I call myself a political progressive. I identify with “progressivism as a political philosophy and social movement that seeks to advance the human condition through political and social reform.” I am not a Democratic Socialist but a social-minded Democrat. I don’t mind being called a liberal, but I am not a Socialist or Communist. Neither am I an unwitting messenger for Satan, as Christian Nationalists accuse anti-Trump liberals of being.
I am just trying to do what I can to contribute to the greater good, and I think most MAGA Republicans (MAGARs) are trying to do the same. We just have very different opinions about how governments should function in helping us carry out our common purpose. I think we agree that our current government isn’t working, and hasn’t worked for a long time. We just disagree on what we can and should do about it.
There are racists, bigots, and homophobes in both political parties, from MAGA Republicans to Democratic Socialists. MAGARs just tend to be more open and public in proclaiming their perceived superiority. MAGARs are also quicker than Democrats to blame minorities, particularly recent immigrants, for their problems and for what they see as the ruin of the nation.
The people who do it may not be inherently “bad people” but I fail to see anything good about discrimination and oppression—intentional or unintentional, covert or overt—regardless of party affiliation. I think most MAGARs agree, but seem willing to tolerate discriminatory and oppressive rhetoric and actions if they feel it is necessary to win the upcoming election.
I suspect MAGARs are as intelligent and informed as mainstream Republicans and Democrats or Progressives, even if not as highly educated. However, MAGARs tend to have a different perception of political reality. They get more of their information from Fox News and local TV stations whereas Progressives are more likely to rely on PBS, NPR, or MSNBC. Mainstream Democrats and Republicans rely more on CNN, ABC, NBC, or CBS.
Among the major newspapers, the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg tend more to the political Right, and the Washington Post and New York Times to the political Left. Social media allows people to choose what they want to see and read. The internet search engines guide people to the topics they have previously chosen.
So, when a MEGAR talks or communicates with a Progressive, it seems like they are living in two different worlds.
I speak from first-hand experience because both of my brothers were Trump supporters in the 2016 election. My younger brother died in 2019 but my older brother continues to be an avid supporter of Donald Trump. I am not more intelligent than my brothers. Instead of going to college, the older spent 30 years as a factory worker and the younger spent his life as a farmer. They don’t care any less about the nation's future than I do. We agree that the current government is working, but they have given up on making it work. I haven’t.
No government can work when those responsible for making it work are committed to proving it can’t. The problem is not the form of government but the motivation of politicians. That can change. We agree that corporate interests dominate public interest in today’s political processes and governance. They don’t think anything can be done to change it, but I do. An enlightened Supreme Court would recognize the difference between artificial economic entities and real human beings.
Our current form of government, a democratic republic, survived the Civil War and I believe it can survive the current cultural war. They don’t. They have given up on trying to make “a more perfect union” and are ready to scrap it and start over. Maybe if I read and listened to the same sources of information as they have, I would see the world from the same perspective as they see it and would agree. But I haven’t and I don’t.
I still get along fine with my brother, the former factory worker, and got along fine with my other brother, the farmer. We just agreed to quit talking about politics after the 2016 elections. We agree that our family is more important than our politics and we can do a lot more about our family than about our government. We feel strongly about our political responsibilities but have given up on changing each other politically.
I think a lot of MAGA Republicans are like my brothers. They have given up on our current form of government or are at least willing to risk losing it, by trusting Donald Trump to change it. Mainstream Democrats and Republicans agree that governmental reform is necessary but believe that the necessary changes can be made incrementally, without abandoning the current form of government. However, Democrats want to make it more democratic and less republic and Republicans want to return to when it was more republic and less democratic.
Progressives agree with MAGARs that radical change is necessary, but we aren’t willing to give up on our current form of government. We are committed to continuing the nation’s long, halting progress toward “a more perfect union.” We want to move ahead faster but are willing to go slower, rather than risk going back. We aren’t willing to risk turning our American form of democracy into an autocracy by reelecting Donald Trump as president.
John Ikerd