I'm not sure of paranoia burning itself out is the right take on this.
Most of us were never paranoid to begin with. Trump's campaign played to two distinctly American desires. One was the implicit and now more explicit out-group hatred that has always been with us--targeted at blacks, Latinos, immigrants, Muslims, LGBTQ folks and, of course, women. The other was the "thrown the bums out" shtick that Trump intimated with all of his tough talk and supposedly immunizing effect of his wealth from the influence of others.
What he has lost are all those who chose him for the latter despite their feelings about the former. With that charade over, all he has left are those who claimed both but were really only ever interested in the first. Those folks are still with him--and they will still be with us when he's gone. Even if Biden were to drain that mythic swamp, he'd still not win those voters since swamp-draining was for them just cover for the dog-whistled racism and misogyny that ultimately informs their voting. The paranoiac fantasies of QAnoner and all those QAnon-lite types is just a social media-weaponized version of the bizarre fantasies that still inform gun fanaticism, Christian nationalism, and other apocalyptic, conspiratorial ideologies.
Finally it's worth noting that what actually fuels the hatred and the conspiratorial mindset underlying these fantasies is the zero sum thinking that characterizes them. Believers can't win unless someone loses. For these folks, all boats can never rise together--which is why as voters they need to sink with Trump and, for the long terms, be kept at the bottom of the ocean electorally.
If Biden wins decisively and the Democrats flip the Senate (please donate to Senator Gary Peter's campaign!!!), I think Trumpism will withdraw to a significant extent, particularly as the remaining GOP Senators try to slither back into a semblance of respectability (ala Senator Sasse). In this scenario, I don't see an uprising of violence, certainly not widespread violence. If Biden's agenda is allowed to pass (again requiring a blue Senate and possibly necessitating an expanded Court), then there will be a further withering of support of Trumpism. That said, even if all the 'ifs' come to pass, Qanon may prove to be far more enduring than Trumpism, and it's not clear to me that it can be contained absent regulation of social media platforms.
I'm not sure of paranoia burning itself out is the right take on this.
Most of us were never paranoid to begin with. Trump's campaign played to two distinctly American desires. One was the implicit and now more explicit out-group hatred that has always been with us--targeted at blacks, Latinos, immigrants, Muslims, LGBTQ folks and, of course, women. The other was the "thrown the bums out" shtick that Trump intimated with all of his tough talk and supposedly immunizing effect of his wealth from the influence of others.
What he has lost are all those who chose him for the latter despite their feelings about the former. With that charade over, all he has left are those who claimed both but were really only ever interested in the first. Those folks are still with him--and they will still be with us when he's gone. Even if Biden were to drain that mythic swamp, he'd still not win those voters since swamp-draining was for them just cover for the dog-whistled racism and misogyny that ultimately informs their voting. The paranoiac fantasies of QAnoner and all those QAnon-lite types is just a social media-weaponized version of the bizarre fantasies that still inform gun fanaticism, Christian nationalism, and other apocalyptic, conspiratorial ideologies.
Finally it's worth noting that what actually fuels the hatred and the conspiratorial mindset underlying these fantasies is the zero sum thinking that characterizes them. Believers can't win unless someone loses. For these folks, all boats can never rise together--which is why as voters they need to sink with Trump and, for the long terms, be kept at the bottom of the ocean electorally.
https://twitter.com/johnastoehr/status/1317173494111703040?s=20
If Biden wins decisively and the Democrats flip the Senate (please donate to Senator Gary Peter's campaign!!!), I think Trumpism will withdraw to a significant extent, particularly as the remaining GOP Senators try to slither back into a semblance of respectability (ala Senator Sasse). In this scenario, I don't see an uprising of violence, certainly not widespread violence. If Biden's agenda is allowed to pass (again requiring a blue Senate and possibly necessitating an expanded Court), then there will be a further withering of support of Trumpism. That said, even if all the 'ifs' come to pass, Qanon may prove to be far more enduring than Trumpism, and it's not clear to me that it can be contained absent regulation of social media platforms.
Well said!