Wonderful dissection of the far right mentality Now how to use this for exposure for what it is....victimhood which has been the calling card of the Republican party for decades It's all about no acceptance of responsibility Yesterday Cheeto played it with "People hate me I'm human and have feelings" Oh poor thing but stopping who he has always been....a lecherous lying fraud....is impossible to change
What’s Behind Cheeto’s DOJ Demanding State Voter Rolls?
In his multipronged approach to rig the upcoming 2026 midterm elections, Cheeto got the Nazis in Texas to pick up 5 additional seats pending a court ruling as to the constitutionality of this mid census power play
But Cheeto is also demanding that 9 Democratic states hand over their voter rolls But for what purpose? Perhaps not so obvious in this power move is to get hold of voter information and use that to purge registered voters from the rolls by using the successful technique the Nazis used in the 2024 election as reported by investigative journalist Greg Palast in his Vigilantes Inc(bit.ly/41UelTx interview begins at 5 minutes) This Nazi voter suppressive gimmick disenfranchised enough votes that had it not happened would have led to a Harris victory So the important thing WE the People need to focus on to secure our vote
Why go after mail in votes? This would push voters to the polls where Cheeto plans to intimidate and interfere voting with military troops
Why this is not being reported on Substack channels is just wrong and not explainable Wake up Meidas, Schmidt, Kasparov, Parnas!!!! This is ridiculous that this information is not being sent around
Dr. Bill, appreciate this—glad the “loser operating system” framing clicked.
On China: you’re right to flag outcomes, not vibes. Trump’s headline “tough on China” posture masked choices that actually opened space for Beijing—pulling out of TPP and isolating allies, a tariff war that taxed U.S. consumers while leaving China new markets, whiplash export rules that firms routed around, and a steady erosion of U.S. credibility in multilateral forums. Meanwhile China inked RCEP, kept Belt & Road humming, and sold itself as the “predictable” partner. That’s what I mean by performative strength producing strategic losses: the grievance theater plays great on TV while the scoreboard tilts the other way.
On executive performance: your management-class point is dead on. High-caliber leaders hire up. Trump hired for loyalty, cycled through record turnover, leaned on “acting” officials, and punished competence that contradicted him. The result is exactly what you teach: poor information flow, brittle decision-making, and chronic underperformance. By a management yardstick—team quality, stability, outcomes—he lands near the bottom.
So yes: he fits the box. The movement needs the story of being wronged more than it wants results, and the personnel choices and China outcomes are receipts. Thanks for engaging and for bringing the management lens into the conversation—it sharpens the argument.
Good thoughts Kristofffer Talk to Stuart and Rick about getting more press time to expose the psychology of the far right and speak about how to practically counter it and express that to groups such as Indivisible to sharpen the strategy over the next several months of protests As Garry Kasparov and George Friedman discuss the tactic is to first understand what the other side is all about(https://bit.ly/3HPhGNN)
Mr. Ealy put a new slant (for me) on the mentality of losers. I could easily see Dememted Don fitting into that box - along with his gang of maggot losers. I haven't seen a lot of discussion over the results of DD's activities opening the door wide for China to take over our role as the world's leader. Maybe DD wants to cry about that also. When I was working I taught management courses and always maintained that the most successful executives got there because of picking top-notch managers to work under them. Now, if my theory holds true, DD will be on the very BOTTOM of the list of UNSUCCESSFUL executives, based on the total incompetence of his cabinet.
Bill, I appreciate that—and you’re right on each count.
The “loser” operating system fits Trump perfectly: the story isn’t about delivering results, it’s about nursing grievance. That’s why the scoreboard keeps tilting the wrong way while the rhetoric gets louder.
On China, you’re hitting a crucial point that gets buried under the tough-talk branding. Pulling out of TPP, alienating allies, the boomerang effects of the tariff war, and constant policy whiplash all expanded Beijing’s room to maneuver while taxing Americans at home. Performative strength, strategic losses.
And your management lens is spot-on. Effective leaders hire up—they want people who will challenge bad ideas and expand capacity. Trump hired for loyalty, churned through talent, leaned on “acting” titles, and punished competence. By the basic management rubric—team quality, stability, and outcomes—he ends up exactly where your theory predicts: bottom tier.
