA.

Trump lied and people died and they’re still dying of Covid in the USA in large numbers. 70,000 last year alone.

 

[Monoculturalist]

Yeah, when somebody is trying to destroy the country next door, or take over your country, you tend to fixate on just whatever the fuck the crazy old idiot is doing.

Also, Trump likes to do crazy things and control and dominate the media.

Trump most certainly did kill 1.2 million Americans with his failed Covid response.

No other first world nation handled it so badly as Trump. First, by doing nothing for the first three months until the disease had a firm grip on the USA.

Trump lied and people died and they’re still dying of Covid in the USA in large numbers. 70,000 last year alone.

He's not trying to destroy any country next door. He is holding them accountable, however. And he's not taking over this country, but he is trying to eliminate the slush fund that the Dems love (USAID).

Trump doesn't "dominate" the media anymore than Biden did during COVID while trying to censor "misinformation" (aka - inconvenient opinions and facts) from social media.

Trump left COVID mostly up to the states, which is the constitutionally correct response. And if he had taken a more direct approach, you would likely be screaming at him for being "authoritarian" like your types do about everything else. The death toll would have likely been the same either way and with Hillary in charge as well. But you can blame it all on Trump if it makes you feel better. Surely, you shouldn't look at the various local governments that literally put COVID patients in nursing homes.

As for how each First World nation handled it, I agree that we didn't have the best response for it. Sweden did. They didn't have lockdowns until basically the very end, and that was only because their migrant population was very unclean.

A lot of the deaths happened as a result of how many comorbidities the population has. We have a rather unhealthy population in general, because we eat poorly and don't exercise enough. Also, instead of taking personal responsibility for health, we try to medicate everything. For example, Ozempic is being sold as a miracle drug, when all these fatasses could simply eat better and exercise instead.

 

[dblack]

Trolling is my guilty pleasure, I'll give you that.

This is a consistent theme with Trump supporters. It's the main thing they like about him. They know very little about what he's doing, they don't care that his decisions are arbitrary and contradictory. All they know is that he flips the bird to the Dems. And that's enough.

COVID showed that people ...

COVID showed that we are pretty helpless in the face of a dangerous pandemic. Hopefully we are learning from it. Likely not.

Persuasion has its limits. I participate here because there are a few people here that are capable of debating. The vast majority of the public is either too stupid or too brainwashed to be convinced of anything unless it's done by an "approved source."

Like Gateway Pundit?

Me sister in law isn't a Trumpster, but she is an anti vaxxer and deeply suspicious of mainstream medicine. She'll take the word of any random nitwit on the Internet who confirms her suspicions, dismissing the advice of trained doctors if it contradicts them.

There a difference between measured scepticism and mindless rejection of anything that doesn't validate your worldview.

There has been a lot of research done on the human vulnerability of deferring to authority. It's part of what makes humans so dangerous under the wrong leadership. No amount of debating or persuasion will change that.

This is my primary concern with Trump and his followers

Our best hope in the long run is something along the lines of Gattaca.

No thanks. Certainly not as a government initiative.

And of course, a common mistake so many make is conflating education with intelligence. There are millions of people in this country that are highly educated but clueless regarding common sense or critical thinking. By the same token, there are millions that aren't that educated but are very smart in terms of understanding how people and systems work.

I've found "sense" to be woefully uncommon, regardless of education. But the celebration of ignorance embraced by the populist right is a national embarrassment, and won't lead us to a better world.

 

[Independent thinker]

If we were to identify ourselves as MAGA and non-MAGA (which includes Americans across the political spectrum), perhaps we can all agree on one thing:

MAGAs appear to get enjoyment -- real enjoyment -- out of seeing non-MAGAs in some kind of distress over MAGA's actions. They cheer on Trump's constant insults and trolling, JD Vance's attacks on our former European allies, reactions to news of the rapid dismantling of the government, the release of violent Capitol criminals. They celebrate it.

So I got to wondering what this is, from a psychological perspective, and I asked Chat GPT (which is pretty freaking amazing if you haven't tried it) "is there a psychological term for a person who enjoys being disliked?"

