I have discussed "MAGA" before. Here I am, doing it again! My apologies for the repetition. As it turns out, a "discussion" about MAGA popped into my email inbox, a month or so ago, and that is what has prompted this posting. I have included that discussion at the bottom. In sum, the discussion was prompted by a question, "Why do Democrats hate MAGA?" What you can read at the bottom - coming from the Quora website - is one of 290 responses to that question.
I am registered as a Democrat, so I naturally took the question personally. Did I "hate" MAGA, and if so, why?
Actually, I have very little complaint about a political movement that identifies its main purpose as wanting to "Make America Great." I do quarrel a bit with the "Again" part, since I am already pretty enthusiastic about the United States, and I am particularly pleased with its commitment to a system of democratic self-government, as best summarized in the following three documents: (1) The Declaration of Independence; (2) The Constitution; and (3) The Gettysburg Address.
As I list those three documents, and think about it, perhaps I might add a fourth document, as well, helping to outline the kind of government to which we, as a nation, are committed: (4) Letter From Birmingham Jail.
So, in response to that question posed by Quora, I think America is already "Great," and any implication that we're not "Great" is off target, from my perspective. However, I do agree with the feeling that underlies the MAGA slogan. I have a sense that we, as a nation, used to have a firmer grasp on what it has been that makes America "Great," and so that's where that "Again" part comes in, with at least a little bit of legitimacy. We need to be doing better.
It is my sense that Donald J. Trump's political successes and accomplishments can, almost totally, be credited to that "MAGA" slogan one that he either made up himself, or appropriated. There is, I think, a widespread sense, within the United States, that we should be "Great," and that we used to be doing a better job of being "Great." Thus, somebody running for office who tells the voters that he is going to help "Make America Great Again" has got a terrific and appealing platform.
The reality that has come along with that MAGA slogan, though, is rather different from the promise to "Make America Great Again." In fact, the realities of the Trump presidency are virtually all steering us in the wrong direction, the way I see it. This is, of course, exactly the point being made by the person responding to the question in the Quora discussion I have reproduced below.
What is "Great" about the United States of America has always been our individual aspirations, and our collective aspiration, to live up to the promises contained within the documents I have cited above. A politician who runs on the idea that we're all doing fine is at a definite disadvantage, because most Americans don't believe that - and for very good reason. To the degree that the Democratic Party has been seen as the "Party of Self-Satisfaction," and has been portrayed as a defender of the status quo, the Democrats have been hugely disadvantaged. With or without real justification, that complaint has, in fact, been made, and there have been widespread claims that the Democratic Party, and particularly during the so-called "Biden Years," has been exuding a self-satisfaction and complacency that is totally unjustified. That is most emphatically not a winning political message.
I am registered as a Democrat, but I am definitely not satisfied. I want our nation to pledge itself to massive social, political, and economic changes, along the lines that I outlined some time ago:
- RAISE taxes on persons whose personal wealth exceeds $100,000,000.
- Set tax rates to balance the federal budget.
- Include in the federal budget money to provide "free" health care for all.
- Include in the federal budget money to provide free college education.
- Include new home construction with resale restrictions.
- Include job opportunities for all (like in the WPA).
- Include other similar and "positive" programs.
We could do it, you know. We could Make America Great Again!
oooOOOooo
I'm partly with you here - there is nothing wrong with truth, logic, science, evidence, morality, and intelligence-based philosophies? - Indeed, as a scientist, I engage with almost all these things on a daily basis.
Where you have lost me a little is your apparent belief that truth, logic, science, evidence, morality, and intelligence-based philosophies have any, even tenuous, link to MAGA.
I mean its hard to see the link between a cult that worships the world's most prolific liar and truth.
Does a cult that worships a man that thinks that hurricanes should be nuked, that viral infections can be cured by glugging back detergents and that immigrants are illegally gaining entry into the US specifically to feast on Springfieldian dogs, really care about logic?
Does a cult that supports a man that favours conspiracy theories over scientific data, really care about science?
Does a cult that supports a man that has spent 4 years claiming he lost an election due to electoral fraud - without providing even one iota of evidence of electoral fraud, really care about evidence?
Does a cult that wants to vote for a criminal and a rapist really care about morality?
Does a cult that supports a man that meanders into diatribes about how wonderful the fictional cannibal Hannibal Lecter was or how large Arnold Palmers penis was, really care about intelligence-based philosophies?
Overall, I think you really need to tweak your question. If you ask "Why do Democrats hate MAGA? What's wrong with disregarding truth, logic, science, evidence, morality, and intelligence-based philosophies?" then you might have some chance of getting some realistic responses.
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