Many of you know Andy Winnick. He is well known here in Claremont. Author of many articles we have read, and Professor of Economics at Cal State University, Los Angeles. He is noted for his writings on the political and economic influences by political leaders.
*note - there are two methods by which you can read this article. The first one is a direct text message into gmail using a Google Docs viewer, and the 2nd one is a downloaded .docx file which I have not been able to read into this gmail, but which is attached to the end of this email.
The MAGA Movement (Not Just Trump): Its Origins, Its Purpose & Its Future
By Andy Winnick
To understand the MAGA Movement, one needs to first consider some history.
In 1960s and 70s
Civil Rights movement, finally end of slavery (post reconstruction in south)
13 th Amendment 1865: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a
punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted,
shall exist within the U.S." allowed slavery to continue (crime typically
was "vagrancy") in most of South and elsewhere into 1950s and 60s
This is well documented
15 th Amendment 1870: cannot deny vote based on "race, color or servitude",
but still, even today, can deny right to vote if convicted of a crime
Women's Movement & The Pill (Long after Right to Vote 19 th Amendment 1920)
Sexual Freedom, Open Marriage movements and fewer children
Anti-Vietnam War Movement, ends Johnson's re-election bid
Black Power movement and Black Panthers – Scares many
Farm Workers, Grape Boycott, Cesar Chaves and Dolores Huerta 1965-70
American Indian Movement (AIM) 1968- self-determination, end police
brutality, end racial discrimination.
MLK and Poor Peoples Campaign/March on Washington 1968
But at same time: Major Changes in Distributions of Income & Wealth starting in mid-1970s
My book: Uses 8 measures of "Middle Class": all turn down from 1970s
History of Mean CEO to Median of Workers: 25 to 1 vs now 350 to 1
For S&P 500: Mean incomes in 2023 was 285 to 1, $17.7 million to $61,900
In 1950s 35% of non-gov't workers were unionized, now only 5.9%
In 2017, looking at entire workforce, private and gov't:
In Non-Right-To-Work states is 7.5% in New Mex to 26.5% in Hawaii, CA is 10 th at
14.5%
In Right-To-Work states unionization was 2.4% in No Carolina to 9.0% in Indian
In U.S. average was 9.9% due to higher rates for government employees in Non-RTW
Until mid-1970s percentage increases in productivity per hour of labor led to similar
increases in worker wages/income and in corporate profits. But since the mid-1970s,
wages have been almost static in real inflation-adjusted terms, while profits
have increased dramatically
2
MAGA Movement: Culmination of efforts started in 1970s to reverse changes
started in 1960s
Heritage Foundation 1973: Supports Free enterprise, limited gov't, individual freedom,
Started during Nixon, big role in Reagan admin, Wrote Project 2025 & Trump
ALEC Am Leg Exch Council 1973: at State/Local gov't levels: Very conservative,
pro-business, limited government, especially minimizing regulations
MAGA also works closely with the American Enterprise Institute and the Business
Roundtable, which reorganized itself in 2019
Citizens United vs Fed Election Commission: Supreme Court decision 2010: Two key findings:
Money is speech And Corporations have same rights as people
Effectively ended all attempts to limit campaign donations and in-kind
contributions by corporations and the wealthy
Led to creation of PACs, Political Actions Committees: Are basically two types:
"Traditional Unconnected" PACs: Un-taxed. Can NOT coordinate efforts and money
with official campaign organizations. But they do, just done behind the scenes.
Can form "political committees" to support candidates
Must keep and report records of sources of money.
"Super PACs" are untaxed and can receive unlimited contributions from individuals,
corporations, unions et al with limited reporting obligations (Can hide foreign
money sources). Can do own advertising of any sort.
Citizens United overturned Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (McCain-Finegold Act) that
had prohibited corporate contributions to PACs or campaigns. But still cannot
contribute directly to political campaigns (so just work through PACs)
Reactions to Citizens United & Changing Distributions of income, Wealth &
Power
In Sept 2011: Occupy Wall Street and 99% Movement
Demonstrations in over 600 U.S. cities and in some 951 cities in 82 nations
Why did it fail? Anarchistic, no strong, visible leadership and no program
In 2018: Attempt at Poor Peoples' Campaign Revival
Goals: Fed & State living wage laws, Equity in education, End to mass incarceration,
Single payer Healthcare, Connect movements fighting racism, sexism, anti-American
Indian policies, "Ableism", Classism.
Still active but VERY limited impact or visibility
Then a series of more narrowly focused, but very visible issue campaigns emerged: 3
Abortion Rights
Me Too (against abuse, mistreatment, discrimination against women)
Black Lives Matter
LBGTQ rights and Trans rights specifically, Right of all to marry & parent etc.
