Can Trump supporters have an epiphany? And someday realize it is all a lie a con.

[usaf-vet]

Is there any hope that someday enough Trump followers will have an epiphany (an Aha moment) and realize they are being taken?

For quite some time now, I have been asking myself what are the chances that Trump supporters will see the truth will see the light will have an aha moment will have an epiphany?

Well, it turns out there is a field of research that studies epiphany.

I googled "The science of having an epiphany." Try it.

Any DUers out there that understand the science of epiphanies and can enlighten us. Or have a pro or con opinion.

Seriously has anyone else asked themselves a similar question?

Maybe I need another cup of coffee, or perhaps I've already had too many.

I am just asking!

[Aristus]

1. No. For an epiphany, one requires a brain, a heart, and a soul.

Trumpsters have none of these...

[usaf-vet]

6. I think you maybe right. In fact that is what led me to ask the question. Hoping their might be hope

But fighting the depression of knowing we are stuck with the big lie.

[getagrip_already]

2. They already know. They just believe they are in on the lie.....

And not the target of it.

These people KNOW they are spouting lies and garbage theories. They know it. They revel in it. It gives them joy as they do it.

So, no, an epiphany would require them to gain a realization they don't already hold. That can't be the case since they already know it's a web of lies.

[lagomorph777]

3. No. Turd and the Reptilians have unleashed the Monster From The Id.

These people were always evil; now they believe that evil is good and they are entitled to express it. They will never change.

[Tetrachloride]

4. Something has to stop and rebuild an appreciation

1. my favorite sandwiches are made by someone in a kitchen who may have bad knees

2. my favorite soups were made by my mother or a recipe from India, Thailand or Egypt

3. the doctor knows more in 1 day than i know in my life about medicine.

The rock must change or the spice will not flow.

Some topics are easier to accept for Trumpers than others.

Vote Blue.

[IrishAfricanAmerican]

5. I know conservatives can...

because I used to be one. But Trumpers??? Doubtful. You have to be so brainwashed to accept TFG that I don't see how it could be possible.

[cilla4progress]

7. There is a bully dynamic here.

To bring down the bully there must be 1) responsible adults with authority and standing; 2) the capacity for shame.

So, I don't know...

When I think of some of - actually, any ONE shameless, vulgar, horrifying thing TFG did or said while in office, and that he still has adherents at the highest levels of government and politics, it seems pretty hopeless to me. At least for right now.

[Eyeball_Kid]

12. IMO, shame is not part of the equation.

What IS part of the equation are guilty verdicts and sentencing. If the traitors had a sense of shame, we wouldn't be in this predicament right now.

[cilla4progress]

28. Yes,

my point...

[kimbutgar]

25. The three assolini supporters I knew were bullies in grade school

Went to a 50th reunion this past summer and three of them, one woman, two men were bullies who terrorized people in grade school. The woman was still the same to me as she was in grade school and barely acknowledged me. I know they were assolini fans because another attendee made the comment that they told her they were proud Conservatives.

I think it’s a part of their id. Cruelty and meanness.

[CanonRay]

8. I used to think/hope for that

but I've given up. A few may, but not enough. Most will go to their graves believing that bullshit.

[luv2fly]

9. I guess it takes an understanding of cult behavior

Which I don't have, but I know it takes quite some effort to undo the beliefs of cult members. I'm not holding my breath.

[Eyeball_Kid]

10. They'll have an epiphany when their leaders are accused of crimes and are forced to stand trial. n/t

[Boomerproud]

23. No way. He will be considered a political prisoner or martyr.

Not happening with the cult.

[IrishAfricanAmerican]

27. Yup.

They would rather fight/die at this point.

Sad.

[CrispyQ]

11. One of the traits the cult shares with Trump,

is the refusal to admit when they're wrong, or when they made a mistake, or when they were conned. During his term his support hovered around 40%, & even now, continues to hover around 40%, which brings to mind this 2018 Fintan O'Toole commentary about Trump & fascism, in the Irish Times:

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/fintan-o-toole-trial-runs-for-fascism-are-in-full-flow-1.3543375

Fascism does not need a majority – it typically comes to power with about 40 per cent support and then uses control and intimidation to consolidate that power. So it doesn’t matter if most people hate you, as long as your 40 per cent is fanatically committed.

[Lawrence454]

13. New Here

but its hard for cults to admit they are wrong, until they themselves admit that Trump is nothing more than a lying con. It will never happen through other people.

[femmedem]

18. Welcome to Democratic Underground!

And yes, it's very hard for someone whose identity is wrapped up with a cult (without understanding that it's a cult) to admit they are wrong.

[meow2u3]

14. They would have to lose absolutely everything and everybody first

When they're broke...
When their families will no longer have anything to do with them...
When they're unemployable...
When they become homeless...

...maybe then they'll have realized they've been conned and lied to by a career white collar criminal who passed himself off as a populist. I even doubt that will happen. It'll take a massive deprogramming campaign to free them of their mental enslavement to this sociopath.

