by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
I’m not saying anything that’s not already been said, but I just felt like articulating the obvious in my own words. There are five major historical trends that have led to the rise of MAGA.
- White working class men can’t get laid.
- Baby Boomers are old.
- The secularization of metropolitan areas.
- The Rise of the Plutocracy
- The Browning of America.
I once saw a dire warning about what was going to happen to China and India because of a lack of women. It was not pretty — men not being able to get laid is often the source of significant societal upheaval. It’s maybe exactly the same, but in the last 20 or so years, it’s gotten a whole lot more difficult for white working class men to get laid.
This has happen for a number of reasons.
One is the obvious — the industrial base of the United States has vanished. It’s all in Asia now. So, if you’re a young man without a college degree living in rural America, you’re fucked. It’s really difficult for you to find a job that pays enough for you to get a wife and have a family. This leads to extreme “economic anxiety.”
But, really, that one macro metric out of whack is the source of a lot of the worst aspects of MAGA — the racism and misogyny. The racism comes from white blue collar men angry about the lack of jobs. The misogyny is the same thing.
For both the racism and the misogyny there are other factors that are influencing that metric. But let’s look at the misogyny first. Without good jobs, it’s more difficult for working class families to live the American dream. Since, in general, girls are better students than boys when they’re young, on a statistical level I would suggest that the number of available women for young white working class men is reduced enough for them to notice — an educated woman probably has a better shot at having a higher paying service industry job.
As mentioned, another aspect of MAGA is Baby Boomers are old. This is a subtle, but powerful, macro trend that really helps the whole cause because, well, old people vote. Throw in the other macro trends associated with MAGA and you got your self an existential threat to a liberal democracy.
As major metropolitan areas grow more secularized, they are more open to more progressive social constructs which freak out religious people living in rural areas. This hands autocrats like Trump a convenient bludgeon to use against major population areas when they need to get elected in the first place.
Another major macro issue America faces is economic disparity. Since plutocrats successfully brainwashed poor people to be against a progressive income tax, well, lulz, we’re all fucked. The plutocrats provide the funds necessary to win elections for autocrats like Trump.
Lastly, there is the Browning of America.
This is something that touches all the other macro trends in one way or another. As white people become a minority, this leads them to feel a huge amount angst on an existential level. It jiggles their collective self-perception and sense of self-worth.
By definition, all these existential issues are intractable. We simply don’t have the leadership or the political will to do anything about them. Or, put another way, the one that we can do something about — the Browning of America — unites all the other issues into one single avatar — a fucking racist like Donald Trump.
As such, the damage is done.
All you need to throw into the mix is something like Qanon and the American Killing Fields aren’t far behind.
