The other day, I came across a fascinating–and persuasive–analysis of MAGA’s fixation with the Confederacy and other “losing” episodes of American history. The author, Kristoffer Ealy, a political psychologist, did a deep dive into the pathology, and found what can only be considered one of the major wellsprings of the deep resentments that power the MAGA mindset.
What triggered his exploration was a media report about a southern Board of Education voting to restore the name of Robert E. Lee to the area high school.
As Ealy explained, he began his research with the conviction that there had to be a reason for people clinging so frantically to a symbol of defeat. Why, he asked, would people treat defeat like a comfort food? Clearly, this goes beyond mere “nostalgia.” As he concluded, it becomes “victimhood identity.”
Losing doesn’t just become part of the deal for MAGA — it is the deal. In psychology this is often called victimhood identity, where people begin to see themselves as perpetual victims of life, defining their entire self-image through the lens of being wronged. They come to expect mistreatment, distrust attempts to help, and use grievances as proof of their own righteousness. That’s why Trump can never just win cleanly — he has to make it a mythical landslide stolen by the “deep state,” because if he simply wins, the grievance-based identity collapses.
Layered into that is the contrarian mindset. You know the type — everyone has that one friend who has to disagree with everything, not because they’ve thought it through, but because their identity is wrapped up in opposition. My MAGA acquaintance is like that: if you ask him why he supports the movement, he can’t give a concrete answer. He’ll just start rattling off disconnected complaints—“woke indoctrination,” “globalists,” “cultural Marxism”—with no context, no follow-up, and no plan. It’s not about what he believes; it’s about making sure he’s on the opposite side of whatever you’re on. It’s conflict for conflict’s sake, and when you mix that reflexive opposition with a deeply ingrained victim identity, you get a worldview where losing isn’t a problem — it’s the whole point.
Another dimension of that victimhood identity is what Ealy calls “glorification of martyrdom” —a tendency to romanticize sacrifice and loss as inherently noble. As he points out, once you glorify a loss, the outcome–the fact that you lost– becomes irrelevant. So to the MAGA mindset, the Civil War wasn’t a bloody, pointless rebellion. It was a heroic last stand. As he writes, “The statues aren’t about historical literacy; they’re altars to a story in which defeat proves righteousness. If the statues come down, the tangible symbols of “our eternal struggle” come down with them — and that’s an existential threat to an identity built on keeping the wound open.”
Given this mindset, facts become irrelevant. Suffering becomes the whole point.
All of this sits on top of an external locus of control — the belief that everything bad happens because of someone else. Nothing is ever the result of their own bad choices or failed leadership. The Confederacy didn’t lose because it built its economy on slavery and overestimated its military; it lost because the North had more resources. Trump doesn’t lose elections because of his rhetoric or policies; he loses because of “cheating,” “the media,” or “corrupt officials.” It’s a worldview where the story always ends with “we were robbed,” never “we blew it.”
This analysis rings true to me. It certainly helps to explain the deep-seated animus toward those the movement labels “other”–non-Whites, women, gay folks. It’s their fault that good “Christian” White guys are losing social dominance. Those good guys are victims of society’s hated efforts at inclusion–efforts MAGA sees not as an attempt to level a tilted playing field, but as attempts to divest them of their rightful place in the social order. As Ealy notes, once you begin to look, you see this victim framework everywhere.
The article is lengthy, with enlightening examples. It explains a lot, and it’s well worth the time to read in its entirety.
Another excellent letter! Definitely leaves one to ponder personality disorders among our present administration!
One of the best and most succinct analyses I’ve read on this topic. It does explain a lot. It makes our original sin even more profound with after effects that will never really go away.
And today the victimhood idiots are ready to destroy everything for the sake of their self-pity, lack of intellectual agility/laziness and an utter lack of morals.
Scholars of Christian nationalism like IU-I’s Prof. Andrew Whitehead report that “victimhood” is a central tenet.
What does Ealy say about the cure for the victim mindset? If his analysis is correct, is it a problem with no solution? How many of today’s confederates are aware they have a problem?
Well, you can clearly see that victimhood in Trump. Have we ever in our history seen so many lawsuits that include one man and his family? I am sure his lawyer mentor, Roy Cohn, taught him that mindset. Cohn was also gay, yet vehemently denied it, yet he captured blackmail on others’ sexual flavors to get kompromat he’d use against judges.
I am also sure that lawyers around Trump love his victimhood mentality. If asked a tricky question from an independent journalist, his tack is always to attack – “Who are you, or where do you work, that’s a stupid question, etc.”
Always being defensive is also a response of a narcissist or an inflated sense of ego. Speaking of ego, many have carried on the Confederate ideal. They’d be thrilled if Trump deported all of the black people back to Africa. Not the “dangerous ones in jail,” because a large number of Southern companies rely on free workers (enslaved people) for their companies to thrive. The prison complex is full of “dangerous blacks) because their justice system is tremendously corrupt. Moreso than in the North.
As we all know, MAGA is racist at its core because the entire Tea Party movement was racist. That’s why they rebranded to MAGA. And, don’t forget, Koch’s dark network is protected by new IRS laws that certain “charitable companies” are exempt from disclosing their donors. They’ve placed a dead-end sign for local journalists. The Koch company that funds Braun’s “policies” comes from a non-profit with no donors. However, the leader of that dark company was a Heritage Foundation member.
As Sheila stated, “If the statues come down, the tangible symbols of ‘our eternal struggle’ come down with them — and that’s an existential threat to an identity built on keeping the wound open.”
