I’ve come to conclude that resistance was the wrong strategy to take following Donald Trump’s first election. It seemed perfectly natural to oppose lies with facts, cruelty with compassion, and injustice with social action while waiting for MAGA to come to their senses. But they weren’t deluded. All of this awfulness and division were exactly what they wanted. The right thrives on conflict. They feed on hatred and division. Our righteous outrage and condemnation are fuel for their fires, and the more we fight them, the stronger they become. For nearly a decade, we’ve been feeding the trolls.
I’m as guilty of this as anyone, and I should have known better. I remember shouting at the TV during Trump’s first campaign: “If you’ll just stop talking about him, he’ll go away!” Right or not, it was like asking someone to ignore a flaming trainwreck. We can wish that the media didn’t constantly reward all things stupid, ugly and crass, but the truth is that they’d stop feeding us garbage if we would stop eating it.
News junkies like me like to think that following the constant dysfunction and degeneracy of the Republican Party is somehow more sophisticated than keeping up with the Kardashians — but is it? Same hate-watching, different names. It’s not like Marjorie Taylor Greene was an accomplished professional who one day started saying crazy things. The only reason anyone knows her is because she says crazy things. Her stupidity and viciousness are so entertaining! And that’s the only reason she’s in Congress or has any influence whatsoever, while politicians of integrity, competence and decency remain invisible. (I promise, they do exist!)
We have to stop letting these idiots get to us because our disgust is the source of their power. Being stupid, crazy, or just terrible yields attention; attention yields influence; and influence yields political power. And that’s how we end up being led by the very worst among us.
It’s not just politicians but online trolls as well. Just because somebody says something ridiculous and we’re at a computer doesn’t require us to engage. In fact, most of the time someone posts something offensive, an indignant response is precisely what they’re seeking. They’re not looking for a debate; they’re shaking the beehive. And our frustration and hatred are their sweet, sweet honey.
We have to learn to ignore provocation, stop taking the bait, and leave the trolls to marinate in their insecurity. We have to stop caring what morons think — to completely disregard their hateful, crazy speech and refocus on people we like and ideas that matter. We need to stop talking about the falsehoods and illogic of anti-vaxxers, climate change deniers and the like because distracting us is their goal. We end up debunking their nonsense instead of working on the problems.
I recently overheard the line “everything forbidden is sweet.” It immediately struck me as capturing the essence of MAGA. They live to violate norms and be naughty. They cling to the left because they need our disapproval to rebel against. They need us to make rules to break and boundaries to violate. They need us to blame so they never have to take responsibility for anything. What’s the use in throwing tantrums if no one is there to disapprove? This is why even after their electoral sweep, instead of celebrating, most MAGA are still lurking around liberal spaces trying to spark arguments so they can feed like vampires on all that delicious vitriol.
Trump supporters like to accuse liberals of being arrogant and elitist, yet they are always the ones that hold the left to a higher standard. If anyone thinks liberals are superior, it’s MAGA: the inferiority complex that became a political movement. (So, if I sound condescending, fair enough. Trump supporters make themselves impossible not to look down on.)
A good rule of thumb for the information age is: only pay attention to what you want more of. What we attend to will grow. We have to learn to ignore deliberate outrage. We have to quit giving air to nonissues because trying to reason with irrational people will only suffocate us in the long run. Nothing delights a stupid person like getting under the skin of an intelligent one. Let’s stop giving them the pleasure.
Because you can’t placate trolls. You can’t persuade them or out-debate them. And you certainly can’t shame them. You have to drown them ... ideally in the metaphorical sense. But I won’t judge.
Urie is a lifelong Idahoan and graduate of the University of Idaho. He lives in Moscow with his wife and two children. You can find his writing on Substack (hopeanyway.substack.com) or you can email him at ryanthomasurie@gmail.com.
