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"We're watching the largest and most dangerous 'cult' in American history"
- Thread starter Father Heathen
- Start date
The US is a country whose politics has, in the last 80 years alone, produced two nukings of civilian areas, violent interventionism, installation and support for dictators abroad, increased use of torture, and wars of aggression that have killed over a million people in at least three countries. The idea that MAGA or Trumpism is the "largest and most dangerous cult in American history" when such historical precedents exist strikes me as remarkably hyperbolic and exhibiting recency bias.
I firmly believe that MAGA politics is dangerous, extreme, and antithetical to coexistence, but I also don't see it as the most dangerous or largest form of malicious politics in American history. Not even close. Trump didn't even start or escalate a war—although he came close—unlike some of his supposedly "less cultlike" predecessors who did so under the auspices of large segments of the media, Congress, and fellow party members.
I firmly believe that MAGA politics is dangerous, extreme, and antithetical to coexistence, but I also don't see it as the most dangerous or largest form of malicious politics in American history. Not even close. Trump didn't even start or escalate a war—although he came close—unlike some of his supposedly "less cultlike" predecessors who did so under the auspices of large segments of the media, Congress, and fellow party members.
I don't much rate that article, to be honest.
YmirGF
Bodhisattva in Recovery
My gut feeling is that hyperbolic stories like this are NOT helpful, as they are purely agenda driven. I'm concerned that the "left" will decide that their opposition needs to have its wings clipped. I've seen comments to that effect on RF and think that would be a dangerous path to go down. (Then again, seeing a bunch of unarmed Dems taking on a group of heavily armed MAGA supporters might get fun.)
Really? I think you know much better than to make such a comment. I would equally object to a similar comment if the political sides were switched, too.
YmirGF
Bodhisattva in Recovery
In the old days, @Debater Slayer such comments were widely recognized as humour. My, how things have changed. (Point taken though.)
Given the current polarization in the political climate of the US, I think such remarks have more bleak weight attached to them than before. It really wouldn't surprise me if some people believed in shooting members of the "other side" and therefore took such comments seriously.
We've been down this route before, historically speaking. One might say that America itself has been a kind of "cult." The Trumpists use the same symbols and imagery, waving U.S. flags. In the picture in the article, there's one guy wearing a t-shirt that says "We The People" as it is on the Constitution. The Trumpists may be part of a different, more radical sect, but there are other political parties/factions which are part of the same basic "cult" being displayed here.
YmirGF
Bodhisattva in Recovery
Sadly, we are living in the era of the weak-minded, to be sure.
Well, I see plenty of overreaction from some people with different political leanings when it comes to US politics. I can't say that this tendency applies to many places outside the US or perhaps a few developed countries, though. My part of the world is too engulfed in other issues to pay much attention to Twitter arguments or excessive analyses of celebrities' comments.
I cannot help but disagree, I'm sorry. In most of those last 80 years, bi-partisanship was a real thing, opposing sides could at least speak to one another and find ways to work towards at least some shared goals. I do not see that happening now. I mean, it could not possibly be clearer that Donald J. Trump has been involved in a lot of quite criminal activity. (The fact that the Biden's may also have been involved in some such, or at least shady dealings doesn't alter that fact a bit -- that's what-aboutism, and pointing away doesn't change what the pointer did.) And yet, the party that claims to be about law and order, about cleaning up government, about decency and moral values cannot bring themselves to say, "yes, it's true, he's unfit to hold the highest office in the land." That in itself tells me that it is now a cult. And because I see the danger to the United States and everything it thinks it stood for as being very, very real, and hugely more threatening because of Donald Trump, I think it can only be described as a very dangerous cult indeed.
And some humor is often recognized as provocative and tasteless.
Somebody snoozed through the McCarthy era and the early days of the civil rights movement.
Father Heathen
Veteran Member
Hyperbolic? Have you not been paying attention? Jan 6 insurrection? Q Anon and other preposterous conspiracy theories? Placing laws, morals, freedom, democracy, science, etc. upon the sacrificial altar for the sake of political victory? That article's own comment section confirms its claims. That is the dangerous path; one they're already proceeding down. If yeehawdist trash pose a threat to lives, liberties, and livelihoods, then they do need to have their "wings clipped".
What would be fun is seeing armed, unruly MAGA dopes taking on and then getting smacked down by the very law enforcement whose boots they once licked.
Father Heathen
Veteran Member
If you recognize that, then why do you support its cultivation?
RestlessSoul
Well-Known Member
Not to mention revolution, slavery, civil war, and the eradication of Native American culture.
I think it would be another tragic result of current American politics rather than a fun event. I just hope the polarization subsides without any such escalation occurring.
In the old day we wouldn't be worrying about such a thing actually happening. When violence could actually happen any day, it is less funny.
Agreed. In my view, many activists have "heard SCOTUS message" (from the Dobb's case), and are actively working towards getting LGBTQ+ and same-sex issues before them. It is very likely that a lot of hard-won liberties are going to be lost.
The Cold War, civil rights era, Vietnam era, and many other events saw extreme polarization too, and the stakes were higher than they are now in many of those cases. To be clear, I don't disagree that MAGA politics constitutes dangerous cultlike thinking, but I disagree that it is the most dangerous or largest cultlike trend in American political history.