Thanks for reading and for bringing that exec-leadership frame to the conversation. It sharpens the case.
This was great, Kristoffer. Explained this so well, Professor. Oh, yes, I have known people that have blamed all their troubles or failures on someone else or something else. Your conclusion was excellent: No finish line. The losers' operating bug is not a bug in their system; it's the operating system itself." Amen. Take care.
Maxine—thank you, as always, for showing up and lifting the work. 🙏🏾
You nailed the heart of it: some folks organize their whole identity around outsourcing blame. That’s victimhood-as-brand plus an external locus of control, and it guarantees what you quoted—no finish line. If losing is the operating system, every outcome gets rewritten as proof to keep the grievance loop running.
I appreciate your continued support and the witness you bring from knowing people like this up close. It helps ground the analysis in real life. Thanks for reading, sharing, and pushing the conversation forward.
Michelle, thank you for engaging with the piece and for bringing your own insights into the mix. I think you’re right—facts don’t seem to matter in the way we expect them to. But here’s the twist: I actually do think facts matter to people in this mindset, just not as tools for truth. For them, facts are raw material to be bent, stripped of context, and redeployed to give power to their false narratives.
That’s why you’ll see cherry-picked statistics, isolated quotes, or half-truths circulating in their circles. The “fact” isn’t there to illuminate; it’s there to fuel grievance. It provides just enough scaffolding for the narrative to feel legitimate, even when the conclusion is completely wrong. And because their goal is always to position themselves as the victim, they’re constantly hungry for more of those distorted “facts” to feed that need.
It’s less about evidence and more about ammunition. In that sense, facts do matter to them—but only as props in a performance where losing is the story and victimhood is the prize.
Another compelling and engaging piece, Kristoffer. I often think of a cult mentality when thinking of maga, but that might be to simple a description or explanation. Could they be addicts of a sort? The more they gain the more they want? . And there is never enough to satisfy.
As with trump and republicans trying to coddle child predators to make them appear to be normal, Wilson does the same with his grotesque causes. Turn depraved, deadly, damaging, destructive behavior and actions, both of today and yesterday, into normalcy. To me it is quite obvious that trump and his disgusting admin coddle the predator and dismiss the victims.
No matter the data, the stats, or the facts of the matter, maga minions are based on 'feelings' pushed into their swiss cheese minds by the fearmongering, hyperbolic, racist, hateful, lies and disinformation of fox and fiends, charlie kirk, carlson, kelly, alex jones, and other absolute whackos whose only agenda is seeing the stacks of wrapped cash in front of their diabolical faces. They have absolutely no concern about the losers who tune into their daily trash extravaganza. None of them count maga types as people they would want to wine and dine with on a evening in the Hampton, or Martha's Vineyard. They might brush upagainst a true maga at some matt schlapp con-con event, but then they would immediately change their attire and send it to the cleaners.
I was having a discussion with a trumpster friend of mine and crime was the subject. I mentioned that someone who lives in FL is twice as likely to be murdered as in NY State. He just turned his head 'I don't believe it.' The facts be damned! Since trump and everything that doesn't comport to his demented views is fake, people have takne that to the next level where they are willing to die for the lie as in covid vaccines.
The self flagellation seems apparent in quality of life statistics. The more republican the state, the worse the quality of life in many categories., including crime rates, education ratings, healthcare availability, infant morality, etc.. Thom Hartman noted that every county in OK voted for trump and OK has one of the lowest quality of life scores in the nation, while MA voted for Harris in all counties and has one of the best quality of life scores in the nation. My conclusion is that the worse your quality of life, the worse you want it to become because you keep electing the people that are trying to kill you prematurely, and harm the futures of your children. Punish me more, please!
Thank you again for bringing some clarity to a subject that has baffled, befuddled and bewildered me often. Unfortunately, victimhood identity, not only harms maga, but the nation and the world. Like a raging wildfire, I can only hope it is extinguished with an overwhelming response of human resources and it is staved of its fuel.
