Trump's Dangerous Attempted Cultural Revolution

Much of the far right in America, particularly the so-called "conservative Christians," hate knowledge, science and experts because objective reality and modern knowledge challenge their Bronze Age fairy tale beliefs.  Moreover, they believe in personal freedom and religious freedom only for themselves - everyone else must conform to their archaic and typically hate based beliefs.   Those who do not conform or who are perceived as looking down on the ignorance and bigotry - or god forbid  see them for the knuckle dragging hypocrites that they are - must be punished.  This mindset also motivates much of MAGA world that despises experts, expertise and knowledge because these people and knowledge highlight how wrong they are in fact. Their cult leader, the Felon, fully embraces this hatred for any one and anything that exposes his lack of intellectual and economic acuity and as we are witnessing seeks revenge on anyone who fails to grovel sufficiently before him.  This goes far beyond tender egos of white "Christian" nationalist who feel threatened by diversity, equity and inclusion because in their zero sum world, if someone else prospers, they feel they have been deprived of what was rightfully theirs.   Project 2025, which the Felon is steadily implementing is permeated with this hate and resentment and seeks to return America to the 1950's when white men were supreme.  A piece by an economist looks at this dangerous effort to turn back time:

I’m in Lisbon, speaking at a conference the Banco de Portugal is holding to commemorate the revolution that brought democracy to Portugal 50 years ago. I worked at the Bank in 1976 and have been a friend of Portugal ever since. And while Portugal has faced many challenges since the Carnation Revolution, all in all its democracy has flourished.

Alas, democracy in my own nation is now under dire threat. 

Donald Trump has been treated very, very badly. At least that’s what he says all the time, and there’s no reason to doubt that it’s how he feels. Hardly a day goes by without an outburst . . . .

Above all, he clearly feels rage toward people who, he imagines, think they’re smarter or better than him.

And he and the movement he leads, composed of people possessed by similar rage, are seeking retribution. Retribution against whom? Yes, they hate wokeness. But three months in, it’s obvious that the MAGA types want revenge not just on their political opponents but on everyone they consider elites — a group that, as they see it, doesn’t include billionaires, but does include college professors, scientists and experts of any kind.

It took no time at all for the Trumpists to move from trying to purge government agencies of DEI to trying to control the content of medical journals.

Don’t try to sanewash what’s happening. It’s evil, but it isn’t calculated evil. That is, it’s not a considered political strategy, with a clear end goal. It’s a visceral response from people who, as Thomas Edsall puts it, are addicted to revenge.

If you want a model for what’s happening to America, think of Mao’s Cultural Revolution. . . . Once you’ve seen the parallel between what MAGA is trying to do and China’s Cultural Revolution, the similarities are everywhere. Maoists sent schoolteachers to do farm labor; Trumpists are talking about putting civil servants to work in factories.

The Cultural Revolution was, of course, a huge disaster for China. It inflicted vast suffering on its targets and also devastated the economy. But the Maoists didn’t care. Revenge was their priority, never mind the effects on GDP.

The Trumpists are surely the same. Their rampage will, if unchecked, have dire economic consequences. Right now we’re all focused on tariff madness, but undermining higher education and crippling scientific research will eventually have even bigger costs. But don’t expect them to care, or even to acknowledge what’s happening. Trump has already declared that the inflation everyone can see with their own eyes is fake news.

There is, however, one big difference between Chairman Mao in 1966 and President Trump in 2025: Trump probably — probably — doesn’t have the cards.

Until a couple of weeks ago, as one institution after another capitulated to Trump’s demands, it was hard to avoid the sickening feeling that American civil society would fold without a fight. But as I said, Trump and his movement are driven by visceral urges, not strategy. And right now it looks as if they overreached.

In different ways, the rendition of innocent people to gulags in El Salvador — don’t call it deportation — and the assault on Harvard seem to have stiffened spines. And the catastrophe of Trump’s economic policy has alienated businesspeople who would otherwise have served as his useful idiots.

America as we know it may yet perish. But at this point we seem to have a chance.