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One of the things I have not seen explored much, is the degree to which this new crop of "Conservatives" has bought into the notion that what makes you American is not a commitment to certain ideas and institutions, but rather adherence to certain cultural practices, invariably white and either rural or hazy suburban reflections of the rural.
To somebody like J.D. Vance, it's okay to erode democratic norms, because that doesn't threaten America. To him, being properly American is a deeply banal cultural heritage: stupid shit like liking baseball, pickup trucks, and Diet Mountain Dew. Anything that is counter to that might be grudgingly tolerated because proper Americans are such great ~~Volk~~ folks, but they must know their place and not insist on any public role in the future of the country. If there's too many un-American people doing shit like eating tacos or having drag shows or listening to rap or not going to a megachurch, then maybe a little voter suppression here and a few lynch mobs there is a small price to pay to ensure "real" Americans can continue to live without having to acknowledge neighbors that are visibly different from them. Hell, they're such lovely Americans that they may even be okay with the color of your skin, so long as literally everything else you do comports with their expectations, Usha.
If there's something special about America, it's just that it has the bones and the diversity to support a pluralistic culture where everyone could be an equal contributor to what it means to be "American." These assholes know they don't have the raw numbers to run things any longer, so they're using the political inertia and bullshit to try to ensconce a true apartheid state where a minority of frightened, insular white people dictate policy for everyone.
It's gross, and it's deeply scary. And I say that as a pretty boring cis het white guy who grew up in the suburbs of northeast Florida, kinda likes Diet Mountain Dew, and has owned two pickup trucks in his lifetime.
I think in most cases they use petty culture bullshit to distract people from more concrete material concerns. They do it quite intentionally, and know what really matters. However, in the case of Vance I think you're probably right. He's an empty vessel who can only grasp superficial shiny things. I don't care what fancy fuckin' school he went to. He's just another "clever dumb" guy, like the rank and file rubes in the lower echelons of the cult.
That's what all of it is. Political theatre. Smoke and mirrors. It's performance art that the crowd goes wild for, while the real changes are discussed behind closed doors and are executed in the senate, the house and the supreme court.
I don't know many people who are happy with the recent supreme court decisions, everyone seems to be upset with the senate and the house.... and all the while the masses clamor for the figurehead in the oval office who rambles constantly and peddles the lies his base wants to hear. He is enforcing loyalty by establishing the precedent that you're either with us or the enemy. He politically assassinates the people in his own party for 'disloyalty' because he has no following outside of it to do so. He pushes policies and even openly admits he wants to be a dictator. He claims that he wants to literally attack the political opponents on all sides should he regain power and exonerate his little militia that tried to overthrow the democratic process of the last presidential election.
It's just wild. How people can be so blind to how it all works is simply beyond me. How this comes down to a popularity contest and a vote of being a racist bigot vs being open to compromise and accept people as they are is beyond me. I've never had less faith in the human race than I do today.
I'm sure there's a very healthy strain of those who simply will glom onto anything that protects their monetary interests, but the "true believers" have a very different feel than they used to, where they no longer are as interested in "winning American politics" as they are in reshaping the discussion of what actually "counts" as American. Maybe it's always been there, and is just coming out in force as the country's evolving demographics mean that "normal" American culture will no longer have quite the same prominence and just be one more part of the tapestry. Ironically, if they doubled down on protecting minority rights and democratic institutions, their "way of life," or at least the less toxic aspects of it, would be healthier long term.
I think more and more centrists are buying into this, also. There's a growing call for abandoning multiculturalism because groups aren't integrating enough, which I feel is precisely a cultural practice definition of nationality. "London isn't for the English anymore!" they say, for example.