Happy 4th of July?

Well, the “Big, Beautiful Bill” is about to become the law of the land. I’m not going to pretend to know everything that’s in the nearly 900-page bill, but then, neither do most of those who voted for it. What I do know is that it will negatively impact millions of Americans—perhaps Trump supporters most of all. This raises a question: Are hardcore MAGA folks just stupid?

The Left, and frankly anyone not part of the MAGA cult, has long marveled at just how dumb many MAGA voters seem to be. It’s easy to dig up clip after clip demonstrating their lack of knowledge, self-awareness, and critical thinking skills. And various studies seem to validate this point. At the very least, these die hards must be considered “low-information” voters — and there certainly seem to be plenty of them. Of course, you can find similarly mindless folks on the other side of the political divide as well. But I think there is little doubt that less intelligent people are more likely to be attracted to today’s “conservatives.” This isn’t a dig. It’s just observable fact — and it’s by design. When a movement dismisses education and expertise and elevates conspiracy theories, of course this is going to appeal to the unintelligent, who often feel left behind in today’s technological, information-dependent world. So we shouldn’t be surprised when it is so easy for liberal pundits and You-Tubers to make these people look ridiculous. Yes, it’s alarming how many staggeringly stupid people seem to exist. It’s even more worrying that they don’t seem to be embarrassed by their ignorance and lack of critical thinking skills. I would guess that many of them are just not endowed by nature with much intelligence. And while I don’t think we should pretend these people aren’t a threat, the reality is that stupid people rarely move the world — and when they do, it’s only because smarter people have figured out how to manipulate them.

I am more alarmed by the group of MAGA supporters who are not unintelligent. These are my friends, associates, and family who have (or used to have) the intelligence and critical thinking skills to engage in a rational argument. At one time, they were able to spot contradictions, to appreciate nuance, to actually process the news and the world in a way that helped them make sense of it. But many of them have chosen tribe, fear, and the cult of personality over adherence to reason or logic. They rationalize away contradictions. They ignore evidence that doesn’t support their pre-existing beliefs. In essence they have chosen stupidity. Fifteen years ago, if you’d told most of these people that they would place a political movement above the evidence of their own minds, they would have said you were crazy. And yet that is precisely what they now do. Any news story that conflicts with what they want to believe is dismissed as “fake news.” Trump is better than the Left has been elevated in their minds to near axiomatic status — never mind the fact that much of what he actually does is fully in line with the Left’s agenda. Remember when the Democrats used to be the ones against free trade and wanting to restrict immigration?

Also alarming are the highly intelligent MAGA leaders — the ones who hope to control the mass of born-stupid and made-stupid followers. Frankly, I don’t consider Trump one of them. I’m sure he thinks he is, but in reality, I suspect the actual intellectuals in the movement view him, as does his former National Security Advisor John Bolton, as a useful but not very intelligent tool. So who are the smart people in the MAGA movement? As much as I despise him, I think J.D. Vance is smart. As is his mentor Peter Thiel. Most of the people behind Project 2025 are smart. Even Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller are smart. They are also evil — but unfortunately the two traits can and sometimes do co-exist.

So while it’s tempting to dismiss MAGA voters and perhaps the entire movement as stupid, their intelligence (or lack of it) is irrelevant to how dangerous and powerful they might be or become. Sure, Trump is a loose cannon, and a terrible human being — and there’s no doubt that his “charisma” has allowed the MAGA movement to gain power surprisingly quickly — but don’t imagine the movement will magically disappear when Trump inevitably does (while Trump may be able to defeat the Constitution and gain a third term, as far as I know he hasn’t figured out how to cheat mortality). There will still be smart MAGA people pushing us towards a post-liberal future. Here I mean liberal in the original 19th century sense, still used in most of the world, which emphasized individual liberty, limited government, and free markets. These MAGA leaders are mystical (religious). They are collectivistic (nationalistic). And they are extremely dangerous. They are the ones we ultimately need to fight against. While it can be amusing to bait low-IQ voters on the streets and online, the real battle is an intellectual one, and there’s little point in spending time and energy on those who are unarmed. We must counter the intellectuals in the MAGA movement — even when the movement cloaks itself in the guise of anti-intellectualism. This movement is appropriating the aura of Americanism while denying its essence. Don’t let them. This 4th of July, reject MAGA and fight to return America to the principles that actually made it great

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