A nice historical analogue/analysis of the MAGA phenomenon:
David Brin wrote:Said a member of my blog community: “There is a repeating pattern of socio-pathology seen in human history when cultures - or sub-cults within some cultures - face a strain exceeding their elastic limit. The catch-all name for it: Ghost Dance. (See Weston La Barre “Ghost Dance” for copious documentation) In light of the intense fury of MAGAs vs. any sane measure to reduce Covid risk, I propose that Trump is the prophet for a Redneck Ghost Dance.”“gerold” wrote:The phenomenon derives its name from a movement that swept through Native American cultures all over North America in the late 1800's — a nativist-populist messianic cult preaching that the proper ritual and blessing would confer invulnerability against the white man. His bullets would turn to water, or maybe your shirt would become bullet proof, but one way or another the invader would be defeated and it would (literally) MAGA.
While one of course understands the wretched plight of the oppressed-colonized, this was part of a trifurcation between three paths for indigenous Americans: the nerdy Cherokee Way: study hard, interbreed and get lucky with oil… or hunker down and survive on the reservations... or else fight back one last time, counting on magic to even the odds. Those who chose door number three began with assassination of some chiefs and councils who had sussed whiteman political methods, followed by the magic… followed by worst loss of life and land since Indiana expelled its Indians.
Similar events have occurred all over the world, notably among the Xhosa of South Africa. They were told to slaughter all their cattle and not to plant any crops. That demonstration of faith would call forth the ancestors who would destroy the invaders and MAGA. Needless to say mortality was very high as a result and it opened up new acreage for the Afrikaaners. There are many other examples, such as the mystics leading the 1900 Boxer Rebellion in China, when members of the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists were told European bullets would turn to water when they encountered the chi of the Boxers. It didn’t work.
Does Trump and his MAGA cult fit the description? They have embraced an irrational and self-destructive article of faith, embracing a messianic figure as their totem who tells them they are safe from a deadly disease if they just believe him. We see how Trump denies the reality of the election, much like he denied the reality of the coronavirus. And yes, he's calling for one kind of rebellion or another against both nerd-dom and every profession using facts… and hence insulting deniers of the power of incantation over objective reality. .
Redneck Ghost Dance. You heard it here first.