By Paul Krugman / Substack / Dec. 29, 2024
Like many observers, I expected severe buyers’ regret fairly early in the second Trump administration. After all, many Americans who voted for Trump did so because they believed he would bring down grocery prices. He was never going to be able to deliver on that promise and stopped talking about the subject as soon as the election was over; sooner or later, voters were going to notice.
I did not, however, expect a MAGA civil war weeks before Trump had even taken office. But in retrospect I should have seen it coming.
Background: Every political movement is a coalition made up of factions with different goals and priorities. Normally what holds these factions together is realism and a willingness to compromise: Each faction is willing to give the other factions part of what they want in return for part of what it wants.
What’s different about MAGA is that I’m pretty sure that almost all of the movement’s activists (as opposed to the low-information voters who put Trump over the top) knew that he was a con man, without even concepts of a plan to reduce prices. But each faction believed that he was their con man, putting something over on everyone else.
But now the two most important factions — what we might call original MAGA, motivated largely by hostility to immigrants, and tech bro MAGA, seeking a free hand for scams low taxes and deregulation — have gone to war, each apparently fearing that they may themselves have been marks rather than in on the con.
The immediate issue was the H-1B visa program, which grants technical workers (I hate the term “high-skilled,” for reasons I’ll explain in a minute) temporary rights to work in the United States. It’s a program greatly favored by the tech bros, for obvious reasons, but hated by original MAGAts, who believe those jobs should be going to the native-born. But the rift surely runs much deeper. After all, billionaires like their cheap immigrant labor, but original MAGA will feel betrayed if Trump doesn’t deliver mass deportations.
News reports on this dispute get the facts right, but you don’t get a proper sense of the emotions and the character of the participants unless you read some of the posts on Elon Musk’s X, formerly Twitter — a toxic site these days, not to be entered without personal protection equipment, but still useful to get the pulse of the people taking over America. Here, for example, is an exchange between Musk and Steve Bannon:
One especially striking thing in this discussion has been the open contempt tech-bro MAGA has for U.S. workers, the people Trump supposedly champions (and the people who buy his sneakers and crypto.) Here’s Vivek Ramaswamy saying that we need foreign workers because American culture venerates “mediocrity over excellence”:
And here’s Musk endorsing the claim that American workers are “retarded”:
Trump is, of course, lying — the workers on his properties are mainly on a different kind of visa, and he’s rewriting his own history of hostility to H-1B. But the main point is that after Elon Musk told Trump loyalists to fuck themselves in the face, Trump sided with … Musk.
Up next: China. Wanna bet whose interests will be served?
Dear Laura Loomer, Steve Bannon et al: You weren’t in on the con. You were among the marks.
The Rag received half a dozen comments from leftist-haters upset at this post. We’re not giving them a platform.
Frank:
We’re not leftist-haters, were concerned citizens that prefer civilized debate, not some fabrication of the 1930’s.
I do enjoy your mag and intel of Point Loma / Ocean Beach, brings back many good memories.. The area has always supported creative ideas and discussions. Have at it and let it continue.
Yet remember Berkley of 2024-2025 is a far cry from Berkley in 1964-1965. There is still hope, if we all pivot.
I’ve read, and watched a number of these short vids, coming in from all over the MAGA/GOP spectrum and, though it may be hilarious and I enjoy being able to say ‘TOLD YA SO’ to these idiots, there are some really dangerous turns ESPECIALLY with the illegal alien Musk funding right wing Fascist governments all across the planet at the moment:
UK Right-Wing Sends URGENT WARNING for Trump to STOP IT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQs_CYO8BUM
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And Trump gets SENTENCED in FIVE days, on the 10th. The judge really has thought this one out and there isn’t any wiggle room. So this dirt bag WILL BE KNOWN AS ‘PRESIDENT 34-count FELON’ for history.
sealintheSelkirks
Thank you for publishing this insightful essay. I appreciate the emotional examples as well as the spot-on analysis.
The latest Thom Hartmann on Domestic Terrorism, the most serious threats are…white supremacists like those who are about to become the leaders of this country. The Army Green Beret who blew up the Tesla in Las Vegas, and the other Army guy that ran over 40+ people in New Orleans, and the Trump supporter with a house full of the most pipe bombs ever busted. From the mouth of an FBI guy that infiltrated. It’s going to get so much worse. and read the Manifesto of the Green Beret who advocated Civil War starting now.