[Omnipresent]

15. Republicans like to talk about the consequences of legislation that might affect future generation...

..but they can’t currently look into their children’s faces, and tell them trumps deplorable behavior is something honorable, they should live by.

[concretebluetwo]

16. Maybe, but......

Not until the source of the amygdala over-stimulation is removed. The first step has to be removing them from the reach of fright-wing media for a prolonged period of time.
Just my .02

[BlueJac]

17. No, they are sick people needing an asshole to make them feel better!

[LonePirate]

19. Nothing will happen while TFG still walks the earth.

His existence alone prevents his cult from moving on.

Now if there is a different nominee in 2024 and that nominee loses, it might be Groundhog Day, unfortunately.

[jmbar2]

20. This is a great question to ask

My personal theory is that social media has created the expectation that we all have to "be somebody". In reality, most humans are just average, slightly below, or slightly above--in personal appearance, wealth, influence, skills and talents. Everyone is trying to be above average - Lake Woebegone effect.

One of the ways to feel "above average" is to be surrounded by a bunch of folks who look, think, and function at roughly your same level. They you imagine your group as being "above average", compared to other "other". The right wing effectively stokes this in-group delusion constantly.

My thought comes from Buddhist philosophy. Our endless cravings keep us trapped, feeling unfulfilled and dissatisfied with life. Relief comes from letting go of those cravings, and appreciating life for what it is, right now.

In the past, as a nation, we were OK with being average, doing average jobs, not being famous. A man selling shoes could support his family, go bowling on weekends with his buddies, go to church on Sunday, and feel satisfied with his life.

The epiphany we need is that it's OK to just be average. Turn off Facebook, and Faux news - sources that constantly stoke dissatisfaction and fear, and be grateful for our daily lives.

I think it unlikely that this will happen any time soon. But if it did, I think it would start in the progressive churches. If they have any moral suasion anymore.

[Boomerproud]

24. Great post!

[patphil]

21. No, only sentient beings can have an epiphany. And double no for using the word "science".

[hlthe2b]

22. I think epiphanies are intellectual exercises. I'm not so sure how common when emotional attachment

if factored in. Clearly, these cultists are emotionally BOUND to their "beliefs."

I remember my first trip to Munich decades ago with my WWII generation parents. I don't know if my father was as rattled as I to see older men wearing small Swastika pins on their Fedoras (or if he just hadn't noticed given other pins and symbols adorning them) but boy I did. Decades later I had the occasion to work with an older female who was training to be a HCW and who was German by way of Argentina. As I got to know her a little bit--sufficient for her to acknowledge why she'd grown up in Argentina, I asked why that generation seemed to have many holding onto their past in such a way they could not totally divorce themselves from their Nazi past. She said, just about what I have upstream. That emotional attachment that caused them to fight/embrace a cause (or even to be subscripted into fighting for that cause) was just too hard to break for many. So the response was either denial or a stubborn continued embrace to one degree or another.

[Corgigal]

26. They can't imagine

they will ever have a penalty. They are white, so they are protected. They can not see that the real rich are only rich because they will steal every dime they see. They already stole everything from the poor, so they have nothing left to steal. Now they are beginning to steal from the middle class, and the Trumpers think that will work in their favor. None of them are safe, but the really rich have been blowing smoke up their butts for so long, they now believe it.

They will be shocked when they find out that they are on the chopping block. They will say, hey we’re white, we build America, or any of these other fool things, but it will be too late. They are hurting their own grandchildren, but they won’t live long enough to see it. Just as intended.

[usaf-vet]

30. Boy do I believe you have that right.

Once the oligarchs have secured total dominance. They will turn their attention to oppressing the very supporters who helped put them in power as they will no longer be an asset but a liability.

[cilla4progress]

29. Listened to a good podcast on the Salem Witch Trials

on "Stuff You Should Know," yesterday. Very informative. A lot of parallels.

PS We are the witches.

[JustAnotherGen]

31. Nope

Go into any local facebook group - you don't need facebook app or a login to read many of these.

The MAGAS (greatly outnumbered in my Borough) cannot be reasoned with.

[Backseat Driver]

32. I believe there's a huge element of successful gaslighting

in which the GOP took advantage of what at first may have been a "family of origin" flaw of awareness that builds in a certain denial of fact of an initial trauma...In my lifetime, at least, the American Depression, the Dustbowl, and WWII disrupted so many lifestyles and emotional notions of self-esteem and lifestyle and commanded sacrifices by so many, in blood as well as attachments to basic well-being, the sense of home, meals, and what was required in a workplace or the farm. So many were told to have &quot religious) faith" that their Father in heaven would provide recovery of what families had lost that had not happened despite their hard work (defined as whatever one did on the socioecomonic ladder but did not attain the pinnacle of the super-wealthy - from domestic help to bean counting and more successful lawyers, doctors, and bean counters.) From there, no one wanted to speak about alcoholism, drug addiction, why uncle John or Aunt Jane never married...