Defund the Police (move some money to non-police social service response
teams)
Sex-Workers Rights
Gun registration and control
But none of these specifically address concerns of working class and poor, esp. White Males
MAGA movement is a reaction to all of this and has very specific goals, to wit:
1. Long term (since mid-1970s) organized by oligarchs and much of corporate
leadership generally to:
a. counteract social justice advances due to orgs in 1960s and later
b. protect financial gains in income and wealth made by Oligarchs since 1970s
c. prevent or at least limit government regulation
d. gain control over the electoral system and results to prevent "interference"
e. gain control over the Judicial System/Courts to block their "interference "
f. preserve U.S. domination economically and militarily
2. A recognition of the hard fact that if Oligarchs are to achieve goals in 1 just above
AND ALSO maintain at least the facade of a "democratic" system, they had to:
a. Find and co-opt groups of citizens with voting rights to support their goals
b. To that end, they chose three overlapping groups to achieve this:
i. Evangelical Christians
ii. White Workers, especially Males
iii. Farmers and Rural folks
3. Oligarchs needed to identify, support/nurture and control leaders who
i. shared their goals
ii. were well-embedded in the above three communities
iii. could win elections at the State and Federal levels, both executive
and legislative.
4. In J.D. Vance they found the perfect tool.
In Donald trump they found a flawed, even dangerous, but extremely useful tool.
5. Why the attacks on Colleges & Universities are likely to continue, but be limited.
4
a. Given that the Oligarchs want/need to prevent, long term, another period of
upheaval and disruption such as occurred in the 1960s, and given the fact
that the Oligarchy observed the transformational role colleges and
universities played in developing the leadership and supporters of many of
the major social change organizations and movements that threaten the
control of the Oligarchy, their deciding to attack and channel the activities of
the institutions of higher education became a major goal.
b. But, at the same time, the Oligarchs recognize the crucial role these
institutions play in research and in the development of many, probably most,
of the technologies they want/need to see become a reality.
c. They also recognize the role these institutions play in training the labor force
the corporate world needs, and will need, to implement these new
technologies and tools.
d. The Oligarchy wants to gain more control over the institutions of higher ed.
but without destroying them or severely limiting essential research. That is
what they will try to do even if they have to set limits on Trump's plans.
So where do we go from here? My guesses are:
1. There will be an ongoing struggle between Trump and various
elements of the Oligarchy as the latter endeavor to keep him moving
along the paths that are in the Oligarchs best interests, even if that
means some serious tension between them and Trump, such as we
now see between Trump and Musk on the subject of tariffs.
2. The Oligarchy will NOT tolerate Trump running for a 3 rd term at 82, but
will push him aside after his usefulness is not worth the bother. This
transition will occur well before the end of Trump's current term of
office. How that occurs is not at all clear yet and may not matter.
3. But it would be most useful to the Oligarchs if Trump was out of the
way in time for Vance to assume the Presidency and then run as an
incumbent to retain the Presidency. Vance could run a second time
only if he serves as President for less than half of Trump's term. So, if
the Oligarchy's most likely plans are not blocked by the American
people, we could well see 12 years of Trump/Vance rule.
By Andy Winnick
To understand the MAGA Movement, one needs to first consider some history.
In 1960s and 70s
Civil Rights movement, finally end of slavery (post reconstruction in south)
13 th Amendment 1865: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a
punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted,
shall exist within the U.S." allowed slavery to continue (crime typically
was "vagrancy") in most of South and elsewhere into 1950s and 60s
This is well documented
15 th Amendment 1870: cannot deny vote based on "race, color or servitude",
but still, even today, can deny right to vote if convicted of a crime
Women's Movement & The Pill (Long after Right to Vote 19 th Amendment 1920)
Sexual Freedom, Open Marriage movements and fewer children
Anti-Vietnam War Movement, ends Johnson's re-election bid
Black Power movement and Black Panthers – Scares many
Farm Workers, Grape Boycott, Cesar Chaves and Dolores Huerta 1965-70
American Indian Movement (AIM) 1968- self-determination, end police
brutality, end racial discrimination.
MLK and Poor Peoples Campaign/March on Washington 1968
But at same time: Major Changes in Distributions of Income & Wealth starting in mid-1970s
My book: Uses 8 measures of "Middle Class": all turn down from 1970s
History of Mean CEO to Median of Workers: 25 to 1 vs now 350 to 1
For S&P 500: Mean incomes in 2023 was 285 to 1, $17.7 million to $61,900
In 1950s 35% of non-gov't workers were unionized, now only 5.9%
In 2017, looking at entire workforce, private and gov't:
In Non-Right-To-Work states is 7.5% in New Mex to 26.5% in Hawaii, CA is 10 th at
14.5%
In Right-To-Work states unionization was 2.4% in No Carolina to 9.0% in Indian
In U.S. average was 9.9% due to higher rates for government employees in Non-RTW
Until mid-1970s percentage increases in productivity per hour of labor led to similar
increases in worker wages/income and in corporate profits. But since the mid-1970s,
wages have been almost static in real inflation-adjusted terms, while profits
have increased dramatically
2
MAGA Movement: Culmination of efforts started in 1970s to reverse changes
started in 1960s
Heritage Foundation 1973: Supports Free enterprise, limited gov't, individual freedom,
Started during Nixon, big role in Reagan admin, Wrote Project 2025 & Trump
ALEC Am Leg Exch Council 1973: at State/Local gov't levels: Very conservative,
pro-business, limited government, especially minimizing regulations
MAGA also works closely with the American Enterprise Institute and the Business
Roundtable, which reorganized itself in 2019
Citizens United vs Fed Election Commission: Supreme Court decision 2010: Two key findings:
Money is speech And Corporations have same rights as people
Effectively ended all attempts to limit campaign donations and in-kind
contributions by corporations and the wealthy
Led to creation of PACs, Political Actions Committees: Are basically two types:
"Traditional Unconnected" PACs: Un-taxed. Can NOT coordinate efforts and money
with official campaign organizations. But they do, just done behind the scenes.