Here's what I got:

Yes, there are several psychological concepts that could explain why someone might want to be disliked:

1. Counterdependency – A defense mechanism where a person deliberately pushes others away or resists attachment, sometimes by behaving in a way that makes them disliked.
2. Masochistic Personality Traits – Some individuals may have a subconscious desire to create situations where they are rejected or disliked, deriving a sense of validation or control from negative treatment.
3. Rebellious or Oppositional Behavior (Oppositional Defiant Disorder - ODD) – Some people, especially in childhood or adolescence, may act in ways that provoke negative reactions as a way of asserting control or defiance.
4. Self-Sabotaging Behavior – Rooted in low self-esteem or deep-seated beliefs of unworthiness, some individuals may seek out disapproval as a way to confirm negative self-perceptions.
5. Inferiority Complex – A person with an inferiority complex may act in a way that provokes dislike as a means of reinforcing their own negative self-view.
6. Schadenfreude-Seeking (Reverse Narcissism) – Some people enjoy being disliked because it gives them a sense of power or uniqueness, as if they are above social norms or expectations.
7. Martyr Complex – A person with a martyr complex may subconsciously desire rejection or dislike to feel morally superior or to justify a belief that the world is against them.

'Trump is in charge!': MAGA activists push 'hyperpartisanship' and reject compromise

At a conservative conference in Phoenix this week, participants said they were ready to target opponents of Trump's agenda in Washington — including fellow Republicans.

www.nbcnews.com

Could you please tell me who MAGA actually are? I need a definition.

 

[Monoculturalist]

This is a consistent theme with Trump supporters. It's the main thing they like about him. They know very little about what he's doing, they don't care that his decisions are arbitrary and contradictory. All they know is that he flips the bird to the Dems. And that's enough.

Some certainly fit that. I know what he's doing, and I both agree with it and am amused by it.

COVID showed that we are pretty helpless in the face of a dangerous pandemic. Hopefully we are learning from it. Likely not.

Not really. What it showed is that modern society often creates an environment where a huge portion of the population would otherwise be dead if it weren't for modern medicine. The harsh reality of that is simply that any pandemic, regardless of what you do, will end up killing a lot of people. This is primarily going to be the old and the really unhealthy. There is no reason to throw away your freedoms for some false sense of security. Nothing is going to stop the death from occurring. All you can do is mitigate risks, but that must be carefully balanced with freedom of choice.

Like Gateway Pundit?

Gateway Pundit has its flaws, but it wasn't funded by USAID like Politico was. I'm a lot less worried about alternative media than I am the MSM, because the MSM has a much larger audience (and a much greater propagandic effect as a result).

Me sister in law isn't a Trumpster, but she is an anti vaxxer and deeply suspicious of mainstream medicine. She'll take the word of any random nitwit on the Internet who confirms her suspicions, dismissing the advice of trained doctors if it contradicts then.

There a difference between measured scepticism and mindless rejection of anything that doesn't validate your worldview.

No argument here, but when you see the financial conflict of interest that most doctors have regarding vaccines (and many medications in general), being wary of medicine in general has merit. A large portion of people that trusted doctors on the COVID vax now have permanent health conditions that they never would have had without getting it.

I'm not saying you should buy everything you read or hear on the internet, but I wouldn't blindly trust doctors either. The best approach is to do your own research and then compare it with what information your doctor can provide. There are credible studies you can read that show the dangers of the COVID vax, for example.

Dr. John Campbell is a great communicator of these studies as a starting point for the public. Of course, wikipedia and various other "approved sources" defame him, but they've done the same to people like Dr. Robert Malone and Dr. Peter McCullough.

Toby Rogers is another figure that has shared many disturbing things about vaccines.

This is my primary concern with Trump and his followers

Well again, if that's your concern, then you should realize the same applies to the Dems, if not more so.

 

[Contumacious]

MAGAs appear to get enjoyment -- real enjoyment -- out of seeing non-MAGAs in some kind of distress over MAGA's actions. T

NAILED IT.

The Socialist Demon Rats are treasonous seditious America Last criminals who must be crushed like the motherfucking roaches they are.

 

[dblack]

Well again, if that's your concern, then you should realize the same applies to the Dems, if not more so.

Oh, I do. But I don't do lesser-of-two-evils. It's a scam.

 

[Monoculturalist]

Oh, I do. But I don't do lesser-of-two-evils. It's a scam.

Until we implement something like instant runoff voting or ranked choice voting, lesser of 2 evils is the only mechanism that applies to our system.

That being said, it does appear to be an illusion of choice oftentimes.

 

[daveman]

Trolling is my guilty pleasure, I'll give you that.

COVID showed that people were willing to wear masks that didn't actually provide protection, take a vaccine that also didn't do any real protection and has instead lead to various long term health issues, and were willing to even side with the government against their neighbors over noncompliance with ridiculous restrictions that accomplished nothing other than the destruction of the economy and businesses. Far too many people sat idly by letting government play favorites by forcing the closure of small businesses while big business had free rein. The same thing happened with all the dipshits that applauded BLM rioters that destroyed small businesses as big business threw billions at BLM's embezzlement scheme.

