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MAGA

Thanks for posting. I've watched about the first 5 mins and will watch the rest when I've more time. Interesting the man in the first clip stating that the US needs a dictator...wow.

As a vegan I've been described as belonging to a 'cult' many times, so the area of cultism is of interest to me. Why do people think it's a cult, when does something become a cult etc... Given this man seems to know his stuff given the books he's written then I'm interested to see what he has to say, and to try and apply it to other topics, such as veganism, to see how it applies (for what it is worth I don't believe veganism is a cult).

Anyway, I'll report further when I've watched it in full.
 
Agreed. A vegan lifestyle is nothing like a cult.

Doesn't there need to be a dear leader to have a cult? although, from what I've come across, cults do sometimes use food, or some other deprivations to hobble people.
 
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It is a really interesting watch. I like his suggestions for crossing the divide and reaching people.

That man in the first clip. He's full on, drunk the kool-aid.

At the same time, there are legit gripes about how our economy works right now. Meanwhile, Biden continues to quietly do the work. For example, blocking the merger of Krogers and Albertsons, here in the US:

FTC Challenges Kroger's Acquisition of Albertsons [Federal Trade Commission; 2.26.24]

This might seem off the track of MAGA, the title of this thread, and thus not belonging here. . . but everything's connected. Yesterday, I listened to the Coffee Klatch, a fun, short weekly clip with Richard Reich and Heather Lofthouse. This week's Coffee Klatch had Michael Pollan on. I think you might like it, maple!

 
barnswallow said:
It is a really interesting watch. I like his suggestions for crossing the divide and reaching people.

That man in the first clip. He's full on, drunk the kool-aid.

At the same time, there are legit gripes about how our economy works right now. Meanwhile, Biden continues to quietly do the work. For example, blocking the merger of Krogers and Albertsons, here in the US:

FTC Challenges Kroger's Acquisition of Albertsons [Federal Trade Commission; 2.26.24]

This might seem off the track of MAGA, the title of this thread, and thus not belonging here. . . but everything's connected. Yesterday, I listened to the Coffee Klatch, a fun, short weekly clip with Richard Reich and Heather Lofthouse. This week's Coffee Klatch had Michael Pollan on. I think you might like it, maple!

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Thank you! I'll watch in the morning.
 
barnswallow said:
It is a really interesting watch. I like his suggestions for crossing the divide and reaching people.

That man in the first clip. He's full on, drunk the kool-aid.

At the same time, there are legit gripes about how our economy works right now. Meanwhile, Biden continues to quietly do the work. For example, blocking the merger of Krogers and Albertsons, here in the US:

FTC Challenges Kroger's Acquisition of Albertsons [Federal Trade Commission; 2.26.24]

This might seem off the track of MAGA, the title of this thread, and thus not belonging here. . . but everything's connected. Yesterday, I listened to the Coffee Klatch, a fun, short weekly clip with Richard Reich and Heather Lofthouse. This week's Coffee Klatch had Michael Pollan on. I think you might like it, maple!

Click to expand...
Thank you so much for posting this. It's pretty much what I spend my time moaning about. I try to avoid supermarkets as much as I can, purely because of the huge corporate machine that it is. I tell people that their odds are stacked against them the moment they set foot in a supermarket as they have the funds to work out exactly how to get you to spend more that you wanted to, and often can afford to, and the quality of food the put out is poor, not to mention the squeeze on suppliers and workers.

I'm very lucky, I work in two separate independent small, family owned food stores who stock from an ethical supplier. I try to get as much as I can from these two stores as well as the fantastic greengrocers that I have locally. That said, I still use the supermarket reasonably often, it seems they have become unavoidable for almost everyone for certain products.

The main complaint I hear from others about shopping in this way is that things are more expensive, the supermarkets are luring people in with the promse of cheap foods, when actually when you look at food quality and people buying things they didn't go in for, then the spend is often negated.

The part about Trump just before 5 minutes in was interesting too, the idea/reality is that power can buy you things that you otherwise couldn't have access too, and if anyone can be bought, then Trump can. I didn't know about Biden blocking the merger so that read was interesting too.