MPT, thank you for engaging so deeply here — I really appreciate the way you’ve laid this out.
You start by calling it a cult mentality, and I get that. It certainly looks like it from the outside. But I think there’s a slight twist worth highlighting: for these types, their psychology requires a bad faith actor fighting for bad faith causes to feel like they themselves are part of something bigger. It’s not just blind devotion; it’s grievance performance. They need someone who reflects their resentments back to them and packages that as a mission. That’s how the endless hunger you describe — “the more they gain, the more they want” — keeps reproducing itself. It isn’t about satisfaction, it’s about sustaining the cycle.
On your point about Trump, Republicans, and child predators — you’re right. The playbook is to launder grotesque causes and present them as normal. Wilson is a perfect case study: the point isn’t just to push indecency, but to wrap it in enough pseudo-moral language that followers can tell themselves they’re part of a righteous fight. That’s why coddling predators or embracing revisionist history works — it keeps the faithful locked into the idea that they’re defending “truth” while actually enabling harm.
You also nailed it when you said facts, stats, and data don’t break through. For MAGA adherents, their “truth” is emotional. Fearmongers like Carlson, Kirk, Kelly, and Jones churn out lies not for persuasion, but for identity formation. As you put it, cash piles up for the leaders, while the base gets their victimhood validated. That’s why elites at the top wouldn’t actually share space with their rank-and-file supporters outside of a rally — it’s a one-directional relationship of exploitation.
Your Florida story captures this perfectly. “I don’t believe it” is the end of discussion because belief itself is the loyalty test. If the data contradicts the identity, then data must be discarded. It’s the same psychology that drives vaccine denial: if acknowledging reality threatens the victim narrative, reality is the enemy.
The “self-flagellation” you highlight in quality-of-life stats is also on point. States that vote consistently red often produce worse outcomes on crime, education, healthcare, infant mortality — yet the worse life gets, the stronger the grip of grievance politics becomes. It’s not accidental. Voting for leaders who actively harm you becomes another way to perform loyalty to the cause. As you say: “Punish me more, please.” The pain proves the righteousness of the fight.
Your conclusion is exactly right: victimhood identity doesn’t just harm MAGA, it harms the nation and the world. Like a wildfire, it spreads by feeding off fear, resentment, and loss — and the only way it burns out is by depriving it of fuel. That means refusing to let bad faith actors define the terms of debate, refusing to let false narratives stand unchallenged, and refusing to cede ground to the “cult performance” model.
So yes — you’ve connected the dots powerfully here. Their psychology needs that bad faith leader and that bad faith cause to make them feel part of something, because without it, they’re just individuals left to face uncomfortable truths. Thank you again for engaging so thoughtfully and for sharpening the conversation with these insights.
I appreciate your analysis. It is well thought out, and certainly dovetails with my experience. I find it usually falls out as (1) we have truth and are superior in every way (facts don’t matter), (2) the deck is stacked against us, (3) we have been cheated by others using ignoble means, and (4) any bad outcomes are not our fault. You always need to stir in self righteous anger and a dash of religious certainty. I did read that Robert E Lee showed up to surrender at Appomattox in a crisp uniform as opposed to Grant who was in his fighting clothes.
James, this is great—thank you. Your four-part pattern is exactly how the psychology shows up in the wild:
1. “We have the Truth / we’re superior.” That’s textbook collective narcissism—the in-group is inherently virtuous and smarter, so contrary facts bounce off.
2. “The deck is stacked against us.” That’s the persecution script that keeps victimhood identity humming; status threat gets reframed as fate conspiring against them.
3. “We were cheated.” The grievance engine: every setback was stolen by “ignoble means,” which justifies endless re-litigation and makes losing feel righteous.
4. “Nothing is our fault.” Pure external locus of control—absolves responsibility, prevents learning, and guarantees the same mistakes get repackaged as martyrdom.
Add the “self-righteous anger + a dash of religious certainty” and you get sacred permissioning: if the cause is holy, then cruelty and denial feel like virtue.
