Thread by @RemakingManhood

The MAGA movement, based on aging white boomer victimhood is a bell curve. That bell curve has peaked for the simple reason that boomers, of which I am one, are dying off. -Boomers were wholly unprepared for the blunt manipulations of Fox News, in bundled cable of the 90s

White boomers never faced the great depression, or a world war, yet we were particularly susceptible to the idea that we were victims of hardships. In part because of the restless disconnection of our gated community lives we bought fragile white victimhood hook/line/sinker.

After lifetimes of leaning into consumerism/mass consumption we boomers woke up to find ourselves angry and reactive to our own disconnection. Maybe a bigger SUV would help? Maybe a third marriage? Many of us self reflected. Took stock.

But many more of us doubled down on our false sense of victimhood. “Whatever the fuck is wrong here, it must be someone else’s fault. Women. Immigrants. Black people.” And Fox News was there to lovingly encourage our blind entitlement. To sell us our own failed white fragility.

The MAGA bell curve peaked as we moved into retirement, staring blankly at our own mortality. Because we bought into the drumbeat of individualism by a GOP bent on eliminating social safety nets, we sought validation in class and status and so ended up without community.

Retirement is when the panic really set in for boomers. No longer able to rely on the stale connection of workplace relationships, we were left sitting in our easy chairs staring at the Tucker Carlsons of the Fox News rabbit hole. Again, it was an inflection point for some of us.

Some boomers said, “Maybe this creeping anxiety is my fault. Maybe this disconnection from my kids, my community, from the world right outside my door is my fault.” Some of us went looking for basic human connection. We realized we had been tricked. But so many just got angrier.

Trump was the final act of angry white boomers. No longer did we coyly perform the wink wink of coded racist language about welfare queens and urban crime. We were liberated to march with Proud Boys, Oath Keepers. Our panic weaponized into authoritarian rage.

There is a fundamental dynamic at play in boomers who are all in on QAnon and MAGA. Each of us saw the off-ramps. We saw the moments in our long easy lives when we could’ve made a different choice, moved toward human connection. What’s creeping up on us is now is how late it is.

For MAGA boomers to admit now, at this terribly late date, that all the white privilege and rage in the world isn’t calming our loneliness or our growing panic, means looking back on 70 years or more and admitting we fell prey to our most selfish, ugly, bullying instincts.

You want to talk terrifying? It is the archetypal Dickens moment. The final inflection point. Scrooge utterly alone staring at everything he values and realizing they are chains. The king MAGA boomer is Donald Trump. Doubling down on rage and dominance all the way to midnight.

My boomer brothers and sisters who have already taken the inflection point and moved into diverse connection and community, thank you for your courage. Those still flailing amidst the mad contradictions of our fading generation? You can change. Take the inflection point.

Whatever casual dismissals corporate media cares to assign it, 2022 midterms are an historic inflection point in the pro democracy movement. Young American voters across race and gender have entered the chat. A sitting President held its ground in a midterm. Boomers are exiting

Buh-bye boomers. Including me.

For those who would prefer this thread in article form, it's here on Medium. No firewall. remakingmanhood.medium.com/all-the-way-to…

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Addendum: If I have left the impression I’m calling all boomers MAGA I apologize. I often write about the failings of men only to bring down on myself the “not all men” response when my goal is to address behaviors that trend in populations but don’t define all that are in it.

I’m addressing the 50% of boomers who contributed to the rise of Fox. In the same way I’m not saying all boomers are MAGA, I’m also not saying MAGA is only boomers, but some people hear it like that, in part, because it’s hard not to feel defensive in a conversation like this.

My goal is to invite us, boomers, gen X, gen Z, all of us, to work to bridge across the crisis of connection deeply rooted in our culture, putting us all at risk. Such unaddressed isolation creates the anxiety, anger, blaming and bigotry that fuels the MAGA movement to this day.

For those who would like to bring some of that *not all men* energy, here's our podcast. (I promise, it's not like that.) 15 minutes on healthy masculinity. Remaking Manhood is available on all major streaming services. anchor.fm/remaking-manho…