• Coelacanth@feddit.nu
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    3 months ago

    A lot of people are very stupid. Remember the quote by the late, great George Carlin:

    “Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.”

    If we talk about Trump in particular I think part of it is identification: they see in his persona somebody they recognise from their mirror. Simple minded, loud, rambunctious. They feel alienated by the classic “coastal elites” - lawyers and dyed-in-the-wool career politicians who use big words. Trump’s persona speaks to their core identity (note the use of the word persona - he is of course in actuality a multimillionaire, as far abstracted from them as anyone in Washington).

    There is also an aspirational aspect I think - and I’m not only talking about money or fame. He doesn’t “play by the rules”, he says whatever he wants - whenever he wants. He has no respect for anyone. He flies around in a private jet and lives on a golf course. He grabs celebrity women by the pussy. They wish they could also be like that, it speaks to something deep inside them, a hidden, rotten part of American culture that for once has been let out in the open.