Towards the end, they summed it up in a nutshell. The US and worldwide, diet is becoming the number one cause of disease; and diseases linked to diet are the number one cause of death. And yet we are encouraging it, we feed the machine, we buy the shit, we put it in our mouths. And we do so in order for the corporates to make even more money, to become even more powerful. We are literally killing ourselves to make the rich richer. We really do need to vote with our forks and try to move away from the machine that has got us addicted to fats and sugars, and is there in order to provide people with their fix. I do realise this is much, much easier said than done.
 
barnswallow said:
Agreed. A vegan lifestyle is nothing like a cult.

Doesn't there need to be a dear leader to have a cult? although, from what I've come across, cults do sometimes use food, or some other deprivations to hobble people.
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I mean, this is Reddit, so not to be taken with any great seriousness, but it does show people's thought process around the issue.
 
barnswallow said:
It needs its own thread, I guess.

Top CULT EXPERT diagnoses Trump & MAGA Brainwashing | Burn the Boats [Meidas Touch Network;March 2024]
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Okay, I've watched it. I have to say that having watched it I'm not necessarily sure I agree with the expert that MAGA is a cult, esp when listening to his story about the Moonies in the 70's. I see MAGA as something that more resembles what was discussed in the video about food prices. I see corporate companies and billionaires using money to gain influence and control over people's habits, in this case voting habits. They do this by throwing money at things like algorhythms, at bots on social media, by always reinforcing that the person is right and everyone else in wrong. Divisive politics.

To this degree, I agree with the comments made in the longer video about keeping a reality check on who your friends are. Some random on the internet who happens to share an interest, but who will turn on you the minute you lose interest in whatever it is, is not your friend, is not looking out for you. We're all imperfect and true friends and family will accept your imperfections regardless - it gets worrying when people shun their friends and family simply because they don't agree with some of their beliefs.

In the comments of the video there's a comment by someone who states that Trump leads with hate, and is hateful to all, crude and crass. I guess it's difficult for those of us who are anti-Trump, to see the appeal in someone so hate-fuelled, so openly in bed with worldwide dictators, and to that extent I do see cult-like behaviour from his die-hard followers. I dunno, it's complicated. I do think doomscrolling has played a massive part, I do think bots and algorhythms have played a massive part and I definitely think money plays the biggest part. Ultimately though, I think/hope the people of America will reject Trump again. He's just too dangerous an animal with not enough of a cult following to gain a majority (I hope).
 
maplenpg said:
Okay, I've watched it. I have to say that having watched it I'm not necessarily sure I agree with the expert that MAGA is a cult, esp when listening to his story about the Moonies in the 70's. I see MAGA as something that more resembles what was discussed in the video about food prices. I see corporate companies and billionaires using money to gain influence and control over people's habits, in this case voting habits. They do this by throwing money at things like algorhythms, at bots on social media, by always reinforcing that the person is right and everyone else in wrong. Divisive politics.

To this degree, I agree with the comments made in the longer video about keeping a reality check on who your friends are. Some random on the internet who happens to share an interest, but who will turn on you the minute you lose interest in whatever it is, is not your friend, is not looking out for you. We're all imperfect and true friends and family will accept your imperfections regardless - it gets worrying when people shun their friends and family simply because they don't agree with some of their beliefs.

In the comments of the video there's a comment by someone who states that Trump leads with hate, and is hateful to all, crude and crass. I guess it's difficult for those of us who are anti-Trump, to see the appeal in someone so hate-fuelled, so openly in bed with worldwide dictators, and to that extent I do see cult-like behaviour from his die-hard followers. I dunno, it's complicated. I do think doomscrolling has played a massive part, I do think bots and algorhythms have played a massive part and I definitely think money plays the biggest part. Ultimately though, I think/hope the people of America will reject Trump again. He's just too dangerous an animal with not enough of a cult following to gain a majority (I hope).
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I want to reply to this but it's too late at night. I appreciate what you're saying. I need to go listen to the video again, to reply properly. I agree that algorithms and bots and social media have created new opportunities for a sort of mind control that most of us are probably prone to. Which is one reason I hate personal data collecting - for the opportunity it gives to bad operators.

