They’re all just highly manipulable people. They aren’t necessarily stupid, and may be ambitious and even successful. But here’s why they’re so manipulable: at their core, they’re just not very smart.
There’s this sort of very American idea that appeals to people who aren’t very smart and it appears to have been indulged in since the country was founded. It’s passed down from parents to their children, it’s pervasive - and if you’re American, you will recognize it because you will have seen it firsthand - quite a lot. In a nutshell it works like this:
a) I am fucking awesome
b) Everyone else are idiots, to greater or lesser degrees
c) The world is not that complicated
d) All you need is a work ethic and common sense
To people informed by this American sort of ideal, anyone who deals in nuance or shades of grey is simply one of the aforementioned idiots who is trying to hide their own lack of work ethic and/or common sense by making the world seem more complicated than it is.
The problem is, they are living in a fantasy world that doesn’t really exist, because:
a) they are not really that awesome
b) nearly everyone else is smarter than they are
c) the world is incredibly complicated
d) sometimes a work ethic and common sense is worthless
Living in a fantasy world has an exhausting effect because the real world continues to exist and is the way it is without regard to your fantasy - which is incredibly frustrating for them. This frustration is what makes them so manipulable. Literally anyone who comes along and tells them they have it right is in possession of a key that will unlock these people in a very dramatic fashion.
They will give away everything they own, give over their entire existence, pledge fealty - their devotion will know nearly no bounds. The practical upshot of this is shitheels who post “FUCK BIDEN” on their truck and listen 24/7 to any media that tells them they are right about the world. They are just so dead tired of the real world constantly reminding them of how wrong they are - because they are.
That’s a pretty good analysis. But it’s missing a huge component. It’s missing The Jesus.
Some magical authority that can never be questioned without consequence and can be interpreted in any way authority sees fit. It’s chaotic evil in the guise of a sweet fairy tale where we all get presents and go to heaven (except some of us but don’t think about it).
Absolutely 100%. Being raised to be credulous enough to believe in literal Harry Potter levels of magical thinking without the slightest hint of self-reflection is another huge contributing factor to them being so manipulable.
When you already unironically believe in magic, it’s easy to believe in and act on things that the rest of us can only drop our jaws and stare at in disbelief.
They’re all just highly manipulable people. They aren’t necessarily stupid, and may be ambitious and even successful. But here’s why they’re so manipulable: at their core, they’re just not very smart.
There’s this sort of very American idea that appeals to people who aren’t very smart and it appears to have been indulged in since the country was founded. It’s passed down from parents to their children, it’s pervasive - and if you’re American, you will recognize it because you will have seen it firsthand - quite a lot. In a nutshell it works like this:
a) I am fucking awesome
b) Everyone else are idiots, to greater or lesser degrees
c) The world is not that complicated
d) All you need is a work ethic and common sense
To people informed by this American sort of ideal, anyone who deals in nuance or shades of grey is simply one of the aforementioned idiots who is trying to hide their own lack of work ethic and/or common sense by making the world seem more complicated than it is.
The problem is, they are living in a fantasy world that doesn’t really exist, because:
a) they are not really that awesome
b) nearly everyone else is smarter than they are
c) the world is incredibly complicated
d) sometimes a work ethic and common sense is worthless
Living in a fantasy world has an exhausting effect because the real world continues to exist and is the way it is without regard to your fantasy - which is incredibly frustrating for them. This frustration is what makes them so manipulable. Literally anyone who comes along and tells them they have it right is in possession of a key that will unlock these people in a very dramatic fashion.
They will give away everything they own, give over their entire existence, pledge fealty - their devotion will know nearly no bounds. The practical upshot of this is shitheels who post “FUCK BIDEN” on their truck and listen 24/7 to any media that tells them they are right about the world. They are just so dead tired of the real world constantly reminding them of how wrong they are - because they are.
That’s a pretty good analysis. But it’s missing a huge component. It’s missing The Jesus.
Some magical authority that can never be questioned without consequence and can be interpreted in any way authority sees fit. It’s chaotic evil in the guise of a sweet fairy tale where we all get presents and go to heaven (except some of us but don’t think about it).
Never trust a Christian
Absolutely 100%. Being raised to be credulous enough to believe in literal Harry Potter levels of magical thinking without the slightest hint of self-reflection is another huge contributing factor to them being so manipulable.
When you already unironically believe in magic, it’s easy to believe in and act on things that the rest of us can only drop our jaws and stare at in disbelief.