So yes, my opinion of humanity in general is not particularly positive. Only a small portion of people saw through all of this nonsense. The average human is an emotional sheep. Few people are independent thinkers that are skeptical of government and media. This is precisely why universal suffrage is the biggest mistake of a policy any society can implement. It leads to elections swayed by propaganda and emotional whims. Democracy itself has a lot of flaws, but one with limited suffrage at least has a prayer of functioning. Universal suffrage just turns it into a joke.

Persuasion has its limits. I participate here because there are a few people here that are capable of debating. The vast majority of the public is either too stupid or too brainwashed to be convinced of anything unless it's done by an "approved source." There has been a lot of research done on the human vulnerability of deferring to authority. It's part of what makes humans so dangerous under the wrong leadership. No amount of debating or persuasion will change that.

Our best hope in the long run is something along the lines of Gattaca. With the proper technology, we may find a way to genetically evolve humans into a species that is less emotional, less conformist, and more intelligent. Selective breeding only goes so far, which is why some cultures produce more intelligent offspring, but even intelligence itself is multifaceted. Someone can be very intelligent in terms of traditional IQ while still not understanding human nature, for example.

And of course, a common mistake so many make is conflating education with intelligence. There are millions of people in this country that are highly educated but clueless regarding common sense or critical thinking. By the same token, there are millions that aren't that educated but are very smart in terms of understanding how people and systems work.

One positive thing COVID revealed to us is just how many of our fellow Americans would help the Stasi round up their neighbors and put them in cattlecars to the camps.

 

[Mac1958]

If we were to identify ourselves as MAGA and non-MAGA (which includes Americans across the political spectrum), perhaps we can all agree on one thing:

MAGAs appear to get enjoyment -- real enjoyment -- out of seeing non-MAGAs in some kind of distress over MAGA's actions. They cheer on Trump's constant insults and trolling, JD Vance's attacks on our former European allies, reactions to news of the rapid dismantling of the government, the release of violent Capitol criminals. They celebrate it.

So I got to wondering what this is, from a psychological perspective, and I asked Chat GPT (which is pretty freaking amazing if you haven't tried it) "is there a psychological term for a person who enjoys being disliked?"

Here's what I got:

Yes, there are several psychological concepts that could explain why someone might want to be disliked:

1. Counterdependency – A defense mechanism where a person deliberately pushes others away or resists attachment, sometimes by behaving in a way that makes them disliked.
2. Masochistic Personality Traits – Some individuals may have a subconscious desire to create situations where they are rejected or disliked, deriving a sense of validation or control from negative treatment.
3. Rebellious or Oppositional Behavior (Oppositional Defiant Disorder - ODD) – Some people, especially in childhood or adolescence, may act in ways that provoke negative reactions as a way of asserting control or defiance.
4. Self-Sabotaging Behavior – Rooted in low self-esteem or deep-seated beliefs of unworthiness, some individuals may seek out disapproval as a way to confirm negative self-perceptions.
5. Inferiority Complex – A person with an inferiority complex may act in a way that provokes dislike as a means of reinforcing their own negative self-view.
6. Schadenfreude-Seeking (Reverse Narcissism) – Some people enjoy being disliked because it gives them a sense of power or uniqueness, as if they are above social norms or expectations.
7. Martyr Complex – A person with a martyr complex may subconsciously desire rejection or dislike to feel morally superior or to justify a belief that the world is against them.

'Trump is in charge!': MAGA activists push 'hyperpartisanship' and reject compromise

At a conservative conference in Phoenix this week, participants said they were ready to target opponents of Trump's agenda in Washington — including fellow Republicans.

www.nbcnews.com

NAILED IT.

The Socialist Demon Rats are treasonous seditious America Last criminals who must be crushed like the motherfucking roaches they are.

And there ya go.

I know these people.

Hence the thread.

 

[Missourian]

If we were to identify ourselves as MAGA and non-MAGA (which includes Americans across the political spectrum), perhaps we can all agree on one thing:

MAGAs appear to get enjoyment -- real enjoyment -- out of seeing non-MAGAs in some kind of distress over MAGA's actions. They cheer on Trump's constant insults and trolling, JD Vance's attacks on our former European allies, reactions to news of the rapid dismantling of the government, the release of violent Capitol criminals. They celebrate it.

