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Now I get why some love Trump…
I just watched a free Prime video — 84 minutes well spent. My takeaway: MAGA folk are fueled by the passion for survival. We all have it. It spirals 24/7 from inside each cell of our bodies, spirals out to get the job done.
Survive.
Survival. It’s why some love Trump. He is an avatar, a reflection of the rage the economically desperate have against people who “woke up,” who chose in the 1970s to be mindfully polite, to be “politically correct,” aka use good manners, follow “decency” norms.
Although a billionaire, Trump figured out how to sound like an injured party, so he seems to be speaking for many people truly in pain. They feel victimized by a system they believe is rigged against them while they see others getting what they don’t seem to deserve.
So he could look like the leader, Trump ran ahead of the disenfranchied group, the angry Rush Limbaugh fans. I started teaching for the Job Corps in 1974 and caught some of Rush on Sacramento’s KFBK radio station. I could only listen for a few minutes, his vitriol was so intense.
Tump ran ahead of the Tea Party goers, those left out of the mainstream, and he screamed lets go back to the time when you were getting what you deserve. I can take you back. I alone can return you to safety.
MAGA folk don’t care if Trump is a liar, a cheat, a thief, a killer. As long as he can defeat those in the system not working for them. They want to survive. They think Trump is fighting for their lives. They believe he alone can save them.
It’s natural to want to survive. It’s more than a passion, it’s a basic instinct.
The #unfit video shows Jane Goodall and her peaceful chimps. For decades they were loving to each other. But after awhile there were too many in the group. A few strong males led some of them away to form a new group. As time passed, there was not enough food to support both groups.
IN ORDER TO SURVIVE, the leaders of one group began to battle the other group for the resources needed to survive. War. It’s in our DNA along with passion to survive. As long as there is scarcity, there will be war. Trump gives the MAGA folk the license to flat out hate, to insult, and beat down those from other groups, in their battle to survive.
After watching this video, I understand MAGA folk better. I sympathize with them to some degree. But I want to shake them and show them.
The battle is not against others but against scarcity. Fighting for abundance to win against scarcity, that’s what will truly ensure survival.