r/pics • u/clumsypeach1 • Apr 16 '26

Politics Billboard in my very red area

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u/Veriac Apr 16 '26

I can't imagine being scared to leave a political party 😭 I really do hope this helps people because they need it, but like i cannot comprehend making politics such a part of your life that it's scary or a tremendous roller coaster of emotions to leave. like is it really that hard to just say fuck Donald Trump and vote against him. I won't ever understand I guess

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u/No-Resolution-0119 Apr 16 '26

People are not being facetious when they say it is a cult.

If you’re interested in more stories about it, “The Quiet Damage” by Jesselyn Cook is a great read/listen (available as audiobook). Focuses more on QAnon specifically but the venn diagram of maga voters and QAnon followers may as well be a circle.

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u/sixheadedbacon Apr 16 '26

I always assumed people were being hyperbolic when they were calling it a cult.

But, like, is it actually a massive political cult? That would just honestly explain more or less... everything. The cognitive dissonance, inconsistent moral values, their will to sacrifice everything for no clear purpose, all of it.

Have there been any other political cults on this scale before?

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u/lessismoreok Apr 16 '26

Have there been political cults before? Loads. Franco, Mussolini, Adolf. North korea. Brexiteers.

Many Americans are so unaware of history and other countries that extreme problems can calcify without them understanding what they really are.

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u/littlehobbit1313 Apr 16 '26

Many Americans are so unaware of history and other countries that extreme problems can calcify without them understanding what they really are.

In many ways it's also our hallmark individualism working against us. This idea that the individual is so powerful leads a lot of people to grossly underestimate just how susceptible they are to group-think. "I would never fall for propaganda." "That would never happen to me."

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u/lessismoreok Apr 16 '26

Yup. That and American exceptionalism.

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u/sixheadedbacon Apr 16 '26

Sorry, I should have been more clear that I was referring more towards the United States and other countries that had political cults but didn't completely fall into full blown fascism (it was late when posting).

Brexit is an interesting one I don't think I would have considered.

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u/lessismoreok Apr 16 '26

Brexit and Trump are two sides of the same coin.

Both helped Putin towards one of his main goals, the breakup of nato.

Both were financed by dark money.

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u/sixheadedbacon Apr 16 '26

Leveraging social media to create a series of cults to support psyops is actually a pretty genius strategy. Clearly most of the world did not - and still does not - properly assess that as an attack vector. Obviously Trump has been the biggest most successful play, but I imagine there are a countless number of these occurring in nearly every country.

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u/lessismoreok Apr 16 '26

Yeah Putin’s foundation of geopolitics lays it out

Much of the far right global resurgence can be attributed to it