newsguy1 wrote:

There's really not much of a mystery about why Magats are the way they are.
If you do a little research into who they are several themes crop up.
They were ridiculed or shunned as children, perhaps even by their own parents.
They have never been anything in their lives and they greatly resent successful people.
They discovered that far right wing views get them noticed and they build up support from fellow sad losers.
It takes absolutely no effort to be a racist, misogynist, etc.
Everyone else has already written a script for them to follow.

Nowhere near foolproof as a generalization. I've known a few, some for years. The ones I've met range from assholes to very nice people. They've ranged from selfish to generous, stupid to smart, mean spirited to kind, uneducated to educated, accepting of other people to racist and unaccepting. If I were to generalize, and look for common traits, I'd come up with competitive (but not in all cases); religious (tend to be religious zealots, but not always, but I do see strong potential common ground between US Christians and ultra-religious Muslims, both exhibiting a kind of religious nationalism.
I've seen and met people you describe, newsguy1, on the left and also in the centre, and also completely apolitical, as well and on the right. I've also met, seen and heard of people fitting those descriptions flipping from left to right and right to left.
The key problem with your list of traits, above, is incorrect generalizations and I sense a possible contempt ('Magat'). I've also tried to consciously generalize, thinking about common traits, simply because I want to better understand a phenomenon like MAGA. I've come up with: need to feel safe (but I find a lot of that on the left too); racist (some are, but I also see versions of that on the left); need predictability and value stability (but also found in other ideologies); controlling, and like to call their own shots in life (same); angry (anger on the left and in the centre, too).
I don't like the overall MAGA mindset and many of its core beliefs; but I think it might be more fruitful to establish elements of common ground, even if they're minuscule, and work from there. The likelihood of success will likely vary - some people might never change (assholes and religious zeolots might simply be assholes and religious zealots), but others might benefit from some civil persuasion, getting to know people who don't appear to be like them, etc...
It might also help to look at people and what they support and espouse from outside the left-right continuum.
 

Last edited by Saul (September 11, 2025 7:04 pm)

Chrisphen wrote:

Words have meaning, and there are many do not comprehend this concept.

True. And often words are said when the speaker means nothing at all. As with official apologies, many land acknowledgements, weasely ways of saying things to create a meaningless counter-argument. Words can also be used to inundate and overwhelm. I always liked Greta Thunberg's use of 'blah blah blah' ...
 

I have a close family member who is both a Trump and Elon Musk diehard supporter (at least he was a few years ago right before the first Trump presidency, I don't talk politics any more with him because it's pointless).

I'm sorry to say that he has antisemitic views, is very much a pro-gun guy, and his reason for being such a huge admirer of Trump?  He believed that Trump, when he became president would reform the corrupt US government and corporations, the system that oppresses the little guy while the rich help themselves. He genuinely believed Trump, the billionaire, was going to put an end to that and expose the deep state.

In the meantime, my family member is tens of thousands of dollars in debt, only has housing because his parents bought him a condo to live in, and lives on welfare, seemingly unable to find work for the past decade. So yes, MAGA are losers who are looking for a messiah figure to save them from their own failings, someone to blame (a mysterious corrupt system that keeps someone like them from rising up to the top where they belong, surely) and a promised golden age.