So I got to wondering what this is, from a psychological perspective, and I asked Chat GPT (which is pretty freaking amazing if you haven't tried it) "is there a psychological term for a person who enjoys being disliked?"

Here's what I got:

Yes, there are several psychological concepts that could explain why someone might want to be disliked:

1. Counterdependency – A defense mechanism where a person deliberately pushes others away or resists attachment, sometimes by behaving in a way that makes them disliked.
2. Masochistic Personality Traits – Some individuals may have a subconscious desire to create situations where they are rejected or disliked, deriving a sense of validation or control from negative treatment.
3. Rebellious or Oppositional Behavior (Oppositional Defiant Disorder - ODD) – Some people, especially in childhood or adolescence, may act in ways that provoke negative reactions as a way of asserting control or defiance.
4. Self-Sabotaging Behavior – Rooted in low self-esteem or deep-seated beliefs of unworthiness, some individuals may seek out disapproval as a way to confirm negative self-perceptions.
5. Inferiority Complex – A person with an inferiority complex may act in a way that provokes dislike as a means of reinforcing their own negative self-view.
6. Schadenfreude-Seeking (Reverse Narcissism) – Some people enjoy being disliked because it gives them a sense of power or uniqueness, as if they are above social norms or expectations.
7. Martyr Complex – A person with a martyr complex may subconsciously desire rejection or dislike to feel morally superior or to justify a belief that the world is against them.

'Trump is in charge!': MAGA activists push 'hyperpartisanship' and reject compromise

At a conservative conference in Phoenix this week, participants said they were ready to target opponents of Trump's agenda in Washington — including fellow Republicans.

www.nbcnews.com

This may be the dumbest shit you've ever posted...and given your posting history, that's really sayin' something.

We are taking pleasure in dismantling the establishment, derailing the globalists, and undoing the lifes work of progressives in government.

Your distress is an effect...not a cause...of our pleasure.

But with you narcissistic liberals... It's always all about you.

 

[Mac1958]

This may be the dumbest shit you've ever posted.

Yeah, please see post 170.

Tough shit.

 

[Missourian]

Yeah, please see post 170.

Tough shit.

What you desperately need, Mac, is to dislodge your cranium from your anus.

You are completely wrong much more often than you are right... you honestly believe you're the smartest person in the room...but can't see beyond your own bias and egocentrism.

 

[Missourian]

How does changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico make America great?

If there's no prestige in having a body of water named for your country...why would Mexico care what it's named?

 

[Missourian]

My complaint is that rather than finding corruption and eradicating it…..you close entire agencies and then claim there must be corruption in there somewhere.

How can you complain about corruption while Trump pardons a corrupt politician like Mayor Adam’s in NYC?

Not always corruption... Waste is enough of a reason. Redundancy as well. Some agencies are simply failed experiments where the resources would be better reclaimed and made better use of.

 

[Missourian]

It is an appropriate analogy

MAGA doesn’t mind Trumps misbehavior as long as it benefits his side

No, it isn't. Legacy Media is completely bias and have used their megaphones to tear down Republicans and prop up Democrats for 30 years. Trump doesn't fight with the pseudo-journalist...he fights back against them.

 

[rightwinger]

No, it isn't. Legacy Media is completely bias and have used their megaphones to tear down Republicans and prop up Democrats for 30 years. Trump doesn't fight with the pseudo-journalist...he fights back against them.

Trump just declares any story he doesn’t like to be fake news

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

One positive thing COVID revealed to us is just how many of our fellow Americans would help the Stasi round up their neighbors and put them in cattlecars to the camps.

.

Well, I had some fun f**king with their heads, so it was good for something.


.

 

[blackhawk]

What I have observed is a good portion of non MAGA are very arrogant, condescending self important people who consider themselves the intellectual superior of the masses. They have no respect for any opinion, idea or viewpoint that is not their own they feel they should be making all decisions and everyone else should shut up and do what their told.

 

[DBA]

As I've said to both ends of the political spectrum many, many times: The problem is not the issue you're trying to address. The problem is your methods in addressing it.

Many of the methods used by the ends of the spectrum are so destructive that I have to wonder what their goals actually are.

The old adage fighting fire with fire comes to mind. Democrats have been bold and boisterous for many years. Republicans have tended to express their concerns in a much more gentile, sophisticated manner, but would ultimately cave to avoid conflict. Many Republicans have learned from Democrats that sometimes they have to stick to their guns, even if that means being rude or confrontational.