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To beat Trump, we need to know why Americans keep voting for him. Psychologists may have the answer
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 29 Jan 2024
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I definitely think plenty of them are ignorant and uninformed. But it goes much deeper than that. Many of them feel that government hasn't served or helped them in decades or even lifetimes. And they're not wrong in that.
The real problem is they don't view themselves as being part of the issue. They've externalized everything to the government and made it the government's fault. Therefore there's nothing they can do. Since they are blameless, in order to change it. They perceive themselves as having done everything right despite having done everything wrong. And so logically in their minds. The only solution they can see is to tear it all down. And hope the warlord that replaces this system will be slightly magnanimous to them.
It doesn't matter that it's a thing that never happened or lasted longer than a year or two when it did. Because the alternative would be to admit fault and learn from it. Something which culturally we've largely been conditioned to reject.
A very good analysis and much more generous than my hot late night take.
Oh we all feel like that sometimes for sure. Don't beat yourself up over it necessarily. As much as we hate to admit it, sometimes though. We have more in common with them than we let on. The real problem is how to reach people like that. If we could we might be able to make actual change.
The main issue being American history and culture is all about whitewashing, hero worship and propaganda. What would be an effective way to go about disarming all that? If we could do that we'd be home free.
But being born in the 70s I know pretty well how deep and total it was for many. Hell I didn't really break out of the brainwashing until my 30s. And I consider myself lucky for that. I know plenty still hobbling along using it as a crutch to this day.
Honestly sometimes it really feels like the older generations dying off might be the only realistic solution. Yes there are still a lot of shitty young conservatives. But the permiation of the internet in daily life has definitely loosened the shackles a bit for younger generations. Course, it's also gaslit and radicalized plenty too.
Great take.
I too was born in the 70s and thought that “things were getting better”. Racism was disappearing etc.
Little did I know about the dark forces of Conservative thought and money control bubbling under the surface.
A slightly random angle on your comment: there’s a great episode of Decoder Ring (Slate) talking about Daniel Boone and the modern mythos of him created in the 50’s by Walt Disney. A very good listen.
Yes, Disney is definitely not innocent regarding whitewashing. Bloodless Cinderella was a real crime. But yeah Daniel Boone and all the things we collectively forgot about the Alamo.
Indeed !
They are extremely wrong in their perception of government though.