MAGA’s fuss over diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) occupies fragile space between our ears, leaving many of us scratching our heads wondering, “Why is respecting DEI such a bad thing?” Isn’t DEI the cornerstone of American democracy, equality, and individualism? Blatant attacks on DEI appear to contradict everything Americans represent and value, bewildering even the most intellectual among us.
However, such anti-DEI campaigns may, in fact, prove less contradictory when viewed through MAGA’s transformative socioeconomic goals. Believe it or not, MAGA respects DEI! Just not in the way we’ve been conditioned to appreciate it. Perhaps our concerns are misplaced, frantically attempting to reconcile DEI attacks with democratic values rather than wondering how dismantling DEI initiatives corresponds to the MAGA regime’s objectives.
Some background perspective should bolster my point. Believe it or not, the U.S. economy is anti-democratic and authoritarian. To test this proposition, ask yourself whether you have a voice in developing workplace policies, procedures, resource distribution, and monetary allocation. Not only is your participation in these matters likely overlooked, but plausibly, merely one or a handful of people make all business decisions, including your salary, benefits, working hours, time off, etc. This is anti-democratic authoritarianism at work. U.S. society’s acceptance of social democracy and economic authoritarianism is vital to the neoliberal project unfolding over the past five decades.
However, people are sick of the residual inequities neoliberalism fosters. Unions and labor movements work tirelessly, advocating democratic workplace standards complimentary to social democracy, but historically, wealth and power win out, snubbing any sense of democratic momentum. Similarly, MAGA seeks socioeconomic harmony, not through democracy, but by complementing anti-democratic authoritarian economic standards and a social order that matches our current anti-democratic working conditions. Do you see where this is heading? This highlights the relevance of abandoning DEI initiatives.
MAGA’s populist approach aims to dismantle neoliberal standards while retaining many of its pro-market values. It’s a transformative neoliberal face-lift, mirroring current German ordoliberal ambitions (see the AfD party and Musk’s involvement) of a government-controlled, stratified socioeconomic hierarchy celebrating inequalities to achieve economic success. In this way, MAGA endeavors to prioritize a social paradigm that compliments a modern anti-democratic economy, celebrating anti-democratic inequality in and out of the workplace! As noted, current DEI initiatives assume social unity under a democratic order guided by equitable and individualistic values! However, MAGA’s dismantling of DEI programs is more of an attack on democracy, equality, and freedom than DEI.
Indeed, establishing a controlled, stratified socioeconomic hierarchy that relies on inequalities to function must respect DEI as a prerequisite to entering the game. In other words, equitable inclusion of a diverse population in a stratified socioeconomic system guarantees the inequalities required by U.S. ordoliberalism. MAGA loves diversity, equity, and inclusion so long as inclusion means participating in an authoritarian socioeconomic paradigm that inevitably excludes “others” from participating in governmental decisions—a genuine work/life balance.
John C. Duff
Los Alamitos