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MAGA: The 21st Century Scapegoat
President Trump became the ultimate scapegoat of the 21st Century; people loved to hate him, and he gave them several opportunities during his time as president to be resented, even despised, his effective policies notwithstanding. But if you look at his behavior in terms of the scapegoat, and realize that not only Trump but Republicans as a whole are now being scapegoated, there are many reasons to be concerned and to make an effort to deal with the scapegoating issue. Even if Trump doesn’t run for president, he will continue to be the primary target of the Left, and anyone who remotely supports his ideas (regardless of Joe Biden’s claims about not blaming Republicans in general) will be condemned.
But if we are going to understand fully the implications of scapegoating to the future of this country, and try to deal with it in a constructive way, we need to understand how scapegoating works . Scapegoating has a long history going back to biblical times.
By definition, the scapegoat is a person or people ‘made to bear the anxious blame for others.’ The scapegoated individual or subgroup is seen as a threat to the comfort and the successful functioning of the group as a whole and therefore must be eliminated. Whether the perceived threat is true or not is incidental: scapegoating is more about feelings than truth. As far as the group is concerned, the scapegoat is the sacrifice needed to ensure survival. . .
Scapegoating has led to violence against and the degradation of groups of people. Genocide in the Sudan, ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Croatia, the Holocaust in Nazi Germany, apartheid in South Africa, lynchings in the American South, honor killings of women in the Middle East and Southeast Asia — all are specific to scapegoating. History can be visualized as one long timeline of scapegoating. Wars are fought and won and ideologies cemented by the creation of stereotypical scapegoats — visual representations that put a face on the enemy for public consumption.
Can the intensity and rhetoric in America be likened to these tragic international events? Some on the Left would point to the January 6 riot; instead, I would suggest that the riots, business burnings and attacks that took place the summer of 2020 are more representative examples of scapegoating activities, attacks on the very foundations of America. The Major Cities Chiefs Association reported the following (bolded words are theirs):
In cities where violence did occur, assaults on police officers, looting, and arson were the most common criminal activities. Approximately, 72% of major city law enforcement agencies had officers harmed during the protests. This included nearly every agency that experienced at least one violent protest. In total, over the course of the civil unrest from May to July, more than 2,000 officers sustained injuries in the line of duty. One agency reported 50 officers being injured in a single week of protests. Another agency reported that 462 of their officers were injured during the protests in their jurisdiction.
Looting was also a common occurrence (2,385 instances), with 62% of major city law enforcement agencies indicating that at least one incident of looting occurred in their cities. This activity was primarily clustered during the first few days of protests. Of note, several agencies reported that in some instances, the looting appeared to be coordinated and organized. For example, some cities encountered ‘looting caravans’ that moved throughout different neighborhoods. One agency reported 115 commercial burglaries occurred in just one day. Two other agencies reported $927,000 worth of damage as a result of looting in each of their jurisdictions, and another agency reported a single looting event at a shopping mall that resulted in over $70 million in damage.
The international events were cataclysmic, and the January 6 riot was serious, but clearly the impact of riots, looting, and attacks on law enforcement are considered inconsequential to the Left, in comparison.
And then there are the lies and distortions stated by President Biden (although he took back his words the next day). From his August 31 speech:
And here, in my view, is what is true: MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law. They do not recognize the will of the people.
They refuse to accept the results of a free election. And they’re working right now, as I speak, in state after state to give power to decide elections in America to partisans and cronies, empowering election deniers to undermine democracy itself.
MAGA forces are determined to take this country backwards — backwards to an America where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love.
They promote authoritarian leaders, and they fan the flames of political violence that are a threat to our personal rights, to the pursuit of justice, to the rule of law, to the very soul of this country.
They look at the mob that stormed the United States Capitol on January 6th — brutally attacking law enforcement — not as insurrectionists who placed a dagger to the throat of our democracy, but they look at them as patriots.
And they see their MAGA failure to stop a peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 election as preparation for the 2022 and 2024 elections.
It’s pretty remarkable that every one of these points is a distortion or lie.
Every one of them. In one speech.
* * * *
For years I’ve been urging Conservatives and Republicans to speak out against the words and activities of the Left. I haven’t changed my opinion. But I am concerned that the intensity and the rhetoric is being ramped up, and after the spectacle of Biden’s August 31 speech, people are angrier than ever.
