The Republican Party, continues its lurch toward radicalism. Its most prominent politicians now traffic in conspiracy theories from QAnon to widespread “voter fraud.” They encourage Americans to get infected by a deadly pandemic and mock the increasing numbers of cases across the country. And the GOP base is worse.
The Republican base is so desirous of maintaining its epistemic closure that not even Fox News is good enough now, nor are explicitly partisan conservative governors and secretaries of state. It’s not just that pied pipers are feeding misinformation to a blinkered, easily duped electorate. Core Republican voters now inhabit a wholly alternate universe. Instead of acknowledging the truth that they are a shrinking minority with illegitimate power maintained only by anti-majoritarian institutions like the Electoral College and Senate malapportionment originally designed to benefit slave states, conservatives imagine themselves to command a permanent silent majority. Still, a conspiracy of shadowy global cabals and swamp creatures conspire to prevent them from achieving the power they are rightly owed.
And it’s getting worse. On everything from elections, themselves (blue city votes shouldn’t be counted because they’re inherently suspect) to COVID stimulus (blue states and cities shouldn’t get help because they’re “irresponsible,” although blue states overwhelmingly pay the bills of red states), the Republican Party is, in essence, on a civil war footing against Blue America. Importantly, the reverse is not true. Democrats spend an inordinate amount of time arguing about persuading rural and red-state voters, and no Democratic legislation is designed to explicitly harm Republican voters physically or economically.
So, what does the reality-based community do about this? How do you deradicalize a political party whose leadership and base simultaneously seem to be driving themselves off of an ideological cliff into a land of violent conspiracy theory?
Any such project must begin by understanding the scope of the problem and the limits of traditional critical theory or economic determinist approaches to the question.
The only way to destroy the cults of power is to smash their power. This is one reason why it is so important to prosecute Trump and his family. Not just to protect the rule of law but also to clarify to the Trumpist cult, that the Trump family and their enablers are not, in fact, above consequences. The God Emperor can also go to prison.
It’s also why it’s important to eliminate the filibuster, bypass the electoral college, end gerrymandering, and add states to the Senate. It’s not just to allow beneficial legislation to pass, but also to destroy the conservative cult of power. It’s why it’s important to go after conservative news networks and the algorithms that enable radicalism.
None of these are perfect solutions. They will require enormous efforts and may not be possible. But they are answers that comprehend the scope of the problem and the only answer to the increasing radicalization of the right.
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