re: #202 jaunte

“Conservatism” in its latest form as the Trump personality cult is probably as much about the emotional comfort of simple answers as it is about education.

It’s about transgression. The article that described that cruelty is the point was correct. Modern American Conservatism - Trumpism - is about the pleasure of doing bad things, and doing bad things together. Voting Trump, espousing the latest conspiracy theory du jour, even wearing a MAGA hat - all of these things are about the fun of doing something you know to be wrong, of raising a middle finger to decency and justice, and the joy of knowing you will get away with it.

They get away with it because American culture is designed to make sure that white people who do bad things rarely, if ever, face any consequences, either legal or social. American media bends over backwards to validate and excuse the bad behaviour of white people, and to equate holding them accountable for their actions with attacking them.

This is not something that education affects. Education can help people tell right from wrong, tell fake news from real, and can equip people to ask the right questions to get out of these traps, but most of the cultists are beyond that. Trumpism goes further - the malice is so overt and so obvious that people can no longer claim ignorance, even if the NYT wants to pretend that it is so. So no, I don’t think Trumpers are just underinformed, or hoodwinked. Lack of education and the comfort of simple answers makes people vulnerable to faux religion and bad faith movements, but again, this is something further. These people aren’t sorry dupes. They enjoy the evil they are party to, and the community of like-minded people being malicious together.