As a terminally online individual, I've noticed a growing number of Reddit and Quora posts asking why MAGA voters are still somehow angry. They got their orange turd in office, so why did so many people seem even angrier now?

Personally, I've noticed an uptick in trolling and harassment online. I've also noticed a lot of red-voting individuals try to rub the pending loss of human rights in my face, as if it's salt in a wound.

Most people are shocked by this. I am not. I grew up in an all-white town that had a racism problem. I also grew up adjacent to a right-wing extremist cult that now blesses AR-15s.

In other words, I grew up around the Cult of MAGA before it was even a cult. As someone who's dealt with both cult mentality (BITE model control) and racial hatred, I know why they're doing it.

It's simple: hate is a drug and so is performative in-group behavior. They're pushing you around because it gives them a weird "high," makes them feel powerful, and makes them feel like they are part of a movement.

You might be wondering how to combat this. Here's my advice as a veteran of it.

1. Cut off and ignore people who troll, "debate," or rage at you.

There's a reason why people keep advising Democrats to stop debating with conservative trolls on their board: it's because that's playing into what they want you to do.

Angry, aggressive conservatives are trying to fuck with you. They are not trying to debate you, learn from you, or listen to you. They will not change their mind. They are trying to get under your skin because it makes them gleeful.

At best, you're going to be frustrated and angry if you play into their shit. At worst, you'll give them ammo to make an example of you and humiliate you. So, don't respond. Just block them.

Cults and hate groups get you addicted to feeling marginalized, angry, and hateful. Hate groups, in particular, egg people on to harass others. Studies show anger is addictive — and so is the rush that comes with bullying others.

This is also why cutting off right-wing MAGA people is so impactful. When you're in a hate cult, the cult leaders do what they can to get you hooked on rage. That's why they seek out liberal spaces to invade. They want to rage at you.

Blocking them, cutting them out of your life, and ignoring them does the same thing that cutting off a junkie's supply does. It makes them irate because it deprives them of their addiction.

2. Get happy about Trump's policies — but only the ones that hurt them.

Deprogramming from a cult only usually happens when the cult members realize that the cult leaders are hurting them. There's usually a moment when it all clicks, when they realize, "Oh shit. These people aren't really saving me. They're hurting me."

This is also true with Evangelical deconstruction. There's a moment when fundies realize they're not acting biblically, but rather, just doing the will of a random guy with a fancy suit on. If they don't get to that moment, they rarely deconstruct.

A good way to make them start questioning their cult leader's intentions is to point out the policies that he's doing. Thankfully, Trump will be doing a lot of thing that fit this bill as part of his first 30 days in office.

Here's how to do this with finesse:

MAGA: Yeah, Trump won! What do you think of that? I know you're a hippie, but I'm sure we can still be friends.

Ossiana: Oh, I'm elated. Did you hear what he's doing to Social Security and the Affordable Care Act? Gutting them like a fish! It's great.

MAGA: Wait, I need the ACA. That's better than Obamacare and it's how my family is insured. And my mother needs Social Security for her retirement.

Ossiana: Well, I don't want to subsidize your healthcare or retirement! That's socialism, isn't it? What happened to investing in a 401(k)? Trump is saving me SOOOOOO many tax dollars because of that. I'm actually glad you voted for him. How nice it was for you to put the burden of all your family's healthcare and retirements on yourself. You know, you truly do belong to the party of personal responsibility. I have to hand it to you, man…

The more you do this, the more they will start to panic. And that's when they will start to question who they voted for. At first, they won't believe he'll do that. However, when it actually hits the legal books, they won't have a choice but to recognize reality.

3. Wish them the best with a smile on your face.

Remember when I told you that conservatives are often rage junkies? If you cannot block them, one good way to disarm them is to wish them for everything they asked for — with a smile on your face.

Just keep wishing it when they mention it. They can't argue or rage at that. It almost short-circuits their brains.

MAGA: Yep! Trump won! Ain't you sad?

Ossiana: Not at all. I hope you get everything you wished for.