FBI Agent’s Shocking WARNING After Infiltrating White Supremacists Worse Than Trump w/ Mike German
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7X9F52Hidg
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13 days to the end of Democracy?
sealintheSelkirks
This is how Hitler dismantled the Democratic Republic of Germany using the power in their Constitution in just 53 days.
This picture of his cabinet looks like the GOP surrounding Trump. They look just like the GOP. The banality of evil is full of very rich businessmen in suits & ties! Anybody else think Trump can do it in less? Or will it take the MAGATS longer because of Trump’s 11 year old boy brain that’s failing him?
From Atlantic Magazine, a paywall so it’s linked here to ReaderSupportedNews:
https://www.rsn.org/001/how-hitler-dismantled-a-democracy-in-53-days.html
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sealintheSelkirks
Insanity can be defined as doing/saying/writing something over and over again, yet nothing changes.
Yep. I agree that Trump has been lying to us all by using the same speeches over and over for 9 years. So you’re saying he must be insane, correct? And of course grifting the US public with the same crappy China-made garbage the entire time for ridiculously high prices. Which shows his cult members are also insane I guess, eh? That worship an idol thing comes into play here, too, I bet.
How many presidents sold cheap coins, perfume, sneakers, freaking Bibles that cost him $2.85 per and sold them for $60??? Plus shipping! Who did anything even remotely close to this BEFORE they even became president? How many took millions from other governments WHILE they were president? And all the cheap crap after losing the last election? $100,000 watches? HOLY CRAP, BATMAN! Imagine what’s coming, James. You tell me!
So much for the motto of buy american or making america great again, though, ya know? It’s all made in Asian sweatshops…
But then you’ll have to agree that this country ISN’T actually ‘America.’ Since the official name is the ‘United States’ OF America, and it is of course the name of the continent we are living on… Shows how far down the rabbit hole towards utterly ignorant we’ve gone unfortunately.
Can’t fix stupid, and I guess ‘deluded’ could easily be included into that saying. Except that I think/hope if one is only ignorant and not truly stupid you can be educated into using critical thinking skills and pull yourself out of being deluded. Takes much effort, and exposure to facts as an alternative to the constant propaganda spewed by those in power profiting from from that propaganda. And hopefully there are good teachers around to help an individual grow their own ability to learn, but it can, and has, been done before.
Again, I hope all the MAGA GOPers get exactly what they deserve, and voted for. The rest of us don’t deserve it, though.
Funny that the top Google search right after the election was ‘how do I change my vote’ don’t you think?
sealintheSelkirks
Wow. How measured you attempt to sound, and how condescending you come off as. Are you listening to yourself?
Introspection? You quite obviously (in my opinion) are a mind as closed to new information and facts as one could imagine. Your “radicals of the 60s” comment definitely showed us exactly who you are. You haven’t a clue about those young and OLD US citizens (it wasn’t just the young) who tried to stop a murderous and patently useless war on a poor country just trying to rid itself of European Colonialism that ASKED the USA for help to write a constitution after they fought off the Japanese army throughout WWII. An ally so to speak…
And many of those same US activists also attempted to help end the pervasive whiff of Slavery still endemic in this country (that continues to rot our guts out in 2025), while other ‘radicals’ tried hard to teach us all to accept that women should be considered equal to men only 40 years after they fought for the right to VOTE and won which only took `145 YEARS to achieve (my great aunts were two of those women) after white men who were the rich slave & property owners who founded this country started voting…for their own gender and class.
I suggest that you consider to ‘introspect yourself’ as it seems to be sorely needed.
Your additional comment submitted to the publisher’s first comment on this piece claiming “We’re not leftist-haters, were concerned citizens that prefer civilized debate, not some fabrication of the 1930’s…” made absolutely no sense at all. Can you explain exactly WHAT is the ‘fabrication’ you are talking about? Details, please, don’t be shy about explaining this.