When I lived in Alabama and Mississippi, the “Negroes” place in society hadn’t grown much from the Civil War. They, too, have a victim mentality, but for righteous reasons, yet they can’t move on. Every summer, they replay the battles on the same battlefields that have become memorials. They even dress up in their Rebel outfits and shoot single-shot gunpowder-packed rifles. Why would you replay a battle you lost? The goal is to keep the wound open and pass the culture along to the next generation.
MAGA is a group of pathological victims from Trump to many other groups whose rights were taken from them. They want Christ and Racism to be relevant again. However, liberal progressivism has moved society forward, causing resentment. If we could see who’s funding this mess, it’s mostly done so through the Kochs’ dark network.
In closing, the Democratic Party needs to expose these dark networks funded by billionaires on both sides. We have to start by cleaning up the IRS in unison with Congress, also showing who funds our government in the light of day. Nobody involved with local and federal rules should be credited with that donation and should not be able to hide themselves and not be tax-deductible. It should be tied in with overturning Citizens United. This has to be a plank of the DNC, or we’ll see more parties evolving since the uniparty: DNC and GOP are both obstructionists because they don’t want to stop the money flowing to them. It’s part of the rigged system.
Excellent!
As ever the contrarian, I say Yes, But:
A lot of MAGA faithful fit what you speak of. I was Called In yesterday. N did me a big Favor in my work against my Toxic Masculinity and Racism.
A True MAGAITE- wouldn’t likely have Learned Similarly.
Who is “HOPELESS “ and who not? Is it A White Man who resents making perhaps $20/hour near me or $8/hour where there is no State minimum wage? Do I hear him speak for a few minutes (only)? Is it the 60ish year old white man I saw yesterday in Central Berkeley whose t-shirt had an American flag and said something like “Proud to be an American 2016”. I was really Scared that he could be “dangerous “ and chose to Say nothing to him. I remember reading of A Black Journalist who- joined a White Supremacist Virtual space and found a lot of individuals who clearly cared for their children and seemed “normal “ as Individuals- not otherwise Hateful People. Nuances here persist for me!
An excellent analysis! It opens a new view into the mindset of these sad folks. Thank you for bringing it to our attention.
“…MAGA’s fixation with the Confederacy…”
President Abraham Lincoln welcomed all southern states, the President of the Confederacy and all Confederate citizens back into the Union he fought so hard to unite. The officers and troops could have been tried for Treason, instead they were welcomed as American citizens to unite the nation. What they are so desperately holding onto today is the cold Civil War to restore full sovereignty to legalize racism, bigotry and antisemitism (the true meaning of anti-DEI) as the rightful Republican union of the United States. They are NOT the Republican party of President Abraham Lincoln or any other past Republican president or their party foundation but are the Carpetbaggers of the Restoration of the south. They cannot openly claim the Fascism of Hitler but are moving the government toward that end. I will repeat the Rhett Butler line from “Gone With The Wind”…”There is as much money to be made from the destruction of civilization as their is in building one.” We all know this; we have watched it take control.
The goal of the Confederacy was separation to become a nation unto itself; Trump and his MAGAs want all 50 states as their nation, under their rule. Trump is seeking to be accepted as ally of Russia, North Korea and other dictatorship countries. Owning people to do their will has always been Trump’s foundation and those who disagree will be cast out; those he considers as enemies will be dealt with under his Rule of Law and their rights will be denied. He has already warned of deporting American citizens as part of his future plans; the Republicans who do not meet his standard of total enslavement under his warped vision of America will be surprised to find themselves victims of his masked and armed ICE and military troops. Few of his voting supporters are rich enough to be accepted as his Republicans. Indiana is part of his “army” who will be policing us on our streets, in our homes, our workplaces and in our courts where we go the seek justice.
“This analysis rings true to me. It certainly helps to explain the deep-seated animus toward those the movement labels “other”–non-Whites, women, gay folks. It’s their fault that good “Christian” White guys are losing social dominance.”
The MAGA c;oup marches ahead steadily and will accelerate with only 3 1/2 years allowed…unless Trump’s kingship is fully enacted by our Catholic Supreme Court majority.
Liberal freedom fighters in the future have the same job that the founders of this country formerly undertook, and that is to bring Reds over to the liberal worldview. That is to teach them that freedom is a precious commodity worthy of sacrifice, and much of the world lives enslaved to authoritarian governments of all kinds.
Reds have as their priority target the institutions that have been carefully set up to start at the lowest grades in school and teach those in pre-adult stages of life why freedom is the American Way.
We must be the resistance to the red authoritarian way.
Neither side is guaranteed to win that war, but our strength to restore and maintain the American Way has to come from our numbers.
Go full speed ahead, liberal America.
Brilliant analysis! Thank you for sharing it. How many times have I thought, “he/she is always the victim and never seeks sound advice or help, nor does he/she ever admit they were wrong or that something was their fault” And every single person I’m thinking of in this way voted for him. Now I know why.
Fascinating,ndeed and spot on.
It’s also interesting how the psychology of MAGA matches the mindset of zionism.
Two ideologies of supremacy that need to be excised from existence.
Ian, at long last we agree on something completely.
It amazes me that anyone falls for Trump’s schtick. Mr. “I alone can fix it” is always a victim when he can’t fix it, which is nearly aways. His focus is fixing things for himself and for those who can help him in some way. Every other thing else is just never that important.