MAGA: …

Ossiana: No, really. I want you to get everything you voted for. What's wrong?

MAGA: …*sputter*

From what I've gleaned, this is a rough equivalent of Southerners' "bless your heart" speech.

4. Pull an aggressive Uncle Ruckus if the aggressor in question is racist toward you and you're at work.

There's a certain breed of MAGA that gets a weird glee out of making people of color uncomfortable. They go out of their way to make people uncomfortable in their own skin.

The best way to deal with these types (assuming you can't block them and are a person of color) is to remove their "fix" by saying the opposite of what they expect you to say.

How do I know? My ex-boyfriend taught me this trick. You see, he's uniquely qualified to deal with aggressive white nationalists in a way that most people can't tolerate.

My ex, Jeffrey*, used this the first time Trump won. He is Black. He has a BLM sticker on his car. He openly supports Black activism. And he worked in my old hometown, which is all-white and fairly Trumpy.

People kept showing up at his car shop to gloat over Trump.

He decided to pull a page from Uncle Ruckus, from The Boondocks. He would go out of his way to talk about how great Trump was, how lazy Black people were, and how he's gonna "finally be tough on crime."

The results were fairly hilarious from what I saw.

A lot of them gave a blank stare, got very quiet, and paid their tabs. Some of them muttered that he "gets it," looked at the table, and left. Others got angry that he agreed with him because they were looking for an argument and for a target only to have their entire moment get disarmed.

It makes them very uncomfortable, to say the least. They realize you're lying but they can't quite argue because that's what they wanted you to do. With that said, I would use this as a last resort.

5. Smile and ask them how their LGBT/nonwhite relatives are.

MAGAts are aware that their vote will hurt the minorities they care about. Bring those loved ones up to them. It reminds them that they betrayed their own in a subtle, friendly way.

6. Point out how strange they're acting and ask why they're saying all this or behaving that way.

This is an old trick that people use when they want to stop a behavior in its track. Conservatives really hate being called "weird," primarily because their platform is all about being the normal, salt-of-the-earth, common-sense people.

Yep. That's precisely why calling them weird gets under their skin. The only thing that burns them more is having you question them, with a curious smile on your face, "Hm. What an odd thing to bring up. Why would you say that?"

Or in the case of a furious MAGA member who is spitting vitriol about women, look at them quizzically and say, "Wow, you seem quite emotional. Are you okay? Do you need a hug? You're acting quite strange."

It burns them up — especially when it comes to misogynists. If done in a crowd, it's particularly embarrassing.

7. Nip indoctrination in the bud with the way you talk to their children.

A friend of mine did this with Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons who would ring his doorbell. A lot of cults bank on people being rude to people who proselytize them.

Rather than turn them away at the door, he would check to see if they had kids with them. If they didn't, he'd tell them that they were being deeply unethical and explain to them how evangelizing actually reinforced their beliefs about the "other" rather than help them do anything godly.

If they did, he would bend down to talk to them and say the following, "Your parents are in a cult and are trying to teach you that people unlike you are bad. I want you to know that they are wrong for teaching you hate. You are better than this and you are fine just the way you want to be."

They'd never come back to his house. Another couple of friends of mine would pass pamphlets they printed based on Anton LaVey's Church of Satan to people who would ask about their faith in God. Oddly enough, this had a similar effect.

Then again, I've only seen them pass out one flyer. The missionaries happened to arrive when we were having a party featuring about 10 of us dressed in full goth attire. That, paired with the red wine in our glasses, probably made them think they found us in the middle of a Satanic ceremony.

Either way, it seemed to keep them at bay and rattle them. It was entertaining.

8. Tell them you feel sorry for them.

One of the most cutting remarks I've ever heard from a person who was being baited by a real-life conservative troll was, "I find it so sad for you that you can only feel safe around women when you control them. How weak you must be and what a sad life you must live."

I can't say it was the most effective thing to say but damn, it was a seriously cutting remake by my standard. It also quieted down that person immensely.