Appealing to our lesser angels is the business model of choice in a rampant capitalist society. It is easier to appeal to basic instincts than to intellectual and moral standards. The conservatives have fully latched on to this expediency. It is the difference between the Left and the Right. The Left, is progressive by nature whilst the Right is conservative, i.e. hesitant to change (a system that made them well off). Progress (we should call it ‘change’, because only in hindsight can we know whether the change resulted in ‘progress’), requires an adventurous attitude, with outcomes unknown. The Left aims for a better, fairer world and is prepared to take actions to achieve that, knowing that societal change is risky because changes in a complex system, no matter how well intended, may have adverse effects. Societies, economies, climate, they are complex systems. In complex systems, small changes can have big, unforeseen, consequences.
The Right’s conservatism, may not be against a better and fairer world, it’s just that conservatives think any progress shouldn’t go at the expense of the good that is already there, i.e. not at the expense of those who have it good already (and those who have bought into the idea that rich equals right support this even though this is at their own expense). Conservatism is attracted to the status quo and prefers to improve the status quo of those who have it good. Not because they want to enrich themselves, no, but because it is more natural. It is less risky to improve the system that already works well for them and make it work even better (for them).
Changing the system to work better for others, is risky: the system might break! oh no!Conservatives have the power, because they are, by definition, the ones doing well. So what is their problem? Well, it is time to say it openly: Democracy.
Democracy is the problem of the wealthy minority. Democracy is the problem of conservatives.
Those who are doing well are the minority. Minority means: not enough votes.
The majority pay taxes, the rich minority doesn’t. The majority isn’t having the greatest of life-styles the minority does, but think they are entitled to more. The majority might start to think “what’s wrong with a social health-and welfare system that ensures that when bad luck befalls one, her si tuation is not worsened by huge medical bills and loss of income?”. Socialism!
How to stop this majority?
Conservatives, know that 1 person 1 vote doesn’t work in favour of the rich minority, so it creates Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt, to appeal to the basic instincts of an already discontent, angry and fearful group. It also uses the preferred tools from the narcissist’s handbook to seize on people driven by fear and discontent: flat out lying, saying abusive things and when confronted saying they were only joking, ridiculing people, self-agrandising, asking for praise, character assasination (using pejorative nicknames), and maybe at the top: gaslighting.
Gaslighting confuses people to the point that they lose their belief in their own faculties. For example saying to your audience that you are very clever because you went to a top university and then following up with saying that your opponents are the elitist university graduates that look down on you and only look after themselves. Unlike you, you who look after the american worker, and you know how to do that, because you went to a top university. Oh! Well ok.
It sounds far fetched, but whilst you scratch your head, he is already ridiculing someone, and before you are able to check your moral compass, the crowd tells you to laugh and there is move the next abusive one-liner. Your beliefs, your moral compass, your ability to reason are continuously trying to catch up. They can’t. Lies, ridicule, simple one-liners, they take no effort. Arguments, morals, reasoning are exhausting.
Shutting down people’s intellectual and moral abilities, triggering their basic fear response, it’s much easier, much more visceral, more extreme than energy-sapping long-winded intellectual-moral logically consistent arguments.
All that is needed: big lies repeated over and over. The bigger the lie, the easier people will believe it. “Really, the President wouldn’t say that if it weren’t true. Yeah, I voted for him but that doesn’t make me biased. I am not vested. And look, all these other people are saying it too. It’s also on the news. What? Yeah but that’s mainstream News. You shouldn’t believe them!”)
It took Hitler some 7 years to get democratically elected, before he unleashed his extremist base and took over the Reichstag. Germany acquiesced. “Maybe we need a strong leader”. It’s easy if you are left alone and the vitriol and violence is directed towards the ‘other’.
In 2024, Trump will have had 8 years of preparation, as the conservatives keep spreading misinformation, in concert with the state-sponsored Russian trolling machinery. Not because Putin is aligned with Trump, but because discontent and disharmony help him to destabilize the US. An incompetent, erratic fool as President of Russia’s greatest enemy, is icing on the Russian cake. No peepee-tape required. And so, even without collusion, the conservative forces, together with the media’s business model and Russian trolling, coalesce to form a perfect Storm.
Just like the objectives of ratings agencies, investment banks, and the wishes of wannabee homeowners coalesced to create the perfect storm for the real-estate crash of 2008, so the appealing to our lesser angels by the conservative’s to regain power, align with Russia’s trolling efforts to destabilize the US and with the Media’s business model (“Fear sells”), to create the perfect storm for fascism to take over in the US.
Germans, Italians, Japanese, Russians, Chinese, Cambodians…they are all people, just like Americans. They all killed and tortured hundreds of thousands up to tens of millions of people….out of Fear. Fear that developed into disgust and hate.
Fear, disgust and hate, stoked by a storm of misinformation.
Americans are people too. Given the ‘right’ conditions, Americans will do what the Germans did: follow their Leader.
Conservatives hope for and work towards a full crash of the economy. A perfect catalyst for the Storm.
Appealing to our lesser angels paves the highway to hell and the GOP didn’t need an Infrastructure Bill to pave their highway. Full speed ahead towards that simple, static, authoritarian state where complexity is banned. Where we only have to listen to our Leader. He will take care of it all. The Black, Brown and Yellow, unamerican religions, foreign nations. They will be taken care of. America First (and only!).
The lesser angels will look over us….from the gates of hell. Goodnight.
