Why is MAGA so hateful? (best concise explanation I've seen)

[CC27]

Nevilledog (54,763 posts)

Why is MAGA so hateful? (best concise explanation I've seen)

Why is MAGA so hateful?

I get asked this a lot. The short answer is: because hate is the point. But let me break it down.

Grievance as identity

MAGA isn't a political movement built on policy. It's built on resentment. The core message has always been "you've been wronged" — by elites, by immigrants, by cities, by universities, by the media, by women, by minorities, by anyone who isn't you.

This isn't a coalition that comes together to BUILD something. It comes together to tear things down. Hate isn't a byproduct of the movement. It's the fuel.

Zero-sum thinking

They genuinely believe that if someone else gains, they lose. Rights for gay people? That's an attack on Christians. Immigrants succeeding? They must be stealing from "real Americans." A Black president? He must be illegitimate.

There's no concept of shared prosperity or expanding opportunity. Just winners and losers. And they're terrified of losing.

The dominance hierarchy

A lot of MAGA is rooted in evangelical and authoritarian psychology. There's supposed to be a natural order: white at the top, Christian at the top, male at the top, straight at the top.

When you've been at the top of a hierarchy your whole life, equality feels like oppression. Giving others a seat at the table feels like theft.

The media ecosystem

Fox News → OANN → Newsmax → podcasts → Twitter/X. It's a 24/7 rage machine. Every algorithm rewards outrage. Every host competes to be more extreme than the last.

These people are literally addicted to anger. Neurologically. They get dopamine hits from feeling righteous fury. They wake up and immediately check their phones to find out what they should be mad about today.

Turn it off for a week and they go through withdrawal.

Economic anxiety — weaponized

Here's the thing: a lot of the underlying pain is real. Deindustrialization gutted their towns. Opioids killed their families. Wages stagnated while costs exploded. The American Dream stopped working for them.

But instead of blaming the corporations that shipped jobs overseas, or the billionaires that rigged the economy, or the politicians that deregulated everything — they're taught to blame immigrants. To blame welfare recipients. To blame Black people in cities. To blame trans kids.

Classic fascist playbook: take legitimate economic anger and redirect it at the vulnerable.

The permission structure

Trump didn't create the hate. He just gave it permission.

For decades, these people were told to keep the quiet part quiet. Be polite. Use dog whistles. Then Trump came along and said the loud part loud — and nothing happened. No consequences.

He showed them they could be openly racist, openly cruel, openly contemptuous of democracy — and not only survive, but win.

"He fights" doesn't mean he fights for them. It means he's mean to people they don't like. The cruelty is the point.

Community built on enemies

This is the part people miss: MAGA is a community. For a lot of these people — especially older, rural, isolated Americans — it's their entire social world. Their friends are MAGA. Their family is MAGA. Their church is MAGA.

The hate is the membership card. The shared enemies are what bind them together. Leaving the movement doesn't just mean changing your politics. It means losing everyone you know.

So they double down. And double down again. Because the alternative is being alone.

The bottom line

Why is MAGA so hateful?

Because scared people + relentless propaganda + permission to be cruel + community built on shared enemies = hate as a lifestyle.

They're not going to be reasoned out of it. They weren't reasoned into it.

The only thing that works is making it socially and politically costly to be part of it. Outvoting them. Out-organizing them. And building something better that gives people a different place to belong.



https://www.democraticunderground.com/100221006250

You just described the DUmp and your fellow DUmmies...

[SVPete]

Grievance as identity

  IRL, the Dem Party is a collection of victim-identity groups.

Zero-sum thinking

  IRL, this is the foundation of Dems' and Progs Envy Economics. They ASSUMe that nobody can be wealthy without someone losing.

The dominance hierarchy

  IRL, this is how DU and other Prog groups operate. They get their talking points from the Dem Party, and if they deviate they get granite pizzas.

The media ecosystem

  IRL, the MSM, ABSBC, CBS, NBSBC, CBSNN, PBS, NYT, WashPost, LAT, Atlanta Urinal-Constipation, SF Comical, and more, Dem Party mouthpieces. The brevity of Nevilledog's "media ecosystem" list demonstrates the falseness of his claim.

Economic anxiety — weaponized

  IRL, the Dems are the ones who attack companies and people for being successful and play people's fears with, "The Rs are cutting off Name of Social Program," messaging.

