Our culture conflates a variety of things with personal character/quality. It is amazingly forgiving to certain types of behavior by certain types of people.
As pointed out, the stereotype of the MAGAt tends a certain way, but it is obvious that these are not the only people involved in and supporting that movement. Purely "popular" movements do not tend to have long life cycles in this country--they ebb and flow like the tide as interest and focus waxes and wanes in Short Attention Span Theater (which is what a lot of American public culture is).
A lot of these other supporters, the non-stereotypical supporters are "nice people." The perception of them as being nice people depends upon a couple of things:
1) They treat ME nicely, they are my friends. We move in the same circles I work with or for them;
2) They are successful (by American standards);
3) They tend to be white and "traditional" in their beliefs;
4) They are at least nominally Christian.
They are also people that happen to willfully believe patently false things that benefit them--or if they do not actually believe it, will still support it or, as a minimum, not speak out against it.
They are also people who will tolerate a total lack of ethical behavior in their political leadership in support of their goals (which is usually the maintenance of the status quo that benefits them or a return to a supposed earlier status quo that benefitted them.
They will tolerate and excuse a range of other behaviors that are strongly based in inherent bias and in/out group structures (this is a polite way of saying racist and sexist behavior--though it is not limited to that, there is social class thing here as well).
They donate time, money, personal action and ethos to these things as part of serving their particular interests.
They attempt to maintain some distance from the less savory aspects of that stuff by either acting clandestinely (dark money) or in a collectivist manner (mistakes were made, it's just business, it is what you have to do to be successful). I'm not that way, I am an upstanding citizen.
We excuse a LOT of very bad behavior in the successful.
We excuse a lot of bad behavior in our friends (because aren't our friends, in a sense, a reflection on OUR character?).
I will stipulate that inherent bias is present everywhere and in everyone.
I will further stipulate that inherent bias comes in a variety of flavors and strengths and affects identity in vary degrees of strength and expressed action... and that the forms of inherent bias that we label as racism or sexism may not be major components of a person's identity.
But I will argue that, regardless of that, participation (by funding or voting) and tolerance of these things in fellow travelers is an enabling activity. And that the knowing use of these things or support of these things (by silence, if nothing else) in pursuit of self-interest is wrong. The cynical and knowing use of these things is even more wrong--and is, in my eyes, more grievous than sincere participation.
I will also argue that the position of the person with the inherent bias in the social/political/economic power hierarchy is also crucial.
Our culture conflates a variety of things with personal character/quality. It is amazingly forgiving to certain types of behavior by certain types of people.
As pointed out, the stereotype of the MAGAt tends a certain way, but it is obvious that these are not the only people involved in and supporting that movement. Purely "popular" movements do not tend to have long life cycles in this country--they ebb and flow like the tide as interest and focus waxes and wanes in Short Attention Span Theater (which is what a lot of American public culture is).
A lot of these other supporters, the non-stereotypical supporters are "nice people." The perception of them as being nice people depends upon a couple of things:
1) They treat ME nicely, they are my friends. We move in the same circles I work with or for them;
2) They are successful (by American standards);
3) They tend to be white and "traditional" in their beliefs;
4) They are at least nominally Christian.
They are also people that happen to willfully believe patently false things that benefit them--or if they do not actually believe it, will still support it or, as a minimum, not speak out against it.
They are also people who will tolerate a total lack of ethical behavior in their political leadership in support of their goals (which is usually the maintenance of the status quo that benefits them or a return to a supposed earlier status quo that benefitted them.
They will tolerate and excuse a range of other behaviors that are strongly based in inherent bias and in/out group structures (this is a polite way of saying racist and sexist behavior--though it is not limited to that, there is social class thing here as well).
They donate time, money, personal action and ethos to these things as part of serving their particular interests.
They attempt to maintain some distance from the less savory aspects of that stuff by either acting clandestinely (dark money) or in a collectivist manner (mistakes were made, it's just business, it is what you have to do to be successful). I'm not that way, I am an upstanding citizen.
We excuse a LOT of very bad behavior in the successful.
We excuse a lot of bad behavior in our friends (because aren't our friends, in a sense, a reflection on OUR character?).
I will stipulate that inherent bias is present everywhere and in everyone.
I will further stipulate that inherent bias comes in a variety of flavors and strengths and affects identity in vary degrees of strength and expressed action... and that the forms of inherent bias that we label as racism or sexism may not be major components of a person's identity.
But I will argue that, regardless of that, participation (by funding or voting) and tolerance of these things in fellow travelers is an enabling activity. And that the knowing use of these things or support of these things (by silence, if nothing else) in pursuit of self-interest is wrong. The cynical and knowing use of these things is even more wrong--and is, in my eyes, more grievous than sincere participation.
I will also argue that the position of the person with the inherent bias in the social/political/economic power hierarchy is also crucial.
It makes you actually NOT a nice or good person.