MAGA: A Movement Fundamentally Based on Fear and Unreality
I’m publishing this series of articles to share and discuss my ruminations on coping with a troubled and messy world. You can “follow” me to never miss an article.
In an Op-Ed, Paul Krugman has done his customary exemplary job in explaining how and why MAGA is fundamentally not only based on Fear and Unreality, but in complete Denial of Reality[i].
This is not to say that there are no grounds for concern. Thus, despite the Economy doing well, and Inflation steadily coming down, there’s still plenty of Anxiety. Given the Inequality in much of American life and the General State of the World, much of it is understandable. What is not is that which is driven by “dystopian visions” which are totally unrelated to Reality.
In Krugman’s words:
“…at this point, Republican political strategy depends largely on frightening voters who are personally doing relatively well, not just according to official statistics but also by their own accounts, by telling them that terrible things are happening to other people.”
Accordingly, some “63 percent of Americans say that their financial situation is good or very good”.
Unfortunately, this is not enough to stop those such as Nikki Haley from saying that “we’ve got an economy in shambles and inflation that’s out of control”.
Not only are we terribly divided as a Nation when it comes to assessing our Economic well-being, but the Divide within the Republican Party couldn’t be greater. Thus, some 76 percent of Republicans said that 2023 was “awful for the nation”. However, roughly the same number, 69 percent said that “the year was OK”.
The survey from which the preceding Data were drawn wasn’t related specifically to the Economy. As a result, it probably reflected perceptions about Crime, which has declined significantly in the past year.
Given that some 50 million Americans visited New York City last year and found it rewarding, it’s hard to square this with the fact that only 22 percent of Republicans say that the City is safe enough to visit or in which to live.
If all this weren’t chilling enough, then Krugman’s parting words leave no doubt about the terrible State in which we find ourselves:
“What does this say about the future of America? It can’t be good. A large segment of our body politic has in effect joined a cult of personality whose beliefs are nearly impervious to reality.”
As I’ve said many times before, things are even worse, for many are completely impervious to Reality.
A House divided about the State of Reality cannot stand.
Postscript
In the same edition of The Times, there’s a joint Op-Ed by Gail Collins and Bret Stephens in which they argue that Republicans have neither the Spine nor the Brains to accept President Biden’s proposal for enhanced border security[ii]. In particular, Trump doesn’t want to give Democrats any advantage in this year’s upcoming election.
In short, Republicans are impervious to doing the Right Things, especially if they come from Democrats.
[i] Paul Krugman, “MAGA Is Based on Fear, Not Grounded in Reality,” The New York Times, January 30, 2024, P A20.
[ii] Gail Collins and Bret Stephens, “Haley Can Do a Lot of Damage,” The New York Times, January 30, 2024, P A20.
Photo by Natilyn Photography on Unsplash
