Leo Gura

Yes, cults prey on the psychologically vulnerable, exactly as Trump did. But it was greatly exacerbated by the new technologies of the 21th century. Really, all this Trumpism and anti-vax stuff just boils down to humans learning how to balance out the new power afforded to them by the internet. When under-educated humans are allowed to create their own epistemic echo-chambers via social media in a capitalist system -- shit hits the fan. It's the same problem as allowing dumb people to mess around with their own DNA. Imagine if your average FoxNews viewer got a hold of DNA-changing technology like CRISPR? Imagine what kind of monstrosities they would create. The problem is that epistemology is such an abstract and intangible thing that almost nobody takes it seriously. At least with DNA modification it's tangible and easy to regulate and see its dangers. But no politician or TV pundit sees the very real dangerous of modifying one's epistemology. Think of it this: If you discovered your teenage son tinkering with his DNA or plutonium, you would freak out and stop him immediately. But what do you do when your teenage son is tinkering with his epistemology on his iPad???

The ultimate problem is how do we deprogram all these MAGA members after Trump exits? It's the same problem as cult deprogramming. This is an epistemology problem. The right-wing has created such as deep and profitable ideological echo-chamber that I don't even know where to begin healing it. We see this with Pizzagate, anti-vaxxers, Flatearthers, etc. Go try healing one of these people. It's impossible. They got cancer of the mind. And not just one but a cluster of them. There is a very anti-mainstream mood in the air. But what these anti-mainstreamers don't realize is that being anti-mainstream can be WORSE and lower in consciousness than the mainstream! Which is why we have the word "cult". A "cult" is just a toxic splinter cell within mainstream cult-ure. The only difference between culture and a cult is that culture is proven by natural selection to scale and be sustainable whereas a cult is not. Culture is a cult which has proven itself sustainable and healthy over the centuries when others did not pass the natural selection tests. MAGA will obviously not pass the natural selection test. It is no scalable or sustainable.

Absolutely! The last 4 years have created a right-wing MAGA echo-chamber of epic proportions which has rotted the minds of at least 40% of Americans. This is the real problem. And this problem will not end with Trump's exit. The real problem is confirmation bias thanks to social media of unprecedented scales. People are literally using social media to cherrypick and construct fantastical views of reality, and no one can stop them. Ironically this is a consequence of an increase in democracy. The democratisation of epistemology is a very dangerous thing when people have no clue what epistemology is. I explain all this in my video: Understanding Democracy: https://www.actualized.org/articles/understanding-democracy

It's not just the physical guns. It's the culture and the level of inequality. In a country with a great social safety net, violence and its cultural glorification is not so necessary. In Finland those are mostly probably hunting rifles -- also a part of Finish culture.

It's just basic psychology of the ego. Nothing mysterious about it. The ego is very predictable in its tricks once you study the ego deeply enough. When you fully understand the ego-mind, people's behaviors become so predictable. People are like robots that way. Because they are just acting out cravings and fears. Nothing more. A person driven by craving and fear is very predictable. Truly original behavior requires Tier 2 cognitive development. The lower you are on the Spiral the more predictable your behavior is. Like an animal. Once you become ridiculously conscious your behavior becomes impossible to predict because you're so free, flexible, and creative. Your mind has been jailbroken.

There is a serious problem here that if all the people with integrity resign over this, only the biggest devils will remain. That is a very dangerous thing. Once that happens there will be no one to steer the ship away from the mortal blow.

My fave quote about this is ironically from conservative David Frum: That's been Frum's pinned Twitter for several years now and it's absolutely gonna come to fruition.

In a dream, is the body real? No. It's imaginary. Your physical body is actually just a dense form of imagination. Note: I'm not saying that your idea of having a body is imaginary. I am saying your actual body is imaginary. If you look at your hand long enough you will realize it is imaginary. You are imagining the entire backstory of your life right this second. Your parents, all your childhood memories, all your past trauma, and your birth of course as a human. All of it is imagined by you NOW You have a body in the sense that you are imagining it right now. But you can also stop imagining it -- at which point it will disappear. Of course the ego does not have voluntary control over how the body is imagined. So you cannot just imagine yourself with 5 nipples and it happens. No. Ego doesn't not control that. God is imagining that you have 2 nipples.