Your Appomattox note is a perfect metaphor for how the Lost Cause curated the optics. Lee in immaculate dress uniform and sword; Grant in muddy field gear—one staged as noble elegance in defeat, the other as workmanlike reality. That image has been used for generations to sanctify losing as “honor,” which is exactly why today’s movement keeps returning to Confederate cosplay: it turns failure into a costume they can wear forever.
Appreciate you laying it out so clearly—and for reading.
Georgina, thank you! That was the goal—make the chaos make sense. I appreciate you reading; feel free to share it with anyone who’d get something from the breakdown.
As a psychology and sociology geek, this is one of the best explanations I’ve seen in print. Spot on. Frighteningly this has poisoned the minds of millions who have their pathologies fed daily by media who recognized long ago how to profit off of this.
Shelly, thank you—coming from a fellow psych/soc geek that means a lot. You’re right on all counts: this stuff spreads because the incentive structure rewards it. Outrage is the most profitable emotion in the attention economy; algorithms boost identity-affirming rage; and repetition turns vibes into “truth.” Media actors clocked that long ago and built a business on feeding existing pathologies—victimhood identity, collective narcissism, the need for certainty—until they become a daily diet.
The frightening part is real, but it’s not hopeless: name the tactic, starve it of engagement, amplify corrective voices, and keep offering a counter-identity rooted in dignity and shared outcomes. Appreciate you reading and pushing the conversation forward.
Bruce, thank you—I really appreciate that. If the piece got you thinking and interrogating your own instincts, that’s exactly the work I’m trying to do with The Thinking Class and Lincoln Square. Grateful you’re reading and engaging.
Diane, I really appreciate that. MAGA isn’t just a political movement, it’s a mindset — and one that thrives on grievance and perpetual loss. My goal was to unpack that psychology in a way that makes sense of why their rhetoric feels so relentless. Hearing that it resonated with your own experience of dealing with MAGA folks means I hit the mark. Thanks for engaging and affirming the work.
Wonderful dissection of the far right mentality Now how to use this for exposure for what it is....victimhood which has been the calling card of the Republican party for decades It's all about no acceptance of responsibility Yesterday Cheeto played it with "People hate me I'm human and have feelings" Oh poor thing but stopping who he has always been....a lecherous lying fraud....is impossible to change
What’s Behind Cheeto’s DOJ Demanding State Voter Rolls?
In his multipronged approach to rig the upcoming 2026 midterm elections, Cheeto got the Nazis in Texas to pick up 5 additional seats pending a court ruling as to the constitutionality of this mid census power play
But Cheeto is also demanding that 9 Democratic states hand over their voter rolls But for what purpose? Perhaps not so obvious in this power move is to get hold of voter information and use that to purge registered voters from the rolls by using the successful technique the Nazis used in the 2024 election as reported by investigative journalist Greg Palast in his Vigilantes Inc(bit.ly/41UelTx interview begins at 5 minutes) This Nazi voter suppressive gimmick disenfranchised enough votes that had it not happened would have led to a Harris victory So the important thing WE the People need to focus on to secure our vote
Why go after mail in votes? This would push voters to the polls where Cheeto plans to intimidate and interfere voting with military troops
Why this is not being reported on Substack channels is just wrong and not explainable Wake up Meidas, Schmidt, Kasparov, Parnas!!!! This is ridiculous that this information is not being sent around
Dr. Bill, appreciate this—glad the “loser operating system” framing clicked.
On China: you’re right to flag outcomes, not vibes. Trump’s headline “tough on China” posture masked choices that actually opened space for Beijing—pulling out of TPP and isolating allies, a tariff war that taxed U.S. consumers while leaving China new markets, whiplash export rules that firms routed around, and a steady erosion of U.S. credibility in multilateral forums. Meanwhile China inked RCEP, kept Belt & Road humming, and sold itself as the “predictable” partner. That’s what I mean by performative strength producing strategic losses: the grievance theater plays great on TV while the scoreboard tilts the other way.
On executive performance: your management-class point is dead on. High-caliber leaders hire up. Trump hired for loyalty, cycled through record turnover, leaned on “acting” officials, and punished competence that contradicted him. The result is exactly what you teach: poor information flow, brittle decision-making, and chronic underperformance. By a management yardstick—team quality, stability, outcomes—he lands near the bottom.
