He and people like him are the problem, and their supporters are the problem as well. But the two are very different classes of problems, with the former exploiting the ignorance and anger of the latter for the sake of their own wealth and power.
Mrmmm…I said the problem lies amongst his supporters for a reason. While there are certainly some in the MAGA crowd that genuinely deserve condemnation and rebuke, it’s both fallacious and unproductive to label nearly half the U.S. population “the problem.” I’m a liberal, but I’ve talked to Trump-supporting conservatives to try to understand how they can get behind someone so clearly self-serving and bad for the country, and they’ve pointed out things like the fact that in both news and popular media, representation of conservative vs. liberal views is increasingly lopsided. These folks feel like they’re being shunned by the institutions that forge our societal narratives, that they’ve been effectively labeled pariahs. While I generally support progressive causes, talking to conservatives has made me realize that some of the ways in which my side has been championing these causes has contributed to the political polarization we’re seeing today.
That’s not to say there isn’t a very significant portion of the MAGA crowd that really does just want 1950’s America to come back and are willing to stop at nothing to make that happen–and that’s part of the problem too, to be sure–but a societal issue this complex is never caused by just one group or another. The factors that led to Trump becoming the champion of the Right are many, and the Left bears some responsibility for it as well.
These folks feel like they’re being shunned by the institutions that forge our societal narratives, that they’ve been effectively labeled pariahs.
This is the anger to which I referred. At least in part. They are still the problem if they are being taken advantage of in way which negatively impacts others, which was my point to begin with.
They are still the problem if they are being taken advantage of in way which negatively impacts others
See, that seems like victim-blaming to me. Don’t get me wrong, I see what you’re saying, and I agree that supporting a psychopathic narcissist simply because he tells you what you want to hear is part of the problem, but that’s a an action taken by a group of people, not the people themselves. If we simply say “Trump supporters are the problem,” we’re being just as reductionistic as arch conservatives who claim liberals are ruining the country.