Because he's already in a fragile state.

Good for him. Most Republicans should come to their senses. They kept underestimating Trump's depravity for 4 years. Now they can deny it no longer. The Republicans have been like that cliche sorcerer in every fantasy RPG game who wants to open a portal to hell to spawn in a demon, thinking he will get to control the demon and it will do his bidding, but of course the demon ends up devouring or possessing him and going on a rampage.

Do not post Facebook gossip here. It is cancer plain and simple and I'm not going to waste my time debunking it point by point. It's pure shit.

Honestly, that split already happened 4 years ago with intelligent conservatives like David Frum, Bill Krystal, Nichol Wallace, Joe Scarborough. They knew right off the bat that Trump was an imposter conservative and they opposed him early on. But now that time has come for the rest of the conservative base who were not so bright and prescient. Now they must choose between MAGA and democracy.

Anyone posting news or information in this thread, be very careful that you are not spreading propaganda or falsehoods. Triple-check your sources before you post here. Don't post random gossip from social media. I am not going to be babysitting you guys through this. If you cannot demonstrate an ability to check facts and sources yet you post it here like it's news but it turns out to be fake, that will get you banned. Don't share random crap from Facebook or Twitter. Fact-check it first.

Conservatives are gonna fracture now between those who have integrity and those who do not. Those with integrity will stand against Trump. Those without it -- the MAGA crowd -- will go all-in on MAGA since they have cancer of the mind. Historically this will be remembered analogous to those who stood against Hitler during his rise and those who denounced him as the devil that he is. Now the line will get very stark.

Why are you listening to such right-wingers who have clearly demonstrated themselves to spread falsehoods and propaganda? Do not post random right-wing gossip here. Otherwise I could post, I've been hearing from some right-wingers that you are a pedophile. When you try to cast this obviously MAGA movement as somehow caused by communists and Antifa, you instantly discredit yourself. Communists are not contesting the democratic process here, MAGA are. And MAGA will try to blame anyone but themselves for their despicable behavior.

Ardhanarishvara, duality and nonduality, yin and yang:

Obviously that's delusional. We're not gonna advance such things here. The MAGA cult is a small percentage of conservatives. You can have conservative views but be sure to distinguish yourself from the kind of partisan ideology found on FoxNews, OANN, NewsMax, etc. Demonstrate that you are not dogmatic or ideological. And don't gaslight us with projection and whataboutism. I would LOVE to see some non-ideological, non-partisan, sane, reasonable fact-based conservatives. They are a rare breed these days.

Like I said a long time ago, if Trump goes down, his ego is such that he will try to take the ship down with him. That's what we're seeing now.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardhanarishvara

Moderators, please direct any new threads started about this topic here. So we have one main discussion thread on the MAGA Coup.

Discuss here:

Mind what you post. If I catch anyone doing apologetics for Trumpism -- doing stuff like false equivalence between left and right, gaslighting about liberals, or suggesting the election was fraudulent -- you will be banned. If you have a conservative worldview, tread carefully.

@Hardkill I hope so It's crazy how razor thin US elections are. Especially when the Republicans keep putting up monsters as their candidates. The saddest thing of all is that these elections should be a slam dunk for Dems. Which is the clearest proof that people like Ken Wilber and Don Beck are wrong. America is nowhere close to solid Green yet, let alone Yellow. The rural parts of the country are shockingly regressive. The real question no one is asking is: as cities develop, how do we help rural folks evolve? If we leave the rural folks behind it will come back to bite us, as we see with Trumpism. Trumpism is a rural phenomenon.

Chickens have come home to roost Remember, ideology is not merely ideas. Ideology gives rise to stuff like violence, and genocide, and terrorism.