So yes: he fits the box. The movement needs the story of being wronged more than it wants results, and the personnel choices and China outcomes are receipts. Thanks for engaging and for bringing the management lens into the conversation—it sharpens the argument.
Good thoughts Kristofffer Talk to Stuart and Rick about getting more press time to expose the psychology of the far right and speak about how to practically counter it and express that to groups such as Indivisible to sharpen the strategy over the next several months of protests As Garry Kasparov and George Friedman discuss the tactic is to first understand what the other side is all about(https://bit.ly/3HPhGNN)
Mr. Ealy put a new slant (for me) on the mentality of losers. I could easily see Dememted Don fitting into that box - along with his gang of maggot losers. I haven't seen a lot of discussion over the results of DD's activities opening the door wide for China to take over our role as the world's leader. Maybe DD wants to cry about that also. When I was working I taught management courses and always maintained that the most successful executives got there because of picking top-notch managers to work under them. Now, if my theory holds true, DD will be on the very BOTTOM of the list of UNSUCCESSFUL executives, based on the total incompetence of his cabinet.
Bill, I appreciate that—and you’re right on each count.
The “loser” operating system fits Trump perfectly: the story isn’t about delivering results, it’s about nursing grievance. That’s why the scoreboard keeps tilting the wrong way while the rhetoric gets louder.
On China, you’re hitting a crucial point that gets buried under the tough-talk branding. Pulling out of TPP, alienating allies, the boomerang effects of the tariff war, and constant policy whiplash all expanded Beijing’s room to maneuver while taxing Americans at home. Performative strength, strategic losses.
And your management lens is spot-on. Effective leaders hire up—they want people who will challenge bad ideas and expand capacity. Trump hired for loyalty, churned through talent, leaned on “acting” titles, and punished competence. By the basic management rubric—team quality, stability, and outcomes—he ends up exactly where your theory predicts: bottom tier.
Thanks for reading and for bringing that exec-leadership frame to the conversation. It sharpens the case.
This was great, Kristoffer. Explained this so well, Professor. Oh, yes, I have known people that have blamed all their troubles or failures on someone else or something else. Your conclusion was excellent: No finish line. The losers' operating bug is not a bug in their system; it's the operating system itself." Amen. Take care.
Maxine—thank you, as always, for showing up and lifting the work. 🙏🏾
You nailed the heart of it: some folks organize their whole identity around outsourcing blame. That’s victimhood-as-brand plus an external locus of control, and it guarantees what you quoted—no finish line. If losing is the operating system, every outcome gets rewritten as proof to keep the grievance loop running.
I appreciate your continued support and the witness you bring from knowing people like this up close. It helps ground the analysis in real life. Thanks for reading, sharing, and pushing the conversation forward.
Excellent analysis. Unfortunately, I have a few family members that fit this category. There is no reasoning with them. Facts don't matter.
Michelle, thank you for engaging with the piece and for bringing your own insights into the mix. I think you’re right—facts don’t seem to matter in the way we expect them to. But here’s the twist: I actually do think facts matter to people in this mindset, just not as tools for truth. For them, facts are raw material to be bent, stripped of context, and redeployed to give power to their false narratives.
That’s why you’ll see cherry-picked statistics, isolated quotes, or half-truths circulating in their circles. The “fact” isn’t there to illuminate; it’s there to fuel grievance. It provides just enough scaffolding for the narrative to feel legitimate, even when the conclusion is completely wrong. And because their goal is always to position themselves as the victim, they’re constantly hungry for more of those distorted “facts” to feed that need.
It’s less about evidence and more about ammunition. In that sense, facts do matter to them—but only as props in a performance where losing is the story and victimhood is the prize.
Another compelling and engaging piece, Kristoffer. I often think of a cult mentality when thinking of maga, but that might be to simple a description or explanation. Could they be addicts of a sort? The more they gain the more they want? . And there is never enough to satisfy.
As with trump and republicans trying to coddle child predators to make them appear to be normal, Wilson does the same with his grotesque causes. Turn depraved, deadly, damaging, destructive behavior and actions, both of today and yesterday, into normalcy. To me it is quite obvious that trump and his disgusting admin coddle the predator and dismiss the victims.
