There are many people in American politics I can imagine would attract cults: War heroes, charismatic speakers, people with compelling stories.
The idea that a cult would form around a spoiled little rich boy who hates the people who love him still amazes me. /1
The idea that a cult would form around a spoiled little rich boy who hates the people who love him still amazes me. /1
But the more I think about it, the more I realize this is a Cult of Inferiority. This is a cult of people who want to think someone *no better than them and maybe worse* finally made it into power. They know he's just a snotty brat. They like that. It reassures them. /2
For all the talk of "greatness," we have a giant subculture - they are not a majority, but there are millions of them - who loathe greatness, fear it, and celebrate the most loathsome among us as a balm for their own insecurities and resentments. This is extremely dangerous. /3
This really is how *fascism* starts, but again, let go of that word for now. Trump is too stupid and too small to create a mass movement, and his followers are too lazy to join one. But a smarter authoritarian down the line might do better at it. That's what to watch for. /4x