Can form "political committees" to support candidates
Must keep and report records of sources of money.
"Super PACs" are untaxed and can receive unlimited contributions from individuals,
corporations, unions et al with limited reporting obligations (Can hide foreign
money sources). Can do own advertising of any sort.
Citizens United overturned Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (McCain-Finegold Act) that
had prohibited corporate contributions to PACs or campaigns. But still cannot
contribute directly to political campaigns (so just work through PACs)
Reactions to Citizens United & Changing Distributions of income, Wealth &
Power
In Sept 2011: Occupy Wall Street and 99% Movement
Demonstrations in over 600 U.S. cities and in some 951 cities in 82 nations
Why did it fail? Anarchistic, no strong, visible leadership and no program
In 2018: Attempt at Poor Peoples' Campaign Revival
Goals: Fed & State living wage laws, Equity in education, End to mass incarceration,
Single payer Healthcare, Connect movements fighting racism, sexism, anti-American
Indian policies, "Ableism", Classism.
Still active but VERY limited impact or visibility
Then a series of more narrowly focused, but very visible issue campaigns emerged: 3
Abortion Rights
Me Too (against abuse, mistreatment, discrimination against women)
Black Lives Matter
LBGTQ rights and Trans rights specifically, Right of all to marry & parent etc.
Defund the Police (move some money to non-police social service response
teams)
Sex-Workers Rights
Gun registration and control
But none of these specifically address concerns of working class and poor, esp. White Males
MAGA movement is a reaction to all of this and has very specific goals, to wit:
1. Long term (since mid-1970s) organized by oligarchs and much of corporate
leadership generally to:
a. counteract social justice advances due to orgs in 1960s and later
b. protect financial gains in income and wealth made by Oligarchs since 1970s
c. prevent or at least limit government regulation
d. gain control over the electoral system and results to prevent "interference"
e. gain control over the Judicial System/Courts to block their "interference "
f. preserve U.S. domination economically and militarily
2. A recognition of the hard fact that if Oligarchs are to achieve goals in 1 just above
AND ALSO maintain at least the facade of a "democratic" system, they had to:
a. Find and co-opt groups of citizens with voting rights to support their goals
b. To that end, they chose three overlapping groups to achieve this:
i. Evangelical Christians
ii. White Workers, especially Males
iii. Farmers and Rural folks
3. Oligarchs needed to identify, support/nurture and control leaders who
i. shared their goals
ii. were well-embedded in the above three communities
iii. could win elections at the State and Federal levels, both executive
and legislative.
4. In J.D. Vance they found the perfect tool.
In Donald trump they found a flawed, even dangerous, but extremely useful tool.
5. Why the attacks on Colleges & Universities are likely to continue, but be limited.
4
a. Given that the Oligarchs want/need to prevent, long term, another period of
upheaval and disruption such as occurred in the 1960s, and given the fact
that the Oligarchy observed the transformational role colleges and
universities played in developing the leadership and supporters of many of
the major social change organizations and movements that threaten the
control of the Oligarchy, their deciding to attack and channel the activities of
the institutions of higher education became a major goal.
b. But, at the same time, the Oligarchs recognize the crucial role these
institutions play in research and in the development of many, probably most,
of the technologies they want/need to see become a reality.
c. They also recognize the role these institutions play in training the labor force
the corporate world needs, and will need, to implement these new
technologies and tools.
d. The Oligarchy wants to gain more control over the institutions of higher ed.
but without destroying them or severely limiting essential research. That is
what they will try to do even if they have to set limits on Trump's plans.
So where do we go from here? My guesses are:
1. There will be an ongoing struggle between Trump and various
elements of the Oligarchy as the latter endeavor to keep him moving
along the paths that are in the Oligarchs best interests, even if that
means some serious tension between them and Trump, such as we
now see between Trump and Musk on the subject of tariffs.
2. The Oligarchy will NOT tolerate Trump running for a 3 rd term at 82, but
will push him aside after his usefulness is not worth the bother. This
transition will occur well before the end of Trump's current term of
office. How that occurs is not at all clear yet and may not matter.
3. But it would be most useful to the Oligarchs if Trump was out of the
way in time for Vance to assume the Presidency and then run as an
incumbent to retain the Presidency. Vance could run a second time
only if he serves as President for less than half of Trump's term. So, if
the Oligarchy's most likely plans are not blocked by the American
people, we could well see 12 years of Trump/Vance rule.
--
****
Juan Matute
The Harold Wilke House
Claremont, California
Who is Asset Kraznov?
(we know where he is)
No comments:
Post a Comment