Social identity is a helluva drug

It's very frustrating.

What I've seen when I bring what's happening up to family members step one is denial "oh he's not doing that" step 2 is defend "well it's probably for the best, kids do yern for the mines".

Nothing is convincing.

Social identity. Hardship together. This is no joke.

I just FaceTimed with a MAGA this week as they industriously cooked a weeks worth of food to freeze. This is an individual who traditionally only defrosts processed crap on baking sheets, despises leftovers, and grocery shops every 1-3 days rather than storing food.

Not this week. Now they’re all about unprocessed foods, cooking to save money, and meal planning in advance. A 180 shift from a week ago. In addition, they’re starting a pantry.

There is no need to swing Trump voters over.

There are more citizens who did not vote at all who can be engaged with and energized - because these policies are going to fuck them too.

You're talking about babies who couldn't wear a mask during COVID. They have no sense of struggle and no toleration for hardship

Doubt, fortunately. The extremists will largely never be turned, but most Trump supporters are moderates who care more about their own well-being than solidarity with the group. Mussolini is a great example of how an idiot dictator can quickly fragment his supporters and end up in the streets

I actually disagree.

There is a tipping point when MAGA followers are forced into situations where they must rely on their neighbour and mutual aid. They'll be forced out of necessity to interact with people across the aisle who are giving them compassion.

You're already seeing republicans flipping before that point from the DOGE cuts. Also, the governor of Kentucky is already flipping after their largest purchaser by a long-shot, Canada, took all their booze off the shelves.

sadf

And they can also continue to blame Biden.

Even more so if it hurts the ones they hate even more. If they lose their job but see five children deported, they probably see it as a win.

Y’all learned nothing from the election if you’re still trying to turn them.

If only they agreed that Social Security, Universal Healthcare and just being nice to each other is better for everyone.

If we try to increase the quality of life for everyone, we'll have a better world.

I just encountered this last night with hardcore Trumper family members. They believe his tariffs are because the tariffed countries have their military subsidized by the American government and they need to pay their fair share. They think xwe're going to have to "feel a little pain" for a year or two, then "it" will be better. What is "it"? Who the hell knows. They certainly don't.

Struggle is a key part of propaganda and cult of personality, all for the "better good". And if they already are this far, they will keep going

They are trash people who are lost causes

Not every Trump voter is a die hard MAGA, a large amount just don't pay attention and vote republican out of habit because the media has told them for decades that Republicans are better for the economy or just because that is the party their parents voted for.

Believe it or not, there are already MAGA people pissed at him in hard red states/districts.

This is starting to sound a lot like the typical Russian mentality.

... until THEY lose their job to the Trumpcession.

Difference is that Trump Term 1 didn't really impose a cost on them directly. And so far, the idea of hardship sounds alright.

But when they are dumped to the curb at age 66 with social security cuts, half the 401k they thought they had, and even Walmart ain't hiring...

Not if the argument is to offer the democratic party and more neoliberalism as an alternative. Yes, they'll gladly suffer for fascism.

It's our job to offer something better that explains their suffering and alienation. Thankfully this guy named Marx did a pretty good job explaining it.

Hardship will just make them blame foreigners

Their struggle isn't shared thou. Trump supporters are not a monolith, they are composed of a diverse number of groups with different and often competing interests.

They need to be eaten by the leopards...

It's the same playbook as foreign sanctions elsewhere.

The Assads, Kims, and Putins of the world can get their people to rally into a "bunker mentality" which helps prop up their regimes as a grand and noble struggle.

Trump has brought the same energy home. And history shows you can milk it for decades or generations even before something essential craxks.

Yes, but the number of Trump supporters is dwindling.

No, they're selfish and borderline retarded sheep. When a few retarded sheep start making the suffering noise, they'll all join the chorus because they don't have the capacity for independent thought

Are we all just cowering down? Reading these comments makes it sounds like we should just all give up.

This is true of USA in general though. The state is always attacking people inside and outside its "borders". But people still genuflect, sing the anthem, "defend the constitution", etc. It's not just "social identity". It's a nationalist cult.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_religion

Social identity is key to survival, so it's no surprise how resistant people are.

An old mentor of mine at UCLA did a study where they put people in an fMRI machine and monitored brain function when feeling rejected during a digital game of catch. When the other two "players" (NPCs) started only tossing between each other and excluding the participant, the part of the brain responsible for physical pain triggered.

Not being rejected from others around you is so important to human survival that evolution hardwired our brain to feel pain at the slightest hint of being rejected. Other experiments found similar, we forego an awful lot to stay in good graces with our society.

**EDIT: Like you all didn't just try to get us all to vote for a literally brain-dead guy who let you get poorer for four years. You may not want to admit it, but you're the same as they are.

LOL

The irony here is that this meme is equally applicable to all partisans no matter your team color.

That and cons will always find a way to spin something to cause outrage and anger towards anyone but themselves.

All Trump's gotta do is blame the Dems. Already going that route

This is BS.

Every single election we are told that economic hardship is the only thing pay attention to. Sure, many of these rubes will continue to be fooled and are irredeemable. But a shit ton are going to notice and eventually get tired of getting fucked.

I am not saying they will stop voting republicans because they do seem to like the pain, but they would sure as hell eat the current administration

The blame can always be shifted. Dying of diabetes because your Medicaid got cut? That’s actually the fault of that DEIgger president who broke healthcare.

Sounds pretty communist to me