No matter the data, the stats, or the facts of the matter, maga minions are based on 'feelings' pushed into their swiss cheese minds by the fearmongering, hyperbolic, racist, hateful, lies and disinformation of fox and fiends, charlie kirk, carlson, kelly, alex jones, and other absolute whackos whose only agenda is seeing the stacks of wrapped cash in front of their diabolical faces. They have absolutely no concern about the losers who tune into their daily trash extravaganza. None of them count maga types as people they would want to wine and dine with on a evening in the Hampton, or Martha's Vineyard. They might brush upagainst a true maga at some matt schlapp con-con event, but then they would immediately change their attire and send it to the cleaners.
I was having a discussion with a trumpster friend of mine and crime was the subject. I mentioned that someone who lives in FL is twice as likely to be murdered as in NY State. He just turned his head 'I don't believe it.' The facts be damned! Since trump and everything that doesn't comport to his demented views is fake, people have takne that to the next level where they are willing to die for the lie as in covid vaccines.
The self flagellation seems apparent in quality of life statistics. The more republican the state, the worse the quality of life in many categories., including crime rates, education ratings, healthcare availability, infant morality, etc.. Thom Hartman noted that every county in OK voted for trump and OK has one of the lowest quality of life scores in the nation, while MA voted for Harris in all counties and has one of the best quality of life scores in the nation. My conclusion is that the worse your quality of life, the worse you want it to become because you keep electing the people that are trying to kill you prematurely, and harm the futures of your children. Punish me more, please!
Thank you again for bringing some clarity to a subject that has baffled, befuddled and bewildered me often. Unfortunately, victimhood identity, not only harms maga, but the nation and the world. Like a raging wildfire, I can only hope it is extinguished with an overwhelming response of human resources and it is staved of its fuel.
MPT, thank you for engaging so deeply here — I really appreciate the way you’ve laid this out.
You start by calling it a cult mentality, and I get that. It certainly looks like it from the outside. But I think there’s a slight twist worth highlighting: for these types, their psychology requires a bad faith actor fighting for bad faith causes to feel like they themselves are part of something bigger. It’s not just blind devotion; it’s grievance performance. They need someone who reflects their resentments back to them and packages that as a mission. That’s how the endless hunger you describe — “the more they gain, the more they want” — keeps reproducing itself. It isn’t about satisfaction, it’s about sustaining the cycle.
On your point about Trump, Republicans, and child predators — you’re right. The playbook is to launder grotesque causes and present them as normal. Wilson is a perfect case study: the point isn’t just to push indecency, but to wrap it in enough pseudo-moral language that followers can tell themselves they’re part of a righteous fight. That’s why coddling predators or embracing revisionist history works — it keeps the faithful locked into the idea that they’re defending “truth” while actually enabling harm.
You also nailed it when you said facts, stats, and data don’t break through. For MAGA adherents, their “truth” is emotional. Fearmongers like Carlson, Kirk, Kelly, and Jones churn out lies not for persuasion, but for identity formation. As you put it, cash piles up for the leaders, while the base gets their victimhood validated. That’s why elites at the top wouldn’t actually share space with their rank-and-file supporters outside of a rally — it’s a one-directional relationship of exploitation.
Your Florida story captures this perfectly. “I don’t believe it” is the end of discussion because belief itself is the loyalty test. If the data contradicts the identity, then data must be discarded. It’s the same psychology that drives vaccine denial: if acknowledging reality threatens the victim narrative, reality is the enemy.
The “self-flagellation” you highlight in quality-of-life stats is also on point. States that vote consistently red often produce worse outcomes on crime, education, healthcare, infant mortality — yet the worse life gets, the stronger the grip of grievance politics becomes. It’s not accidental. Voting for leaders who actively harm you becomes another way to perform loyalty to the cause. As you say: “Punish me more, please.” The pain proves the righteousness of the fight.
