With this understanding of harmful conformity groups (HCGs), we must now undertake to identify and discuss the largest HCG in existence today: the Republic Party since 2015.
On the face of it, this may seem like an absurd, even unhinged statement. The GOP has existed since the 1850s and has had dozens, if not hundreds of leaders, including some of the greatest men in history, like Abraham Lincoln. It has been mentioned that the longevity and diverse leadership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints means it cannot be a HCG. How then could the GOP be one?
The key factor is “since 2015”. The GOP, regardless of whatever other flaws or virtues it may have had or still has, was definitely not an HCG before 2015. But when Donald Trump seized control of the party, it devolved into a HCG. Like Koresh taking over the Branch Davidians, the arrival of a new, domineering leader marked the transition from something else into a HCG. (And if it seems that the GOP is too large to be considered a HCG, remember that size doesn’t matter when it comes to the identifications of these groups.)
Leaders of HCGs base their control on a certain level of personal charisma or awe, some characteristic that seems to elevate them beyond everyone else. In Trump’s case, this is typically his supposed business acumen and wealth. At other times, the argument is made that the unusualness and transgressiveness of his words and behavior is revolutionary and should be embraced as revelatory, another classic HCG tactic. HCG leaders are narcissists: they are utterly self-centered and operate under an absolute conviction that what they are doing is unquestionably correct. No set of words could describe Donald Trump better (or Elon Musk).
We must remember that the leader of a HCG need not be particularly calculated or methodical in their approach; their leadership and control can feature a great deal of improvisation. The frequent and unpredictable shifts in Trump’s positions certainly belie this. Also, when Trump changes a position, the rest of the party immediately adjusts to support this, regardless of any contradictions, which is a classic example of the belief arbitrariness and unquestioned obedience found in HCGs.
Like other HCG leaders, Trump vehemently dismisses all ideas that are not his own, labeling all such dissent as dishonest and “un-American.” This again shows the low status of ideas within a HCG: many of Trump’s statements, positions, and actions are distinctly un-American and deeply contradictory to the stated platforms and standards of the Republic Party. But because Trump says them, the party abandons ideas and falls in line with their behavior. He compels the members of the party to discard all personal compunctions or instincts and follow him unquestionably.
Again, in a HCG, ideas do not matter, it is all about behavior, and the leader being able to control every aspect of the members’ lives. Their control is maintained not through threats of force but through the zeal of the followers and the vilification of outsiders. Part of how this is achieved is through isolation, and one facet of that isolation is denying the legitimacy of any sources of information besides the leader and their followers. Trump’s constant protestations of ‘fake news’, as well as Fox News’ and Twitter (now X)’s onslaught of disinformation are part of how the GOP in its HCG phase is attempting to create that isolation. The ways in which society as a whole, including the GOP, is encouraging us to shun everyone who does not belong to our own political or ideological tribe is not helping either.
HCGs often push a paranoid, apocalyptic worldview: for example, Applewhite’s and Koresh’s insistence that the government was coming to kill them all. Trump and the GOP often portray themselves as the only hope to keep society, the nation, or the world from collapsing, which is no different.
The GOP is able to maintain a facade of legitimacy in ways other HCGs could only dream of precisely because it is a centuries-old political party and did do many great and honorable things in the past. They actively flaunt the status quo and advertise themselves as revolutionary, but they also go to lengths to present themselves as working within the parameters of the law and society. In actuality they are committing abuses, crimes, and acts of violence - Donald Trump is literally a convicted felon, Elon Musk is barely hiding his racism, both are wildly abusive employers, and a disturbing number of GOP lawmakers have been identified as sexual predators.
The attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 is a classic example of HCG violence: unsystematic, premeditated but also spontaneous. It was not violence to keep the group itself in line, it was violence against outsiders, as well as former members (e.g., so-called “traitors” like Mike Pence).
Previously it was pointed out that oppressive governments are typically not HCGs, which would seem to work against this argument. But a HCG can wield political power, and they are ultimately parasitic: they try to hijack the existing system and lurk within it, using their veneer of legitimacy to obfuscate or justify their activities. Members of HCGs may make their way into government and infect the government with their harm, but the government is not the HCG itself. Thus while the Trump administration might be an oppressive regime, it is the GOP that is a HCG, not the federal government itself.
To this point, a distinction must be made between people who are registered Republican voters, people who voted for Republicans, and members of the Republican party who support Trump, as these are three different (if overlapping) groups. Only the last group, actual members of the MAGA wing of the Republican party, are in a HCG. Which political party a person is registered with means almost nothing, and people vote for candidates based on a number of factors; they may barely support the candidate or the party. More to the point, many of these first two groups, even if you think them mistaken, do not display the extreme conformity that characterizes the members of a HCG.
In this essay we are attempting to create and apply an objective standard for identifying harmful conformity groups, as well as which groups cannot be considered HCGs. In the spirit of that scientific approach, we must also examine the possible counter-arguments to the position that the GOP is a HCG.
Some have argued that the GOP cannot be considered a HCG because Trump has once or twice modified his position because of pushback from supporters. I would argue though that this has not happened with enough frequency to rule out the HCG diagnosis, especially since it is far more frequent that the opposite happens. Remember, the leader’s goal is always control, and they have no attachment to ideas, they will say or do whatever they feel is necessary and that they can get away with. If they perceive that a position is too extreme (or too extreme too soon) it is not inconceivable for them to adjust. It is less common, but it is not out of character.
One thing that could definitely prove that the GOP is not actually a HCG is if the party continues to operate in the same way after Donald Trump is gone: when he dies, suffers some debilitating health event (e.g., a stroke), or otherwise retires from politics/public life. If the GOP stays on the same course after Trump, identifying it as a HCG is either incorrect or our definition of a HCG must be adjusted.
Until that day comes though, that Trump is no longer the head of the Republican Party, we have to work with the information we have. And that information, as presented here, paints an extremely convincing picture of the GOP being exactly what we have said.
With the understanding that the GOP is most likely a harmful conformity group, what are we to do? Their harm must be guarded against, repaired, and if possible, stopped entirely. But how?
First, we must recognize that the leaders themselves are beyond help or rehabilitation. Like all narcissists, they cannot be reasoned with. They will not change their ways because of logical or impassioned appeals. Petitioning them to change their policies is pointless. It’s a waste of time to try to understand their motives or reasons, because they don’t really have any. They will say and do whatever they think is necessary to maintain control over the GOP.
Second, the party itself cannot be repaired. No HCG has ever reformed in any meaningful way. By the time an organization becomes a HCG, it has become nothing more than an extension of the leader’s own mind. And because the leader will never surrender the power they have acquired, the organization cannot change. It can only be abandoned.
This is a hard thing to accept, that a major political party is a lost cause. It has taken me a long time to realize this. Until very recently, I thought that reform was possible, that the party could come back from Trump, that the party of McCain and Romney might still exist in there somewhere. But in recognizing the GOP as a HCG, we must realize that it is too late to save it. The party of Lincoln is gone.
Third, our approach to the GOP cannot include personal attacks, belittling speech, and it certainly cannot include the shunning of members. We can never reach people in HCGs unless we make a personal, genuine connection with them. And because their entrapment in the group is not based on ideas but rather behavior, it is pointless to debate the ideas with them. It is the behaviors we must focus on. Members of the GOP will have to be persuaded that these behaviors are harmful to themselves and others if they can ever be convinced to resist or abandon the path it is now on.