One of the most mystifying things about Trump's win is how furious conservatives still are.
They won the presidency against all odds, AND the Senate AND the House and their faves are dismantling the country before our eyes just like they've always wanted, and they're still. So. Angry. All. The. Time.
It's weird! Or maybe it's not. As TikToker @ohhthatsrich recently pointed out, psychology actually has a whole theory to explain everything that's been happening not only recently, but for the last 15 or so years: the extinction burst.
An extinction burst is when there is a sudden and intense uptick in a behavior when the reward for the behavior is taken away that precedes the behavior dying out.
A common example social scientists use is tantrums. A child learns that a tantrum will get a parent to give them what they want. When the parents stop relenting, the child throws even more—and more intense—tantrums. Then, the child figures out the tantrums don't work anymore and they abruptly stop—or go "extinct."
So what does this have to do with MAGA? The TikToker explained it perfectly.
Basically, the "rewards" for racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, etc. were removed by societal progress, especially following the election of Barack Obama. So conservatives have been raging, on a steady uptick, ever since because they know their time is coming to an end.
As Rich puts it in his TikTok:
"The Trump spike in racism, sexism, and hate — it’s the emotional foundation for the entire Make America Great Again movement, that nostalgia for when life in America was simpler and paler. But as soon as we began addressing it — boom! Extinction burst."
The "extinction burst" we've been experiencing has been drawn out because we're talking about an entire country here, not a single toddler or, if you like a more morbid example, a dying person who suddenly has a burst of energy before they finally pass on.
But the process is the same. As Rich said in his video, Obama's election in 2008 triggered the process.
"Sarah Palin, the Tea Party Movement, the birther movement, and ultimately MAGA—it is a 10-year tsunami of rage in the face of inevitable extinction."
"This is why Republicans are still so angry. They know."
"They know Trump winning can’t stop it, and they know Trump in office can’t stop it — they can feel the inevitable extinction of their own terrible beliefs."
If that has you feeling even more terrified than you already were, you're forgetting the most important part of this entire concept: extinction. This is the tornado of nonsense that explodes before the nonsense itself suddenly dies once and for all.
Rich's TikTok went extremely viral on multiple platforms, because of not only how much it resonates with people, but the hope it ultimately offers.
@ohhthatsrich/TikTok
@ohhthatsrich/TikTok
@ohhthatsrich/TikTok
@ohhthatsrich/TikTok
It's probably not the ONLY factor in what made the MAGA movement flourish, but it certainly makes a lot of sense. And if you've ever dealt with a toddler who has tantrums, you know that the only thing that eventually works is holding the line and not relenting.
To wit, Rich went on to say:
"At this point, the only thing that’ll stop [the extinction] is if we let up. If you stop interfering with that undesirable behavior, it will go back to normal."
"So no, you’re not crazy; yes, you are doing the right thing; and yes, if you persevere, the extinction burst will end."
Hang in there, everyone, and hold the line.
@jaketapoer/Bluesky
@BillAckman/Twitter