The permission structure

  IRL, the Dems and Progs are the ones who stifle homebuilding with permit processes, regs, and fee, causing housing prices to shyrocket. Who cancel people for daring to speak other than current Dem/Prog talking points.

Community built on enemies

  IRL, the Dems and Progs are the ones who denounce people who disagree with them as "racists", "Nazis", "Fascists", "misogynists", and everything-evil-ist. It was HilLIARy who proclaimed that a quarter of American voters were in the "Basket of Deplorables", and Kammie doubled down on that (and IIRC, said the number was more like one half of voters).

Like shooting fish in a 5-gallon bucket with a double-barrel 12 gauge.

[DLR Pyro]

Google AI is your friend

Google, show specific instances where forum members on democraticunderground.com made hateful comments

Members of Democratic Underground often use forceful language to describe political opponents, though the site's strict moderation and Jury system aim to remove content that crosses into prohibited bigotry or hate speech.
Examples of Hostile Sentiment Toward Public Figures
Hostility on the forum is most frequently directed at Republican leaders and their supporters:

•   Donald Trump: Members have used severe labels, describing him as a "monster" and a "Pedo Protector". Threads have also contained highly personal questions, such as "Is he dead yet?" and derogatory references like "Mango Mussolini".
•   Political Allies of Opponents: Hostility often extends to figures associated with the Republican party. For example, comments have targeted Pam Bondi, referring to her as a "Pedo Protector".
•   Voters and Supporters: Language used toward opposing voters can be harsh. For instance, some members have questioned if "MAGA" supporters modeled their personalities after extremist traits.

[SVPete]

Obviously, Google AI is a Reich-Wing source, because corporate blah blah blah ...

[FlippyDoo]

Coming from the group who has done more grave dancing than the entire cast of Dancing with the Stars have done actual dancing AND who has done more death and pain wishing on people who disagree with them than children the world over have done wishing upon a star, this is hilariously delusional and hypocritical.

Keep the world laughing DU!

[CollectivismMustDie]

Holy projection batman!

[DefiantSix]

Holy projection batman!

If we were to inform the Projectionists' Guild about all the scab projection going on at the DUmp, they'd keep it shut down for DECADES collecting on back dues... 

[ADsOutburst]

There they go again, wondering "Why do MAGA supporters think the way they do?", and hoping to find the answer among people who don't associate with the MAGA movement.

MAGA isn't a political movement built on policy. It's built on resentment. The core message has always been "you've been wronged" — by elites, by immigrants, by cities, by universities, by the media, by women, by minorities, by anyone who isn't you.

This isn't a coalition that comes together to BUILD something. It comes together to tear things down. Hate isn't a byproduct of the movement. It's the fuel.

Completely wrong. MAGA policies include restoring infrastructure, bringing jobs back, border security, energy independence, strengthening the military... MAGA's message is one of optimism.

Here's the thing: a lot of the underlying pain is real. Deindustrialization gutted their towns. Opioids killed their families. Wages stagnated while costs exploded. The American Dream stopped working for them.

But instead of blaming the corporations that shipped jobs overseas, or the billionaires that rigged the economy, or the politicians that deregulated everything — they're taught to blame immigrants. To blame welfare recipients. To blame Black people in cities. To blame trans kids.

The bolded is exactly where we put the blame (along with officials who were never elected but nevertheless make policy, known as the "deep-state"). We are pushing back against those who want to pretend the problems facing this country don't exist, or aren't important, those who would say everything was just fine under prior administrations.

Community built on enemies

This is the part people miss: MAGA is a community. For a lot of these people — especially older, rural, isolated Americans — it's their entire social world. Their friends are MAGA. Their family is MAGA. Their church is MAGA.

The hate is the membership card. The shared enemies are what bind them together. Leaving the movement doesn't just mean changing your politics. It means losing everyone you know.

Completely wrong. We are bound by the desire to see our country succeed again.

[SVPete]

But instead of blaming the corporations that shipped jobs overseas ...

Does this DUmmie really believe that corporations "shipped jobs overseas" for giggles and grins rather than to survive foreign competition? Does this DUmmie really believe that their beloved iPhone, Mac, HP, or Dell would still be affordable were they still built in Appletino, Fremont, Santa Clara, or Round Rock?