Very good summation. I am surprised at how unsurprised and unshocked I am by the result. In 2016, I was pretty surprised and angry, although I didn't let on that this was the case as I live in a very Republican, very Christian place. This time, I don't even have to pretend I'm not upset, because I'm not. I know bad stuff will happen in the next four years, and I even have some idea of what it will be, because Trump and Vance have told us. But we will just have to cross those bridges when we come to them. I guess I've got that equanimity thing down.
Today I've been thinking about why I'm less shocked than my Democrat friends. I think it's because I have noticed for a long time that a great many Americans seem crazy. About two-thirds of Americans seem to have a mental illness or serious personality disorder or an addiction, or all of the above. They are not in touch with reality very much. They can't handle their negative affects, as a therapist would say; instead they use other people as regulators of their emotions if they can. They attack and abuse; they whine and manipulate. Trump is their perfect avatar! He makes it all seem ok! He's even worse than they are! He gives people permission to be greedy, narcissistic, and mean.
Also, these unhappy people are easily bored. They like to create conflict in order to amuse themselves. Trump is a perfect choice for that too: vote for him, and you will always have something fun to watch. It may involve extreme suffering for other people, but all the better, especially if they are different from you. I couldn't stop thinking today about the crying children in cages at the border. So many Americans secretly enjoyed that, including, apparently, many of the ICE agents supervising those cages. A decent person could never vote for a President who did such a thing. Many Americans are not decent people.
Sometimes I think that this appetite for sadistic spectacle is at the root of the whole Trump phenomenon. I guess it's not enough to watch "Breaking Bad" or "Game of Thrones" on Netflix. People want REAL blood and REAL murder and REAL suffering. Well, now they will get it.
I honestly didn’t know whether to believe that so many people wanted this until I woke up this morning. I see why now that they’re fine with authoritarianism. In theory anyway.
Thanks, Jay. Very helpful. Here's how I've been thinking about it:
When you have a weak centrist power base that’s not meeting people’s urgent economic needs, the right becomes a lot more attractive. Especially when you have a center-left that is adopting a lot of the policies of the far right and the distinctions get a lot blurrier. Then it’s harder to scare people by saying it’ll be the end of the world if Trump is elected.
What this new’ish right captures is a genuine feeling of brokenness, a system that’s failing, a sense that the system is rigged against you, which certainly feels true as the cost of living (groceries, housing, health care, higher education) has soared. And so many billions are spent on other people’s wars abroad. Just offering technocratic tweaking doesn’t resonate with people whose experience is of genuine difficulty. I like how Naomi Klein puts it: “The right gets the facts wrong but the feelings right.” They tap into the deep unfairness and spin it into conspiracy theories (immigrants taking your job and houses, eating your pets, yada yada).
So why a Trump or other strong man (as we know this is world-wide thing)? The message is “I’m YOUR bully, YOUR bad guy. Things are so bad that don’t you want a bad guy on your side?”
A little more than half the country actually likes that he’s a scary mob boss, and so that’s what we now have in #47.
Appreciate this as ever. In my own little corner of the world, I'm gobsmacked by how many in the "spiritual community"--underground psychedelic guides, teachers, thinkers etc.--are celebrating today. Not in a "this is what's required to tear down patriarchy" way but a genuine-seeming "thank god(dess)" way.
A lot of people in certain spiritual communities shifted to this new right a while ago, especially during Covid (Conspirituality). They and a number of psychonauts think RFK Jr is gonna save us. As if he can — if he has any impact whatsoever, which I’m skeptical of — do anything beyond amplifying the polarization in the existing culture war battles.
A regression to the mean. Perfect description of what just happened. Thanks for your words today, Jay, they were comforting.
Thanks Laura.
Beautifully reasoned and expressed. My own eloquent words have deserted me, as I alternate between grief, anger, and numbness.
Very good summation. I am surprised at how unsurprised and unshocked I am by the result. In 2016, I was pretty surprised and angry, although I didn't let on that this was the case as I live in a very Republican, very Christian place. This time, I don't even have to pretend I'm not upset, because I'm not. I know bad stuff will happen in the next four years, and I even have some idea of what it will be, because Trump and Vance have told us. But we will just have to cross those bridges when we come to them. I guess I've got that equanimity thing down.
Today I've been thinking about why I'm less shocked than my Democrat friends. I think it's because I have noticed for a long time that a great many Americans seem crazy. About two-thirds of Americans seem to have a mental illness or serious personality disorder or an addiction, or all of the above. They are not in touch with reality very much. They can't handle their negative affects, as a therapist would say; instead they use other people as regulators of their emotions if they can. They attack and abuse; they whine and manipulate. Trump is their perfect avatar! He makes it all seem ok! He's even worse than they are! He gives people permission to be greedy, narcissistic, and mean.
Also, these unhappy people are easily bored. They like to create conflict in order to amuse themselves. Trump is a perfect choice for that too: vote for him, and you will always have something fun to watch. It may involve extreme suffering for other people, but all the better, especially if they are different from you. I couldn't stop thinking today about the crying children in cages at the border. So many Americans secretly enjoyed that, including, apparently, many of the ICE agents supervising those cages. A decent person could never vote for a President who did such a thing. Many Americans are not decent people.
Sometimes I think that this appetite for sadistic spectacle is at the root of the whole Trump phenomenon. I guess it's not enough to watch "Breaking Bad" or "Game of Thrones" on Netflix. People want REAL blood and REAL murder and REAL suffering. Well, now they will get it.
I honestly didn’t know whether to believe that so many people wanted this until I woke up this morning. I see why now that they’re fine with authoritarianism. In theory anyway.
Thanks, Jay. Very helpful. Here's how I've been thinking about it:
When you have a weak centrist power base that’s not meeting people’s urgent economic needs, the right becomes a lot more attractive. Especially when you have a center-left that is adopting a lot of the policies of the far right and the distinctions get a lot blurrier. Then it’s harder to scare people by saying it’ll be the end of the world if Trump is elected.
What this new’ish right captures is a genuine feeling of brokenness, a system that’s failing, a sense that the system is rigged against you, which certainly feels true as the cost of living (groceries, housing, health care, higher education) has soared. And so many billions are spent on other people’s wars abroad. Just offering technocratic tweaking doesn’t resonate with people whose experience is of genuine difficulty. I like how Naomi Klein puts it: “The right gets the facts wrong but the feelings right.” They tap into the deep unfairness and spin it into conspiracy theories (immigrants taking your job and houses, eating your pets, yada yada).
So why a Trump or other strong man (as we know this is world-wide thing)? The message is “I’m YOUR bully, YOUR bad guy. Things are so bad that don’t you want a bad guy on your side?”
A little more than half the country actually likes that he’s a scary mob boss, and so that’s what we now have in #47.
Appreciate this as ever. In my own little corner of the world, I'm gobsmacked by how many in the "spiritual community"--underground psychedelic guides, teachers, thinkers etc.--are celebrating today. Not in a "this is what's required to tear down patriarchy" way but a genuine-seeming "thank god(dess)" way.
A lot of people in certain spiritual communities shifted to this new right a while ago, especially during Covid (Conspirituality). They and a number of psychonauts think RFK Jr is gonna save us. As if he can — if he has any impact whatsoever, which I’m skeptical of — do anything beyond amplifying the polarization in the existing culture war battles.
Appreciate this framing a great deal, and agree….