Indeed... the "why" evades all rational, logical thought

[lambchopp59]

https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/12/07/despite-drift-toward-authoritarianism-trump-voters-stay-loyal-why/
Article sheds some light.
I personally can't fathom Trump support at all.
But recalling the depths of ignorance encountered in a small rural coal mining community in the late 1970's, as a teenager I believed I'd encountered peak dipshittery when a gruff old snaggletoothed chain smoker, great grandfather of my momentary cohort actually took one look at my bookworm countenance and with a scoff piped up with "Awww Dat book larnin' Doan do ya no good".
I stood astonished just a moment.
Then realized the source of the local reverence for ignorance.
Beyond that shudder producing scenario I realize that particular cohort probably was left behind: in what now is a ramshackle, boarded up mess of a town with meth addicts stumbling down the main thoroughfare.
TFG stood there proclaiming he was their last great hope.

[CrispyQ]

1. A common trait they all share, just like their idol Trump,

is that admitting they were wrong, or that they made a mistake, or worse, that they were duped, is a weakness. They will double down even as he steals the last dollar from their pocket.

[grumpyduck]

2. Yes. but it makes you (me, anyway)

wonder why.

Is it fear? Is it arrogance? Is it low self-esteem? Is it fearing that they're not smart enough to understand "book learning?" Is it not being able to conceptualize or understand something different?

[erronis]

3. Most of us are loathe to admit we are wrong. Happens with academics, spouses and other family.

The top of the economic heap think they are infallible and got to that position because of their immense intelligence (or whatever.) Witness their downfalls (Madoff, Enron brass, the latest crypto guy, and our new poster-boyboy Musk.)

The professor who has written 100s of papers and been cited millions of time. Until it is uncovered that her/his assumptions are bunk and have been disproven. Bet that person won't admit to errors in her/his logic (or outright fraud.)

The one I'm most familiar with is the posturing that spouses do when defending their position. It often leads to nastiness and someone sleeping/living elsewhere.

The emperor/king/president/etc. who connived its way to leadership without any idea of how to lead. Deposed and frequently disposed, that personage never understands reality.

[CrispyQ]

4. Sure no one wants to admit they're wrong,

but most of us aren't obstinate fools in light of clear evidence of our fallacies.

[OldBaldy1701E]

10. Very true.

In fact, admitting error is just unAmerican and shows weakness. But it is also that we have been programmed for so long to expect a 'Hollywood' ending to everything. That orange gibbon loved the spotlight and used it to create a Hollywood atmosphere, but like all delusionary creations, it was very empty inside and did not stand up to reality. But, they won't admit that either. So, they flock to the 'greatest show on earth' because they love spectacle. It makes them believe again. It also shows those with working brains that we have so many people who are a danger simply because of their ignorance and how that puts those around them in jeopardy. From operating vehicles to denying COVID to attacking people on the street for various conspiracy related reasons. How we address this will definitely help shape the future of this nation for many decades to come. Will we get it right?

[orthoclad]

20. I think of it as: Reagan was Hollywood, Trump is tv.

Reagan had the carefully scripted lines and the cowboy mythos. Trump has the falsely spontaneous quality of reality tv: phony as pro wrestling. Notable that his NFTs have a wrestling/tv quality to them.

I say that tv has wrecked the US mind. I went on a tv fast years ago, and now I can't even stand the sound of it. The principal content is the commercials; the programming is copaganda, violence, and sexualizing. Nobody sexualizes children more than the tv industry.

[OldBaldy1701E]

21. Yep. (n/t)

[orthoclad]

5. "Special" knowledge

I didn't give the article a close read, but I can think of yet another factor in play.

It seems that some or a lot of people have a deep desire to be privy to secret or special knowledge, thus the elaborate conspiracy theories which do service for the Trump commitment. Q has the crystal ball; Q supports Trump; Trump is special. With a wink and a nod, he has The Power to make some of the perceived powerless feel strong again.

Phil Ochs wrote a song about this many years ago, "Pretty Smart On My Part".

And yes, I've heard that "book larnin' " breeze, from a variety of people.

[OldBaldy1701E]

9. Dunning Kruger Syndrome. (n/t)

[orthoclad]

12. What I'm trying to describe

is different from D-K. I don't have a label for it.

It's a sense of power that comes from having knowledge that others aren't privy to, rather than thinking you have more knowledge than you actually do. It's what drives cult membership and Illuminati fan clubs, and thus contributes to conspiracy theories and Q.

The leftist singer Phil Ochs described it as:
"Pretty smart on my part
To find my way in the dark"
His character's gonna
"assassinate the president
and take over the government"
(I haven't found a lyrics reference yet, this is from memory)

About 10 years later Firesign Theater revisited that territory with their album "Everything You Know Is Wrong" (there's a video on utube).

Perhaps someone with more education in psychology has a better diagnosis.

[Irish_Dem]

13. Yes. I think it is connected to cult member type behavior.

Cult leaders manipulate vulnerable people who perhaps are suffering from a personal crisis or some inner problems.

