The Political Divide of Our Era: Trumpism ‘Versus’ …
The Political Divide of Our Era: Trumpism ‘Versus’ …
The group mob and rabid allegiance to each side is vicious, the dueling factions snarl, no matter if we talk about the far left’s socialist ‘do solely for the ‘greater good’ or the … or the nationalist, populist, extreme right, e.g. anarchy of 1/21 Capitol Hill riots. Have we abandoned hope of a humanitarian ethos? Do we scoff and jeer it’s idyllic? Do we see it as worthless platonic ideal? Not realistic and therefore not worth aspiring for? Not worth working toward? Do we see it as futile? Are we giving up? Did we ever hold humanity’s innate goodness as something to hold dear? Or only on Sunday mornings when God is listening? An eavesdropping Deity will hold our feet to the fire.
The American people, popular and electoral have not only spoken, they’ve roared approval for a human being that while they may dislike or disapprove of his illegal and criminal, unethical personal actions, they want him to lead. They choose him to lead their country. Apparently, they feel safe with him at the wheel, trust his driving. When the going gets rough and rocky, the people want him steering the helm. If it’s risky, Trump is their ‘ride or die’ dude. Why is this happening? We’ll have better perspective in a 100 years. We’re stuck in a forest with thickets of trees crowding vision, myopia and hubris, here’s my take:
1. Sociological gender bias: boys grow up with immense pressure to be a “man.” They’re pummeled with messages not to be a “wimp,” stop being a “pussy,” “grow a pair.” As hard as it is for little girls, boys suffer, often in invisible ways, e.g. it’s not cool to be vulnerable. Little boys grow up absorbing images to be ‘macho,’ and no wonder Biden is seen as “weak,” no matter whether it’s about his policies or fumbling over words. If you don’t come out with a left hook and lead by throwing a punch, you are not man enough. This is what little boys inherit: they grow up drinking the manhood myth—toxic kool-aid. ’Dude’ is the essence of Trump’s appeal for the masses. Carl Jung wrote about the universal archetype of ‘King,’ ‘Ruler,’ Hero,’ omniscient and omnipotent. A strong man who’ll take care of stuff, get it done, who’ll be the parent who has stuff figured out and who they can lean on, depend on during the tough times, Those times when he can beat into submission those other pesky nasty countries who don’t know their place in the vast landscape that is this planet.
2.A child developmental perspective: the toddler in us needs a parent to set limit and discipline whether, as Trump exhorts, women “like it or not.” Trump’s worldview are dualities: superior or inferior; winning or losing, powerful or weak, brawny or frail, loyal or vengeful. No nuance, no shades of grey here. Black and white, right and wrong is appealing to the children in us. His voters need a parent who guides and leads, oozing confidence, no matter misguided. Newsflash: this fantasy of the strongman—the conquering champion and lionheart? It’s a myth. An illusion, the stuff of sports games, lasting a mere game, a fleeting moment in time.
3. Internalized misogyny: I’ve seen interviews with women who’ve said they would not vote for Harris because “being the President of the U.S. is a man’s job.” The messages a little girl gets about what she’s capable of, of what she deserves, of the modeling from within her family, seeing her mom being the carer and usually not the one taken care of. This has repercussions. It breaks my heart. The multi-generational, deeply habituated expectation that a man will ‘provide’ for, the gendered assuming of the ‘woman’ role of being taken care of by a man. This is often subconscious and not operating at a level that’s conscious, much less fully articulated.
4. Gendered socialization: historical precedent of hundreds of years takes as long to break. Tradition, especially unfair and negative, takes a toll. Women have been for so long steeped in unjust traditions, e.g. allowed to vote in every U.S. state not till 1920. The reality women carry in an unconscious part of their socialized selves is: “I’m not allowed,” I don’t deserve,” “I shouldn’t,” “A man will … “ all this infiltrates pores. Inheriting injustice is deeply traumatic. Trauma, whether social or individual, results in perpetuating the original injury, e.g. choosing a leader who promises to further oppress.
