I’m sitting here in the UK and watching in disbelief. We’ve had our rabid Brexit and the scummy politicians like Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage. We’re not immune. But it’s nowhere near on the same crazy, fanatical scale as in the USA.
I taught in America for a year (used material that I normally used with 12-year-olds with my top classes of 17-18-year-olds) and, at the time, I found the extreme views of some parents amusing and absurd. Little did I dream that those ridiculous people would become mainstream.
I think a combination of factors are at fault:
a. religious extremism.
This dates back to the puritans. Their extreme views were so obnoxious and fanatical that we kicked them out of Europe. Unfortunately they were the foundation of American society and cleverly insinuated themselves into the fabric. They became, and still are, the social heart of communities. They use their tax-free status to gain power and traction. Their disbelief in science and logic undermines modern society.
If prayer really worked Trump wouldn’t need his wall! The US wouldn’t need hospitals and medicine.
This susceptibility to superstition is a fundamental flaw.
b. Taxation.
A sizeable number of Americans still believe they are living in the Wild West with infinite resources and no laws or restraints. They believe they can live in the modern world independently with no government interference. They can’t (unless they take themselves off in a log cabin in the wilderness and live off the land). They regard the government as corrupt robbers. (Except, of course, for Trump and MAGA who while being billionaires do understand and represent them).
They resent paying taxes.
Not wanting to pay taxes means that the poor receive lousy education (and health care). The rich, like Trump are OK. They go private and get the best. The masses have to live an impoverished life but dream of making it big.
c. Socialism
the ridiculous fear of ‘socialism’ was instigated by McCarthy out of the Cold War with Russia and threat of nuclear annihilation. It stuck. Fr some reason the American people were convinced that fairness was un-American. The idea of a society where the wealth was spread our more fairly was not the American way. Greed was OK. It was fine to have profiteers creaming off the wealth for doing nothing while everybody worked their arses off for a lousy wage. It was alright to have a society of billionaires and paupers. It was morally alright for the masses to work three jobs, work into old age and die on the job so their bosses could own mansions and have servants.
Unions were the work of the devil.
So we end up with a society where worker’s pay and conditions are terrible and the bosses live in luxury.
Maternity leave, holidays and working conditions are far worse in the USA, the most prosperous country on the planet, than they are in Europe but the billionaires, like Trump, are doing very well.
d. the American Dream
With everyone chasing money and thinking they can become billionaires or Presidents. It all allows right-wing conmen, like Trump, to be lauded. Everyone thinks they can become rich like Trump. They just have to work harder and get lucky.
They don’t see that it’s a con-trick. The wealthy control the market. They pay for the best education. They run the big companies. They employ their own and rig the market. They don’t want competition from the hoi-polloi. They control it. Baron will be eased into a powerful, wealthy niche. The kids from the ghettos, or even the middle-class suburbs, stand no chance.
The American Dream is a con-trick perpetuated by the elite.
e. Social Media
We’ve always had conspiracy theories and nutty flat-earthers. They’ve always been flaky groups that people laughed at and never took seriously. We’ve always had our skeptics who believe that everything the government does is corrupt (I’m still part of that group – except that I don’t believe that all politicians are corrupt or all the things a government does are wrong). We’ve always had cynical politicians using fear and racism to terrify people into voting for them. Hate is a political tool. What we’ve never had is the turbo-charging of fear, hate and conspiracy.
Social media, with its algorithms, brings together conspiracy, disinformation and fake news and allows like-minded people to reinforce each other. It then fuels their cranky ideas and exaggerates them. It gives rise to QAnon and allows conspiracy spreaders like Alex Jones to become powerful millionaires.
Truth Central. It’s Orwellian. Truth is lies. Lies are truth. The undermining of experts and scientists is magnified. They are all employed by governments and Big Business. You cannot believe a word in the mainstream. We now believe that a billionaire like Trump or a jumped-up nutcase like Alex Jones is more knowledgeable that the news media. The government is corrupt. The swamp needs draining. Only a self-serving billionaire can save us.
The Earth is flat. Science lies. Evolution is stupid. The CIA blew up the Towers. The holocaust never happened. The government is run by baby-eating alien lizards.
There is no ground under our feet anymore. We’re drowning. And MAGA throws gasoline on the fires. They are eating our pets, polluting our blood. Their all rapists, murderers and drug dealers. We are being invaded. The Democrats are communists. Putin is a good guy. The Jews are running the world. The whites are being usurped. We need good old American values – God, the Gun and Country. Only Trump can save us.
The cycle of hate, fear, conspiracy and fake news forms a tornado of lies. But in this dimension lies are truth!
Orwell rules.
Big Brother is President!