I had this article written by George Monbiot in the Guardian in the back of my mind a few months ago, but I had almost forgotten about it. On rereading, this still seems to work well as an explanation for Trump's seemingly inexplicable appeal to many Americans.
Monbiot refers to psychologists who believe that modern culture has developed two general categories of values to which people generally gravitate: internal values and extrinsic values. These are not innate values, but direct values.It is shaped by the cues and reactions we receive from other people and by the customs that prevail in our society. ”
People who have strong core values are There is a tendency toward empathy, intimacy, and self-acceptance. They are open to challenge and change, concerned with universal rights and equality, and tend to protect other people and the world in which they live.
People at the external end of the spectrum are more attracted to fame, status, image, prestige, power, and wealth. They are highly motivated by the expectation of personal reward and praise. They are more likely to objectify; Exploiting others, behaving rudely and aggressively, getting fired. Social and environmental impacts. They have little interest in cooperation or community. People with strong extrinsic values are more likely to suffer from frustration; dissatisfaction, stress, anxiety, anger, Compulsive behavior.
Although these conclusions sound a bit loaded and self-fulfilling coming from an admittedly liberal writer (after all, he consciously calls himself “rude” or “aggressive” and “dislikes cooperation and community”) There is actually research supporting the contention that this country's political divisions reflect these conflicting values.
From the Journal of Applied Psychology (cited by Monbiot):
Four studies compared party members' extrinsic values (money, popularity, image) and intrinsic values (intimacy, support, growth). Past research suggests that Republicans consistently value extrinsic values over intrinsic values, a pattern that is personally and socially problematic. In Study 4, Republicans were also lower on another measure of prosocial values derived from social dilemma research. All studies found an interaction in which only nonreligious Republicans were lower than Democrats in the intrinsic value of helping those in need.
(This last sentence seems problematic because it suggests that the Democratic Party ranks low on the core value of “helping those in need” in the first place. I think what's meant here is more of this:exclusively “Republicans with no religious affiliation” rank low. Unfortunately, the entire referenced paper is behind a paywall).
Monbiot said that Donald Trump, perhaps more than any other politician in history, is a “walking, talking monument” to alien values, which are generally inaccessible to those of us who don't belong to them. This, he says, is the source of an incomprehensible fascination. He was the culmination of a shift in values in this country that began with Ronald Reagan and has been nurtured throughout (especially) American culture ever since, one that has been gradually validated by our culture. represents.
Monbiot said:
For more than a century, the United States has worshiped extrinsic values more than most other countries. The American Dream is the dream of acquiring wealth, using it prominently, and escaping the constraints of other people's needs and demands. This applies both in politics and in the world. popular cultureAccording to harmful myths about failure and success, wealth is the goal, regardless of how it was acquired. The ubiquity of advertising, the commercialization of society, and the rise of consumerism, along with the media's obsession with fame and fashion, reinforce this narrative.of anxiety marketingEspecially when it comes to appearance and manufacturing unfulfilled desires, we can dig a hole in our psyche and try to fill it with money, fame, and power. For decades, the dominant cultural themes in the United States and many other countries have served as a near-perfect incubator for external values.
[***]
Since Ronald Reagan came to power, society has been sharply divided into “winners” and “losers,” and a lack of public support has allowed more people to fall through the cracks. American politics has become a fertile ground for profit. External value. Democratic presidents following Reagan accepted most of the policies. neoliberal principlesthe ratchet hardly reversed.
This analysis likely explains why so many Trump supporters are fooled by Biden supporters. What's more, for a large portion of the population, money is the only thing that comes to mind when they hear “Donald Trump” or “Republican Party.” Specifically, their money (and by extension their taxes, I guess). That's where their analysis really begins and ends – “me, me, me -” – and it becomes even more powerful when you inject race into the mix. Many of these people don't think much beyond that.
Unfortunately, given our culture, that's to be expected. They turn on the TV and once again they see millionaires throwing baseballs, beautiful people driving beautiful cars in beautiful places, and people with unusually large houses and kitchens. Unattractive people are generally portrayed as unwealthy at best and stupid or ridiculous at worst. Other than firefighters, cops, and teachers, there aren't many TV shows about middle-class people, except in parodies. And for many people, real life is a competition and exercise in envying other people's salaries, houses, cars, vacations, which university to send their children to, and so on.
One of our political parties is doing little more than promoting the idea that our problems are always someone else's fault. They tap into a large portion of the U.S. population that has been conditioned by a culture to believe that their personal “status” is more important than the needs of society as a whole.
Of course, this value analysis is a spectrum, with some being closer to the extremes than others. Some people with so-called “extrinsic” values may be more likely to engage in personal charity work (conservatives may be more likely to volunteer at a local food bank or soup kitchen, They'll be happy to tell you that they donate millions of dollars to children's cancer research and the arts). And those on the “essential” end of the spectrum can be downright intolerable people. One important observable difference between the two extremes is the desire for violence on the part of those who adopt external values. But for both sides, our society is such that one party pretty much knows their overall worldview and how the other party can vote like them. We have evolved in such a way that it is difficult to understand what is possible.
The original promotional video for the song, composed by the highly successful son of communist parents, is below. I wonder how many people get a completely different meaning from this work than the author intended.
I hope everyone has a great night.
