Speaking as a cult survivor here, cults can be surprisingly resilient when they have a clear order of succession, regardless of the popularity of the current leader. If they have a rigid hierarchy and clear authority transferred by the cult leader, they can effectively project that power to an extremely personal level. (ex. Mormons, traditionalist Catholics, North Korea, the CCP, Scientology)
However, MAGA doesn’t have a clear and organized hierarchy, just a blob of figureheads vying for Trump’s addlebrained reins. I think it will splinter and they’ll do what fascists do best and eat each other as soon as they have no clear target for their rabid fervor. It’ll probably fragment into its base white supremacist hate groups and those splinters will embed themselves deeper into the flesh of the body politic. They’ll sprout again as a new ugly weed in another 30 years.
MAGA has all the ingredients for a long-term presence as a political cult. The words feel disgusting to type, but I’m kinda glad that his assassination attempts failed. Martyring him would have made him immortal to his followers, it likely would have made JD Vance a more attractive figure. He would have been able to consolidate power while his predecessor was still popular. Just look what happened to the Mormons after Joseph Smith got his ass shot to hell in Missouri.
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Speaking as a cult survivor here, cults can be surprisingly resilient when they have a clear order of succession, regardless of the popularity of the current leader. If they have a rigid hierarchy and clear authority transferred by the cult leader, they can effectively project that power to an extremely personal level. (ex. Mormons, traditionalist Catholics, North Korea, the CCP, Scientology)
However, MAGA doesn’t have a clear and organized hierarchy, just a blob of figureheads vying for Trump’s addlebrained reins. I think it will splinter and they’ll do what fascists do best and eat each other as soon as they have no clear target for their rabid fervor. It’ll probably fragment into its base white supremacist hate groups and those splinters will embed themselves deeper into the flesh of the body politic. They’ll sprout again as a new ugly weed in another 30 years.
MAGA has all the ingredients for a long-term presence as a political cult. The words feel disgusting to type, but I’m kinda glad that his assassination attempts failed. Martyring him would have made him immortal to his followers, it likely would have made JD Vance a more attractive figure. He would have been able to consolidate power while his predecessor was still popular. Just look what happened to the Mormons after Joseph Smith got his ass shot to hell in Missouri.