5. Hegemony of the marginalized: a huge group feels cut-off, disenfranchised, their voices unheard. They’ve felt misunderstood, sick and tired of the government status-quo, hungry for a change. They refuse to tow the line that is politics, can’t play the game. They listen to politicians, who to their ears sound gibberish. Those who have felt displaced from their own country, who turn on the news and listen to polished, silken tones, sophisticated seventeen syllable words. “Who the hell understands any of it,” their vernacular is gibberish … Trump comes along (vast grandiosity and narcissism aside), theatrics and drama, arms waving, no more than two syllables, free wheeling associations and hyperbole. Lies upon lies … does it matter? No. Why? Because finally, the misunderstood feel heard, they feel listened to, they feel Trump “gets them”, “gets their pain,” and cares about their lives. And they understand his words. He speaks to them in a way they grok. It’s a love fest.
6. Objects Relations psychoanalytic theory: Our internalizing early childhood relationships and how those attachments inform/shape how we relate to others in adulthood. It’s easy to see how some raised with either end of the authoritarian-permissive spectrum might be attracted to the current regime, mistaking it for an opportunity they never got as a child, with the illusion they might grow and thrive.
7. Lens of Interpersonal psychology: especially the Self theory of psychoanalyst Heinz Kohut, focusing on attachment theory, his base’s devotion is understandable. They feel what’s described as the “oceanic bliss” of an infant gazing at his/her mother with her holding this gaze, locked in an embrace of affirming, recognizing, accepting unconditionally and creating space for the other. Trump’s followers will literally follow him to the end … it does not matter the means nor the consequence. This is akin to when a child defends his mother, no matter the abuse/trauma endured. They must defend the actions of their caretaker because the abused feels like not to do this would cause unbearable anguish, a betrayal, guilt, to confront shame within.
8. Indoctrination of cult-like dynamics: as evidenced by the following ten:
A. The Republican Party is led by an authoritarian figure, in this case Trump, oozing charisma and command.
B.Trump base has a “hive” mind or group think effect, where family/friend rifts are more common than not.
C. Members hold extreme unquestioning faith and dogmatic beliefs, often without regard for facts. Critical inquiry is discouraged. Though we have those who, despite their long standing Republican adherence, have broken from their Party, this is not a common act. Conformity is encouraged and the norm.
D. Cognitive dissonance to curate obedience, e.g. Trump’s followers have enormous difficulty when their beliefs are contradicted, hence resorting to defense mechanisms such as denials, rationalizations, etc.
E. Adulation and idolatry, imbuing their leader with messianic qualities, e.g. savior, rescuer from whatever ills they feel they need to be lifted from. Ideological purity is the ‘answer.’
F. Rather than inclusivity, members are exclusive and hostile, openly shunning those who don’t adhere to their group tenets.
G. Employing a double standard of conduct, e.g. the leader is allowed to do and say things without the same consequences that others would suffer.
H. Irrational fears circulate and propagate, e.g. borne from paranoia conspiracies, persecutions, victimizations, catastrophic futures, etc.
I. Equating the cult members’ life in the group with their identity and sense of life, their purpose and mission begins and ends with their association within and not without, hence a cyclic dependency.
J. The leader has proprietary knowledge, ala gaslighting and emperor has no clothes, leaving the members “lacking,” mistrusting their judgement.
9. Monetary self interest: the self-serving, greed addled billionaires and multi-millionaires wanting to save a buck or two on taxation. Their philosophical allegiance as ephemeral as air. Some drive for power, opportunistic and manipulative, such as Vance, a beast who turns on a dime.
All this reads as gloom and doom, but I’m buoyed and hopeful that as with all bleak times in history, with questionable leaders, we have learned and come out the other end of the bottleneck. This is no different.
We are a young and primitive species. This comforts me because we have nowhere to go but up. Paleoanthropologists estimate Homo Sapiens is less than 300,000 years old. The evolution of human intelligence is closely tied to the evolution of the human brain and to the acquisition of language. We’ve inherited many of our ancestors’ outdated traits: fear for survival, need to compete and exclude; equate safety and trust with exclusion and similarity, deception and clique formation. But we also live with positive legacies: our intelligence evolved not only for pragmatic purposes, but mainly to thrive and function in large social, multi-layered social groups e.g. group cooperation, reciprocal altruism, organic parental and interpersonal attunement–The Social Brain Hypothesis. My wish is to see us, in the next thousands of years, to see us progressing to embracing interconnectedness with interdependence and inclusiveness. If we can meet our our differences with radical acceptance and empathy, we see not what divorces, but what unites us.