Some symptoms of a cult-like mind control, as I see it (which is admittedly a bit sloppy): people going to a Comet Ping Pong Pizzeria in DC because they think dems have a pedophilia ring in the basement. And Comet Ping Pong doesn't even have a basement. People going to Texas, lining the streets, (having travelled how far???), waiting (how long???) for JFK to come driving round the corner. People taking anti-malaria drugs against covid. Animal worming medicine against covid. People doxxing whoever t---- mentions in a negative light. People showing up to stop the steal, when some 60+ court challenges claiming election fraud had turned up nothing. nada. zilch. People buying red maga hats. People buying t---- bibles. People buying t---- sneakers (not sure if any of those sold, actually). I guess I'm blurring the definition of the word 'cult'.

oh. yeah. I have to go to bed! Thanks for replying, maple. And questioning with thoughtful comments.
 
barnswallow said:
I want to reply to this but it's too late at night. I appreciate what you're saying. I need to go listen to the video again, to reply properly. I agree that algorithms and bots and social media have created new opportunities for a sort of mind control that most of us are probably prone to. Which is one reason I hate personal data collecting - for the opportunity it gives to bad operators.

Some symptoms of a cult-like mind control, as I see it (which is admittedly a bit sloppy): people going to a Comet Ping Pong Pizzeria in DC because they think dems have a pedophilia ring in the basement. And Comet Ping Pong doesn't even have a basement. People going to Texas, lining the streets, (having travelled how far???), waiting (how long???) for JFK to come driving round the corner. People taking anti-malaria drugs against covid. Animal worming medicine against covid. People doxxing whoever t---- mentions in a negative light. People showing up to stop the steal, when some 60+ court challenges claiming election fraud had turned up nothing. nada. zilch. People buying red maga hats. People buying t---- bibles. People buying t---- sneakers (not sure if any of those sold, actually). I guess I'm blurring the definition of the word 'cult'.

oh. yeah. I have to go to bed! Thanks for replying, maple. And questioning with thoughtful commen
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I like the phrase 'cult-like mind control' - I think that's a far better way of me understanding it than seeing MAGA as a cult in its own right. I can tend to get caught up in definitions, and I guess they don't really matter, it's the way people act that matters.
 
maplenpg said:
I like the phrase 'cult-like mind control' - I think that's a far better way of me understanding it than seeing MAGA as a cult in its own right. I can tend to get caught up in definitions, and I guess they don't really matter, it's the way people act that matters.
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I think we're in a new time and definitions have to expand and morph to adapt to where we are today.
 
Another take on this MAGA phenomenon that looks from a different angle. The word ‘cult’ is never used. Funnily enough, the interviewee is the same guy who is the interviewer in the video in post #1.

I try to faithfully reproduce whatever media I post here. I think Meidas Touch Network has some excellent content but I haven’t much liked the titles of the clips, lately. They’re over the top or use titles that don’t represent the content very well.

Trumpers CAUGHT OFF GUARD by Meidas Film That EXPOSED THEM | PoliticsGirl [MTN Network;4.16.24]

The reason for the interview is the film, ‘Against All Enemies’ but the clip itself never talks about anyone being caught off guard. Whatever. It’s an interesting interview that talks about what’s going on here in the U.S. of A of late. Not only does it never mention the word ‘cult’ but it never mentions MAGA. This one mostly discusses the subject of the film: homegrown terrorist movements and the threat to democracy they represent. While most of the MAGA movement isn’t part of that, these movements are mixed in to the concoction, part of the whole, part of MAGA / QAnon, etc.
 
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I was alarmed to read today (Post or Times, can’recall which) that foreign leaders have begun meeting with t——. Reality check. They are preparing for every eventuality as, of course, they must.
 
barnswallow said:
I was alarmed to read today (Post or Times, can’recall which) that foreign leaders have begun meeting with t——. Reality check. They are preparing for every eventuality as, of course, they must.
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Do you/America honestly think he's got a serious chance of winning?

It's mad looking at it from the outside.
 
maplenpg said:
Do you/America honestly think he's got a serious chance of winning?

It's mad looking at it from the outside.
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He has a chance. He cannot win the ‘popular’ vote, meaning all votes in aggregate. Our system of ‘electoral’ votes means a candidate can win without winning the popular vote. Each state has a certain # of electoral votes, based on its population. If you see a map of how the states lean, either Democrat (blue) or Republican (red), you will see a sight. The large center of the country will appear almost all red. The coastal states lean blue.

Also, elections recently revolve around just a handful of swing states, only 5 or 6. Arizona. Wisconsin. Michigan. Pennsylvania. North Carolina. Georgia. The other 44 are virtually locked in, either Democrat or Republican. The candidates / 2 parties do everything they can to win those states. They are the nail-biters on election night. How they vote will likely make all the difference as to who wins.

It’s mad from over here, too. There is debate about getting rid of the electoral college. That would change everything.
 
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