One of the ways the cult leader manipulates is sharing "special" information. Information that is secret or hidden
from the rest of society.

This propaganda makes the cult member feel important, gives them status and importance.
Something which is missing from every day life.

So it feeds them and makes them feel special.
And also serves to further alienate them from society.

I don't think we know the full explanation for why the GOP and Trump have been so successful.
And produced mass cult behavior in so many Americans.

Relentless Putin/GOP propaganda, social and economic upheaval in a changing society and ruthless
corporate oligarchs. This is just a part of it.

But there will be many studies in the future.

[orthoclad]

16. There are a constellation

of motivations for the reich wing, which in itself is not monolithic but spans a range of beliefs. But that range of beliefs and motivations seems to have flown to DJT like moths to a flame. He is a seed crystal for our dark side. I heard people say "at least they're out in the open now", but it's more than that: a seed crystal starts a chain of precipitation that becomes a new and massive crystallization. There is new malevolent growth, not just exposed rot.

Gee, can i mix any more metaphors for y'all? (grin)

[Irish_Dem]

17. I think the underlying motivations for the GOP leaders are quite simple:

Power and wealth.

They will kill and damage as much as it takes to get those two things.

The leaders choose any wedge issue they can think of that will appeal to voters' dark side.

But most of the leaders don't care about the issues.

For example, vaccines, Covid, abortion, etc. are not real issues for them.

Most of the GOP leaders are vaccinated, sent their children to schools with mask policies,
abortions are available for the women in their family, etc etc. They have LGBT family members
and attend their weddings, etc.

(But yes there are a few GOP leaders who do believe their own lies. GOP leaders who are mentally ill
and/or low IQ.)

So most of the GOP leadership is spewing hatred to conquer and divide for the purpose of obtaining permanent
power and access to all US assets. They want what Putin has.

I think the motivations of the American people are more complex.
Yes the dark side of human nature is being tapped by the GOP leadership.
Violence, racism, misogyny, religion.

Another issue is the fact of underlying discontent of the American people.

In the US our leaders let the oligarchs run rough shod on Americans.

We do not have the same standard of living as other modern countries.
We are the richest country in the history of the world.

Yet going to college, getting medical treatment, sick days, vacation, job security, etc
are all denied to many. That gives rise to discontent which is channeled into wedge issues.

[orthoclad]

18. I agree

The motivations of the ruling class are simple. Power and wealth.

The people's motivations are as various as the people. And the ruling class has a huge body of psychological research as well as practical experience in how to manipulate the masses. John Bolton let some of it into the light when he admitted that "we" had experience in driving coups.

Their most powerful weapon is the ability to set the people against each other. Divide and conquer.

[Irish_Dem]

19. Exactly. These tactics are straight out of the CIA/KGB handbook.

They use highly successful tactics which have been used for centuries.
Yes like the ancient Roman Divide and Conquer strategy.
A very successful strategy used for 2,300 years.

Make a country hate each other so much they will never unite to fight a mutual enemy.

You can see this in action every day. The recent brutal attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband.
GOPers every where saying it was a lie or delighted in the news.

They want us dead. They will never unite with us to fight Putin or the other autocrats.
And hate us so much they will end democracy so we never have a say in government again.

If our democracy survives, social psychologists, sociologists, political scientists will be studying
these dynamics for a long time.

[OldBaldy1701E]

14. Oh I understand you.

My point is that the knowledge you speak of is not knowledge at all but delusion and conjecture, and they believe that it is knowledge, and since we deny this they must be way smarter than we are. Thus, Dunning Kruger. But, you are correct in your description of their mental state.

[orthoclad]

15. I should have quoted "knowledge"

as well as "special", eh?

[3Hotdogs]

6. I figure their last, great hope was Bobby Kennedy.

He visited Appalachia and got it.

[usonian]

7. Don't overthink it. It's a cult.

Read a bit about cults and bells start ringing. I read first about addictive behavior, mostly from the works of Anne Wilson Schaef, and later about cults as the Q moronity emerged. There are many similarities. They appeal to weaknesses, lock people into a circle of denial, and project weaknesses and failure on "those others".

I am not a psychologist, but will repost some of the references. The leader-cult pattern repeats throughout history. It doesn't take a genius to do this; only a demagogue who knows how to frontrun prejudice and fear, and articulate them.

HTH

[hvn_nbr_2]

8. "reverence for ignorance"

Nice turn of phrase. That identifies their "reality".

[NullTuples]

11. Since day one, Trump has promised they could be as unaccountable as he is.

That's a drug to some people. Apparently, approximately a third of people really, really enjoy feeling greed, expressing power over others and not having to be constrained by a cooperative society.

Trump told them over and over, "Give me your undying loyalty* and you can ignore the rules and restrictions that keep society stable and functional. Ignoring the rules that everyone else has to follow, that's true power and I will give it to you."

* some of you may die as a result of your choice