I fear that we are on the edge of violence, at least by those who have little patience for scapegoating and few ideas of how to fight back. Unfortunately, recommendations for moderating the situation are naïve and meaningless, especially for those on the Left:
The greatest antidote to scapegoating is dialogue and solidarity across different sectors of society. Ordinary citizens must combat fear and isolation by opening new channels of communication and exchange. Václav Havel’s famous call for a culture of solidarity is important again today. As he said: ‘The issue is the rehabilitation of values like trust, openness, responsibility, solidarity, love.’ In other words, citizens must take up the ordinary, unglamorous work of relating to one’s neighbors again.
Right.
Is there any way to dial back the vile rhetoric and the inherent call for action against Republicans? Is the ballot box the only way to fight back?
Will that be enough?
[photo from unsplash.com]
Published in Politics
I say that the decision-makers in the Biden administration are making Trump the third imminent existential threat. There’s Global Warming, and Permanent Pandemic Pestilence and now Trump’s Ultra-MAGA destruction of peace and freedom. All three are (1) non-existent threats, with (2) exaggerated existential dangers, to (3) instill fear and manipulate anger to control a the population.
We’ll see if fighting the war on Trump and Ultra-MAGAism (1) proceeds to redirecting government spending and making a relative few very rich, and (2) forcing people to alter their lifestyles, bankrupt people, and make being on the dole more attractive. But I think that’s next on the list.
Added: Actually, a digital currency would be top on he list to insure tranquility.
We’ve seen leftist violence for some time. We will see more.
I guess for me, the MAGA feels more personal; I’m not a MAGA, but I identify with much of their agenda. I wouldn’t doubt that their plans include enriching the elite and forcing many people, especially the middle class, to struggle even more than they already are. Being on the dole may not necessarily seem more “attractive,” but a daily necessity. Sigh.
I fear that it will move from impersonal buildings and businesses to the people. We’ll see . . .
I wonder if you will get the same treatment I did for that line.
No I don’t.
Ultra-MAGA is the Biden formulation, not from the MAGA people. And I added to my comment that a digital currency would be top on he list to insure tranquility. This would put the use of all personal money in the hands of banks and ultimately the Fed. This would at least greatly increase control of the population, and I’m fairly sure this would make certain industries such as banking and investment more powerful and richer.
?? which part?
The coming election outcomes will be decisive. Just think about this: if Democrats control Congress and the Executive then that means the federal budget, money creation, Federal Reserve, the banking system, and the IRS are all part of that control. That pretty much completes your above list.
I had an earlier post addressing digital currency:
Bob, two questions: if the Dems get in, is there any way at all for us to stop this takeover? Second, do you think Republicans realize the implications and will be able to resist? I’m not sure I trust them either . . .
Susan, your OP quotes the following from Dr. Arthur D. Colman. The bolding is mine:
The highlighted part seems completely wrong to me.
If the perceived threat is true, then the group being assigned blame actually is the problem. This doesn’t strike me as “scapegoating” at all. It strikes me as an accurate assessment of a social threat.
My usage of the term “scapegoat” is limited to a person or group that is erroneously blamed for some problem.
What are your thoughts about this?
It’s not always erroneous. Sometimes the scapegoat speaks or acts in a way that causes his or her adversary to react negatively–as Trump often did.
It’s like BS: the literal definition of Bullsh*t is speaking self-aggrandizingly regardless of whether it’s true or not, so it’s not specifically lying, though it may be a lie.
With punishing the scapegoat, the misdirection and the punishment is the point, not the offense or threat.
Susan, given the theatrics of Biden, it’s not too difficult to imagine that, perhaps in the future, we’ll have our very own “two minutes of hate” in which Trump’s face along, with some MAGA types, will be subjected to the vitriol of the elites. (Apologies in advance for all the ads.)
https://youtu.be/XvGmOZ5T6_Y
I’ve got a great memory, except for names, dates, places, faces and things — and now quotes. But didn’t someone once say, “If you control a country’s money, it doesn’t matter who writes the laws”?
But if misdirection, that means the scapegoat is innocent at least of what he is being scapegoated for.
That we are on the edge of violence. None other than James Lileks dropped in to castigate me.
That can be the case. For example, a person could be scapegoated on Rico, because he’s often seen as argumentative. Even when he has a good argument, he can be targeted for those other exchanges.
Sometimes the so-called scapegoat is a real threat, right? Then he’s not actually a scapegoat. He is an enemy.
I don’t think that Trump or we MAGA folks are a threat to the Republic. We are a threat to the country that the Leftists seem to want. They are a threat to the country that we want.
I don’t see how conceptualizing the situation as “scapegoating” helps in these circumstances, if we accept Dr. Colman’s non-judgmental definition.
I think scapegoating is spot on.
But
What, pray tell, is a ‘MAGA’?
This is the first step in scapegoating. Applying a label.
