#296: American 'Independence' = Think For Yourself
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What's it like to be a Trump voter? Imagine not thinking for yourself, and instead relying on others to clue you in.
An easy way to imagine that reality is to remember that only recently has the human mind thought for itself. Prior to the Renaissance and Enlightenment, just about everyone adhered to beliefs set forth by the authorities. Not only were alternate worldviews unlikely, given a bare-bones education, they were often dangerous ("I could be shunned by my community"). And though western civilization has slowly moved toward independent thinking, we're still working at it, and there's still occasional back-sliding.
The genius of our American democracy is that we enshrined independent thinking as authority (everybody votes). So, those who couldn't justify independent thought on their own could simply agree, patriotically, that America's system was the best, or the least objectionable authority possible. This unified the independent and non-independent minded.
Of course there were bumps along the way: the notion that your neighbors, boss, and local politicians would defend your rights, no matter how you might vote, was only redeemed by the late 1800s move to a 'secret ballot'--independent thought reaching its logical conclusion. And of course voting rights have, as a rule, required expansion.
The Trump voter, though, is now able to latch onto a wholesale undermining of our democracy in the person of President Trump. That's because paying lip service to America as 'the land of the free', and other patriotic evocations, has become detached from the essential tenets of a democracy that in fact make it 'the land of the free'. These detached tenets include:
* respecting the will of the people (when losing an election means it was 'rigged'),
* upholding basic rights (when journalists are "the enemy of the people", and those assembling peacefully are tear gassed to make way for a photo op),
* looking out for the national interest ahead of one's own (when encouraging a foreign adversary to help win an election is mere electioneering),
* evincing a hands-off approach to justice (when using the DOJ to dissemble, and fabricate charges against one's opponent, is par for the course).
Why, then, aren't there alarm bells going off in a Trump voter's mind? Well, that voter is either:
A) Incapable of defending the stray, contrary impulse occurring in an ordinary life: " ObamaCare's been good to me, but I just don't understand all the facts and figures; and Trump says he's got a plan."
B) Linked through a support network of individuals to an agreed upon underdog role: "The guys I like to hang with send me some awesome MAGA info (implicit: 'strength' is derived from belonging, rather than one's ability to reason independently).
C) Accustomed to a social order that rewards uniformity over maintaining high standards, even if there's misogyny, racism and incompetence involved: "Sure, he may have done a few bad things, but I've always voted Republican, and so's this town."
D) Completely focused on the strange Trump charisma of jocular couldn't-care-less, easy-peasy, accordion-playing hands, age-defying hair, and weird displays of alpha-male dominance.
E) Profiting from the lowering of standards, and thus not interested in their upkeep.
Or, more likely, a sloucher's shuffle of all five, topped off and guided by access to the kind of foolhardy propaganda that tricks those lacking independent thought into believing they are the righteous vanguard.
And what does someone who relies on outside authority invariably do when confronted by a choice? Obviously, they'll seek traditional authority where they've always found it (the Republican party, Fox News, wild-eyed talk radio), or, if these raise doubts, any source that demonstrates perceived strength (confidence, muscularity, wealth, certainty, dominance of others), for this is how authority and its followers have traditionally been defined (the underling's glory; the overlord's example: "He just tells them where to go; that's so exciting").
What is so massively ironic is that freedom is based on reasoning for oneself. To be free is to have an honest conversation within one's mind, and to wholly own paths taken and decisions made.
And, when choosing the best path forward, one wants all the available information in unbiased form, to determine what is valid, and what has the highest priority; that is, the best science. This internal, honest dialogue unifies the mind, and so focuses all energy on one's goal, thus freeing up energy spent on what's otherwise infighting and the suppression of impulses. The result is freedom's unlimited potential, within the individual, and for a nation.
Incidentally, a reliance on outside authority is why a large majority of sex scandals involve Republicans. Since they tend not to think for themselves, and instead adopt an outside authority's say-so, the result is an imperfect mix of suppression and impulse (with the control that's imposed often an unnatural fit, leading to more impulse). This failure to be honest with oneself and the world defines the Trump persona and his followers' delight in its aggressive manifestations.
Here's an additional discussion of why some voters will pick Trump over at Paste.
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