2026-01-27 11:51 UTC
the most functional model of the US Republican Party (not just now, but my entire life, & I'm in my 40s) is that there are 5 main tendencies: plutocrats, theocrats, bigots, thugs, and marks. any given Republican is some blend of the 5. the party's behavior varies depending on which faction is ascendant. when I was younger plutocrats & theocrats mostly ran the show; right now it's thugs and bigots, with a side helping of plutocrats.
Replies (1)
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@keunwoo@indieweb.social 2026-01-27 12:04
i'm not just hurling insults around; when I say this model is functional, I mean that you can make sense of Republican behavior as emergent from the interplay between these tendencies. the bigots and thugs have always been there, but the reason they're ascendant now is that long-term economic trends have made it necessary for plutocrats to cynically whip up anti-immigrant/anti-LGBTQ sentiment to distract people.