Without doubt, there are many vectors in American civilization that have all come together to create what we call “Trumpism” or the MAGA movement.

One, of course, is the presence of Trump himself. Until 2015, when he came on the political scene, no one had dared to run for U.S.  president on a platform of hate and lies, e.g., immigrants are taking your jobs, the Democrats are coming for your guns, LGTBQs are grooming your children while schools are teaching them to hate America, climate scientists and epidemiologists are corrupt, etc.

Another factor here is the decline in our educational system and the accompanying loss of young people’s capacity for critical thinking.

Yet, to be fair, a great deal of the resentment with which Trump supporters regard our socio-economic landscape is that their wages have stagnated over the 40+ years, at the exact point in time an which the top 1% have become rich beyond measure. If you were watching the world pass you by in terms of real income and net worth, you may be easy pickin’s for the MAGA rhetoric yourself.

How Was the MAGA Movement Created?