The impunity of the unscathed: Risk, elite security, and the rage of MAGA populism

Beck’s foresight, rendered in the late 20th century, finds chilling resonance in the contemporary political landscape, nowhere more starkly than in the rise of MAGA-style populism. This phenomenon, often simplistically dismissed as a reaction to economic inequality or cultural grievance, is in fact a visceral revolt against a deeper, more corrosive perceived injustice: the systemic impunity enjoyed by an elite class. In the MAGA lexicon, the “elites” are not merely the wealthy, but a specific stratum of society whose personal security, primarily achieved through educational attainment and access to certain professional spheres, appears to have effectively eliminated downside risk from their lives. 

Nils Gilman

Read full article by Nils Gilman in Small Precautions