Your conclusion is exactly right: victimhood identity doesn’t just harm MAGA, it harms the nation and the world. Like a wildfire, it spreads by feeding off fear, resentment, and loss — and the only way it burns out is by depriving it of fuel. That means refusing to let bad faith actors define the terms of debate, refusing to let false narratives stand unchallenged, and refusing to cede ground to the “cult performance” model.
So yes — you’ve connected the dots powerfully here. Their psychology needs that bad faith leader and that bad faith cause to make them feel part of something, because without it, they’re just individuals left to face uncomfortable truths. Thank you again for engaging so thoughtfully and for sharpening the conversation with these insights.
I appreciate your analysis. It is well thought out, and certainly dovetails with my experience. I find it usually falls out as (1) we have truth and are superior in every way (facts don’t matter), (2) the deck is stacked against us, (3) we have been cheated by others using ignoble means, and (4) any bad outcomes are not our fault. You always need to stir in self righteous anger and a dash of religious certainty. I did read that Robert E Lee showed up to surrender at Appomattox in a crisp uniform as opposed to Grant who was in his fighting clothes.
James, this is great—thank you. Your four-part pattern is exactly how the psychology shows up in the wild:
1. “We have the Truth / we’re superior.” That’s textbook collective narcissism—the in-group is inherently virtuous and smarter, so contrary facts bounce off.
2. “The deck is stacked against us.” That’s the persecution script that keeps victimhood identity humming; status threat gets reframed as fate conspiring against them.
3. “We were cheated.” The grievance engine: every setback was stolen by “ignoble means,” which justifies endless re-litigation and makes losing feel righteous.
4. “Nothing is our fault.” Pure external locus of control—absolves responsibility, prevents learning, and guarantees the same mistakes get repackaged as martyrdom.
Add the “self-righteous anger + a dash of religious certainty” and you get sacred permissioning: if the cause is holy, then cruelty and denial feel like virtue.
Your Appomattox note is a perfect metaphor for how the Lost Cause curated the optics. Lee in immaculate dress uniform and sword; Grant in muddy field gear—one staged as noble elegance in defeat, the other as workmanlike reality. That image has been used for generations to sanctify losing as “honor,” which is exactly why today’s movement keeps returning to Confederate cosplay: it turns failure into a costume they can wear forever.
Appreciate you laying it out so clearly—and for reading.
Wow this is such a great article! It makes so much sense out of the Trump regimes behaviors.
Georgina, thank you! That was the goal—make the chaos make sense. I appreciate you reading; feel free to share it with anyone who’d get something from the breakdown.
I sure did
As a psychology and sociology geek, this is one of the best explanations I’ve seen in print. Spot on. Frighteningly this has poisoned the minds of millions who have their pathologies fed daily by media who recognized long ago how to profit off of this.
Shelly, thank you—coming from a fellow psych/soc geek that means a lot. You’re right on all counts: this stuff spreads because the incentive structure rewards it. Outrage is the most profitable emotion in the attention economy; algorithms boost identity-affirming rage; and repetition turns vibes into “truth.” Media actors clocked that long ago and built a business on feeding existing pathologies—victimhood identity, collective narcissism, the need for certainty—until they become a daily diet.
The frightening part is real, but it’s not hopeless: name the tactic, starve it of engagement, amplify corrective voices, and keep offering a counter-identity rooted in dignity and shared outcomes. Appreciate you reading and pushing the conversation forward.
Thank you Professor Ealy, you always make me think and question my own grievances and thought processes. It is much appreciated.
Bruce, thank you—I really appreciate that. If the piece got you thinking and interrogating your own instincts, that’s exactly the work I’m trying to do with The Thinking Class and Lincoln Square. Grateful you’re reading and engaging.
Brilliant, my friend.
Thank you, Diane!
This is the best description of MAGA I've seen and having met MAGATS can say it's accurate.
Diane, I really appreciate that. MAGA isn’t just a political movement, it’s a mindset — and one that thrives on grievance and perpetual loss. My goal was to unpack that psychology in a way that makes sense of why their rhetoric feels so relentless. Hearing that it resonated with your own experience of dealing with MAGA folks means I hit the mark. Thanks for engaging and affirming the work.
so let's give them what they want! to lose
Agreed!