I dont have any kind of vendetta, it’s an extremely well known analysis of current US affairs

Im not sure why you’re so intent on dismissing culture as a relevant context to the rise of MAGA. Most political scientists agree that Trump marked a notable shift and a deviation from political norms and assumptions from pre-2012 politics. Even insisting on the ‘religious right’ doesn’t explain Trump’s popular appeal at a point in time when religious participation in the US is at an all-time low. Seems to me like it might be you with a vendetta, since your explanation seems to boil down to ‘religious bigots are dumb’

He rode a popular wave of anti-establishment resentment.

Unless you think the Joe Rogan fanbase is comprised of religious fanatics, you’ve missed the same cultural undercurrent that the Democrats have missed.

they are easily mislead

“That would mean all it would take is for the right person to come along and flip a switch”

This is idiotic and the dems will never win again if this is their understanding.

Compromised by who? Who elected them? And why did they elect them?

The alternative being, what exactly? Trump creating the environment of resentment himself?

I think that’s hubris. If that were true, then the American political system is so unstable that all it takes for a fascist takeover is the right person to come along and flip a switch.

Edit: im also not saying gamergate caused Trump to get elected, only that it lead to the environment where he could win

Because trump’s rise through the republican party was predicated on a popular reactionary movement that was - at the very least - far less prominent during the rush limbaugh days. Democrats made a political calculation that Trump couldn’t win, and that calculation included factoring in the green party voters for trump. The part they missed is that the culture had shifted, and a big part of that shift happened during and after gamergate in a demographic they weren’t expecting to turn out.

No disagreement, but they believed he would lose because they miscalculated just how popular he was becoming in that demographic. They assumed either a typical republican turnout, or slightly reduced due to centrist republicans being turned off by his populism and abrasive aesthetic. They didn’t expect the high turnout among young white men, and a big motivation for those voters was a reactionary misogynistic and anti-establishment resentment. That Hillary was a white woman from the political elite class amplified that sentiment, too.

He didn’t ‘have anything to do’ with gamergate directly, but that movement is what set the environment for his popularity. Had that demographic remained politically apathetic, there’s a good chance the election would have gone more like what the democrats were expecting. And had the democrats run a more populist candidate/policy platform that addressed the sinking popularity among their own base, they might have overcome that higher turnout on the republican side.

They seem poised to replay the same strategy, though - Newsome is a milquetost neoliberal candidate from the political elite class, and unless trump actually sinks his own coalition, Newsome likely won’t activate enough of the democratic base (who is increasingly unhappy with the party) to beat a similar high anti-establishment voter base on the republican side. I’m praying AOC actually runs, or another progressive with a populist economic agenda, and that the democrats don’t fuck themselves and the entire country over by working against the popular sentiment among young democrats and non-voters. It would be a huge mistake for them to assume trump is unpopular enough to ignore their own unpopularity within the progressive side of their caucus.

Ezra comes off as exactly the type of entitled elitist that conservatives routinely congure of democrats.

While I might agree with him about this particular issue, i end up really not wanting to acknowledge it because he’s a smarmy prick who pretends to be unfamiliar with political distinctions while presenting pretty tired conservative policy as if it’s normie common sense.

But, yea - in general I think it’s past time for democrats to start twisting nipples and stuffing lockers

So you think I shouldn’t be able

No, you certainly are able. I just think it’s exceedingly stupid, even from an electoral perspective. People can very well see that there are huge problems with the democratic platform, whether or not they are nervous they’ll be accused of favoring the fascist party for acknowledging them.

Democrats would very much like to pretend as if the fascists are an isolated problem, because otherwise they’d be forced to entertain the possibility that their majority coalition has collapsed because there is something seriously wrong with their platform and not - as some are suggesting - because people are mad at them for no discernible reason whatsoever.

No, what they want is for everyone to stop shitting on their candidate. It doesn’t matter (to them) who the candidate is or if you vote for them - if you’re drawing attention to how shitty they are then you’re just as culpable for their loss as the opposition.

The emperor has no clothes.

Your words have an impact

So do yours. If you want to admonish people for expressing their discontent with democratic representatives, then good luck I guess. Hope you’re getting paid for that sisyphean task, because it sure as fuck seems like a hopeless one.

‘It doesnt matter how you vote if you end up speaking ill of my party’

Ok bud.

There have always been fringe reactionary elements in the republican party, just like there have always been fringe socialist elements in the democratic party.

IMO, that reactionary movement didn’t reach critical mass until the populist gamergate movement and all the cultural backlash that followed. Trump likely would not have won in 2016 if there hadn’t been widespread reactionary sentiment already boiling over in online spaces.

Similarly, democrats can’t count on winning if they ignore the populist sentiment simmering in their own party, and even less if they continue actively suppressing it.

Because OP is asking the wrong questions.

The call is coming from inside the house.

Op is a .world user and posting in a .world comm.

Maybe everyone needs to defed from .world?

MAGA didn’t start with the RNC demanding loyalty for party politics, it started after a bunch of online gamers mobilized against women in video games and took the party over.

Democrats dont have the same motion because they keep tossing water on any populist energy in their base, and that’s exactly what is being criticized in the meme

It’s wild to me how someone can say “I voted against fascism” and still be accused of “letting Republicans keep power”

Gavin should absolutely keep trolling trump.

He should not be nominated for president.

I think it’s annoying, but im not sure if there’s a clear solution. Id say this type of one sided block is similar to ghost bans and feels just as abusive.

I cant imagine it’s very pleasant on their side either, since it would feel as if everyone from grad or ml were giving you the cold shoulder and make the fediverse feel dead.

The nature of the fediverse is open though - escalating this to another ban/block or banning the custom fork would be counterproductive, imo. If thats their preferred way to curate content, I guess thats their prerogative