And again, please try to inform the readers here of how you think a civilized debate would go. Would it be like the Harris/Trump debate and his outburst of “they are eating the dogs and cats, they’re eating the pets” in Springfield Ohio? Is that what you might consider a civilized, RATIONAL debate perhaps? If so…I don’t have anything else to say on that!!
Continuing on, there is the “There is still hope, if we all pivot.” you ended with without giving any information on where you think we are supposed to ‘pivot’ from or towards. If you are talking about the Democratic Party, they’ve pivoted quite far since the advent of Reagan Neoliberalism hit this country’s politics in 1981.
So far in fact that I consider mainstream Democrats nothing less than 1979 Republicans under the DNC label. Remember, Hillary Clinton was a GOP ‘Goldwater Girl’ and never strayed far from that Ideology her entire life. And the extreme wealthy are now in control of both sides, GOP and DEM, so effectively they are one party with two faces presented to the people. Not much choice there at all…
But maybe you are talking to the MAGA-GOP about debate etiquette? You know, the ones that keep calling for HANGING a Vice President who refused to follow orders but instead followed the law? The ones who want to ‘kill’ all the Democrats and Leftists. The ones who march in the streets behind masks waving defeated enemies of the US flags? The armed far-right mobs who carried assault rifles into State houses? Intimidation often works as history shows us, eh?
By the way, while I detest VP Mike Pence for his policy stances, he at least did one thing correctly in certifying the 2020 election as did Sen. Liz Cheney who stood up to MAGA and Trump and proved to the world just exactly who Donald J. Trump really is. That I disagreed with nearly everything she did because of how she upheld Trump in his 1st term, she did show a sense of ethical behavior on the Jan 6 Committee. But I abhor her daddy ‘Shotgun’ Dick as an un-indicted War Criminal and Mass Murderer. Him I won’t forgive or forget.
Here’s a couple for you to read, James. Think about what you mean by ‘debate’ a little harder. Maybe apply a little of that ‘introspection’ while reading these two current articles about Trump’s behavior instead of your ‘fabrication of the 1930s’ complaint which I am waiting with bated breath for your answers to my question about that.
The Rise of Trump’s Thugs?
Trump has long admired dictators who weaponize civilian gangs to crush dissent. Will his next chapter involve unleashing his own militias to terrorize the American public?
https://hartmannreport.com/p/the-rise-of-trumps-thugs-e8f
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The Militia and the Mole
https://www.propublica.org/article/ap3-oath-keepers-militia-mole
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Now Trump is a convicted felon found guilty by a jury of 34 Felonies. Imagine if I paid off a Porn Star I screwed while my wife was breast-feeding my 1 month old baby to keep her from going public while I ran for office! By calling it a ‘business expense’ which, to be honest, I don’t think MY little shop would be able to get away with to the IRS much less the Federal Elections Commission paperwork… didn’t the whining audio of the sentencing sound like listening to a 12 year old punk kid caught stealing? And that punk becomes president in eight days. And wants to take over Canada. Steal Greenland and take the Panama Canal back. Just…wow. Can anything get even more surreal?
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Time to go clean the chimney and saw up more firewood rounds for the woodstove while the sun is peeking through the clouds…
sealintheSelkirks
Great response, Seal, but I doubt whether “James” even took the time to read the first line.
Fantastic article and responses by Seal. I have also found that there are several books and articles comparing Trump to Hitler. It’s coming to fruition before our very eyes and it’s scary. His first wife Ivana told her divorce lawyer that kept a copy of Hitler’s speeches in a cabinet. He also had a copy of Mein Kampf. Elon Musk absolutely did a Nazi salute. Nothing he says will change my mind. Trump used similar speech techniques that zeroed in on people’s fears and making them believe that he was going to answer all their prayers. Most of these people are very hateful and racist so I don’t care how miserable their going to be now that he’s back. And guess what? I have some first hand experience. I grew up in an apartment in Brooklyn owned by his father, Fred Trump. When I was between 8 and 12 years old, Donald used to come hang out at the pool. He liked talking to my mother who was about 10 years older and divorced. He even asked her to lunch a few times. To me he was just the landlord’s son. Now he’s the Tyrant in chief whose going to single handedly ruin our country. He’s a disgrace and an embarrassment. But even more embarrassing is the fact that the American public (not all thank God) put him there.