Even the people who dress up in MAGA gear and go to a Trump rally aren’t necessarily a MAGA. They don’t wear the gear all the time and I suspect most of them live normal lives and no doubt have friends and associates who are Democrats. Just like Green Bay Packers fans don’t wear their cheese hats to work on Monday and are variously Catholics Protestants and Jews, firemen lawyers insurance salesmen and mechanics. Watching a football game in Green Bay is no standard to judge Wisconsinites.
but in the way that’s what they’re doing with Trump supporters and so-called magga people. Most people are much bigger than their political affiliations, so I would posit that there are very few people whose prime focus is the MAGA agenda. 72 million people voted for the guy, so I think that point becomes clear in our daily lives.
I would not self-identify as ‘a’ MAGA either. Mostly because labels are more useful for adversaries than allies, as we are seeing, but also because my political support is never fixed and always temporary.
The MAGA agenda is quite tame actually, which make this demonizing more ludicrous.
Anyone who’s ever been bullied ( and I certainly was in several schools) can see scapegoating for what it is and it applies well here. To me this is middle school and junior high school level stuff with real-world consequences.
The most saddening aspect of this is no one stepping in to defend the ‘little guy’ because he’s perceived as some ‘big guy’, he refuses to take the mantle of victim. That’s good, but it doesn’t mean he – and more importantly- the principal of fairness and justice- should not be defended.
There are higher things to stand up for even if one, for example, don’t agree with the gay agenda, if some gay person attacked I would defend him/her because of the unfairness of the attacks. It does not mean that I have to agree with what they want or with their politics.
Precisely. And so easy to skip over. And it depends on who says it, e.g., when a Nazi said Jew (or a Jew did) or when a Trump fan says MAGA (when Biden does).
Mostly, it’s like cops beating a robber not because he’s a robber, but because is satisfied them emotionally, and makes them look good to others, and covers the fact that they are running a protection racket.
Regarding misdirection, it’s simple: the group isn’t the problem in the way they are saying it is. Let’s play on some real life examples.
I could mention the war in Ukraine being the attempt to cover up US corruption in Ukraine, by baiting Russia to invade Ukraine, the US makes billions of dollars in defense spending kick-backs, and by blaming Russia for everything including lack of oil and inflation (the scapegoating: Russia bad! Putin evil!). No one dares see that US interests are making a corrupt financial killing. Russia was bad in invading, but that’s not the real problem.
But let’s take the case of Trump. He had classified documents in his basement, and let’s say that there was a violation of some law: he’s guilty but the charges are exaggerated (the scapegoating: Orange man bad! He has betrayed the country and will lead a revolt!). But what he was holding was evidence against the FBI, CIA, and DOJ for far greater crimes, and that’s the sole reason they raid him and arrest him. He’s broken the law, but that’s not why he was raided.
But more generally, something doesn’t add up. It’s too black and white. Identifying an entire easily delineated and identified group is rather black and white. The badness of the group is exaggerated and maximized to the baddest thing: black and white. Each individual member of the group is equally bad — and very, very bad: black and white. And each member of the group deserves equal punishment, and the most severe punishment.
That’s scapegoating: people do bad things, and they are blamed for everything under the sun.
[edited]
Daniel Greenfield
No. No. No, my friend.
If the perceived threat is true. That’s usually quite difficult to prove, and there are always a myriad of reasons individuals in a group act a certain way. Some of them may be guilty of the perceived threat, but others entirely innocent. Your statement advocates for the idea that any group or movement contains individuals who are of exactly the same opinion or mind as the person perceiving the threat. The Jan 6th people were all “storming the Capitol” and all intent upon insurrection. Entirely wrong. Most of them were just going along and taking selfies.
The people who vote Republican are all wanting to ban abortion entirely and therefore all mysogynists. This is another example of what I’m saying.
In fact, with the level of paranoia out there I fail to see how accepting these people’s “perceptions” of threats, these claims should first be seen as highly questionable at the outset.
My main objection to collectivism is it creates politicization of nearly everything.
Somehow, which of the two choices we make can be used as a reason to condemn each other for a single issue? This is entirely insane, yet the left uses this constantly.
Scapegoating is wrong because it takes individuals and blames them disproportionately and unfairly for some larger perceived threat or societal illness. There is never a case where an individual should be condemned for his/her alignment with a group without strong evidence of individual actions on that persons part and a full understanding of the persons motivations.
Thanks, Franco. I think, too, that scapegoating can take on a life of its own. Scapegoating against Jews has lasted for centuries. It’s not just about hating a group; it can also be about seeing them as responsible for the difficulties in your own life, just because of who they are or what they believe. That’s a dangerous belief.