The phenomenon of Marjorie Taylor Greene

Marjorie Taylor Greene could be considered  a case study about a person who assumes the role of a fanatic in a social movement.

Eric Hoffer writes in his book The True Believer that social movements go through three phases: the production of words, the materialization of fanatics, and the implementation by people of action. The second phase, the materialization of fanatics, is characterized by the true believers. True believers have no interest in logic, reason, or correspondence with reality. The believer is interested only in hatred of an enemy, often fabricated, based, perhaps, on a kernel of truth. The true believer is interested in protecting and promoting their belief not truth and reality.

Here is what Hoffer writes about the fanatic: "Chaos is his element. When the old order begins to crack, he wades in with all his might and recklessness to blow the whole hatred present to high heaven. He glories in the sight of a world coming to a sudden end." p.143

Elaina Plott Calabro writes in her article, "Why Is Marjorie Taylor Greene Like This" that Marge was an unhappy woman, bored perhaps, mediocre, frustrated, looking for a cause to devote her empty life to. While she had never been political earlier in her life, she got involved with the election of Donald Trump whose MAGA movement seemed to give her life meaning and she became what Hoffer calls an imitator. 

Greene started imitating and even expanding on the MAGA memes which provided her increased attention and ego stroking leading to expanding MAGA themes that even embarrassed and scared her supporters and collaborators.

The downside of Greene's fanaticism is that it is not sustainable as her recent attempt to unseat Mike Johnson, the current GOP speaker of the House, demonstrated when it failed. What happens to fanatics when the movement they have attached themselves to fail? They either fail with it, or convert to a new cause. Greene is still a young woman in the prime of her life and it will be interesting to see what she chooses to do when the bandwagon she has attached herself to goes off the road. There is probably not much of a future in QANON.

The more interesting consideration is not Greene's fanaticism but the people who elected her to represent them. To what extent does Greene's pronouncements and activities provide benefits to the people who elected her? Are they bored and frustrated too and hoping for some future that is exciting and entertaining to fill the vacuum of their nihilistic narcissism? Is the theater of MAGA and QANON the best that can be offered to them? What other scenarios might be offered to enhance their hopes for a better future? From where and from who will those scenarios arise?