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Those grievances are justified, but they aren't grievances held by the right. If they actually feel these things, they sure aren't voting to change them, in fac

Those grievances are justified, but they aren't grievances held by the right. If they actually feel these things, they sure aren't voting to change them, in fact quite the opposite. As you pointed out, they are rallying around people who openly are trying to make all those problems worse. OP (toomanyrichies)'s comment makes much more sense. The right's grievances aren't against elites, the wealthy, the privileged, employers, or the pace of change. Their grievances are against less powerful outgroups who serve as scapegoats that can't fight back: Immigrants, minorities, gay and trans people, "woke" culture warriors, the poor, and so on. The government is seen as a tool for punching down and exacting cruelty onto these outgroups. That's what really motivates them. I live in a "red" part of the country, surrounded by Trump flags. Ask them what good their team has done for their own lives, and if you get past the canned talking points that don't make sense, they'll admit their lives aren't really much better than they were in 2016. Ask them what they like about MAGA, and it will be all about the attacking and cruelty he's doing to their perceived enemies.

toomanyrichies 1y ago
> If they actually feel these things, they sure aren't voting to change them, in fact quite the opposite. +1. Just as we engineers say "The purpose of a system is what it does" [1], a corollary to that is "the intention of a vote is what it achieves". If red-state voters consistently vote against their own economic interests, then either one of two things is true: - They must have other interests in mind (i.e. punching down on marginalized groups), or - Their interest in economic self-preservation is outweighed by their belief in helping the rich get richer, possibly because they see themselves as "temporarily embarrassed millionaires"? [2] 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_purpose_of_a_system_is_what_it_does https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_purpose_of_a_system_is_wha... 2. https://www.reddit.com/r/QuotesPorn/comments/jotijb/john_steinbeck_once_said_that_socialism_never/ https://www.reddit.com/r/QuotesPorn/comments/jotijb/john_ste...
Herring 1y ago
This is quite helpful and insightful, thanks. I just went down a rabbit hole about human psychology and scapegoating.

toomanyrichies 1y ago

> If they actually feel these things, they sure aren't voting to change them, in fact quite the opposite. +1. Just as we engineers say "The purpose of a system is what it does" [1], a corollary to that is "the intention of a vote is what it achieves". If red-state voters consistently vote against their own economic interests, then either one of two things is true: - They must have other interests in mind (i.e. punching down on marginalized groups), or - Their interest in economic self-preservation is outweighed by their belief in helping the rich get richer, possibly because they see themselves as "temporarily embarrassed millionaires"? [2] 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_purpose_of_a_system_is_what_it_does https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_purpose_of_a_system_is_wha... 2. https://www.reddit.com/r/QuotesPorn/comments/jotijb/john_steinbeck_once_said_that_socialism_never/ https://www.reddit.com/r/QuotesPorn/comments/jotijb/john_ste...

Herring 1y ago

This is quite helpful and insightful, thanks. I just went down a rabbit hole about human psychology and scapegoating.