(Thread) How we can get through this and save liberal democracy. 👇
Trump pummels our emotions. He keeps Democrats on a roller coaster of outrage and anxiety.
His followers swing from elation at his latest antics to fear and fury at Democrats.
Trump pummels our emotions. He keeps Democrats on a roller coaster of outrage and anxiety.
His followers swing from elation at his latest antics to fear and fury at Democrats.
1/ Like Putin, Trump governs by keeping everyone spinning.
(What do I mean? See 👇 )
Yesterday’s moment was when Trump mocked Dr. Ford at a rally for not remembering how she got to the party.
Democrats were outraged.
MAGA people were elated.
(What do I mean? See 👇 )
Yesterday’s moment was when Trump mocked Dr. Ford at a rally for not remembering how she got to the party.
Democrats were outraged.
MAGA people were elated.
2/. Prof. Snyder explains the theory of governing by crisis and spectacle:
The leader thinks about how to get the people experiencing strong emotions.
When people get pulled into an endless round of emotion, they’re unable to think about the future.
The leader thinks about how to get the people experiencing strong emotions.
When people get pulled into an endless round of emotion, they’re unable to think about the future.
3/ Unfreedom (totalitarianism) occurs when people stop thinking about the future (Ultimately there IS no future).
While we’re all caught in a hurricane of emotions, fascism marches on. Behind closed doors, Trump & pals are busy dismantling the federal government.
They are. . .
While we’re all caught in a hurricane of emotions, fascism marches on. Behind closed doors, Trump & pals are busy dismantling the federal government.
They are. . .
4/. . . passing tax cuts that increase the income inequality and hence harm the very people cheering him at rallies—and finding ways to inflict harm on vulnerable communities.
There are thus two stories: What we see & what's happening behind closed doors.
usatoday.com/story/opinion/…
There are thus two stories: What we see & what's happening behind closed doors.
usatoday.com/story/opinion/…
5/ People ask why Trump is insisting on Kavanaugh despite credible allegations of sexual assault and perjury.
Why not just put in his second choice, who is still in line with the views of the far right wing but will be less divisive?
Why not just put in his second choice, who is still in line with the views of the far right wing but will be less divisive?
6/ One answer, I think is this: To create as much turmoil and divisiveness as possible.
What could better rile the Democrats?
What could better thrill the MAGA people?
What could better cause them to turn on each other, and see each other as the enemy?
What could better rile the Democrats?
What could better thrill the MAGA people?
What could better cause them to turn on each other, and see each other as the enemy?
7/ What could drive a more polarizing wedge through the nation than the spectacle of Kavanaugh yelling at two female senators about how he's victimized, or the jeering laughter while Trump mocks Dr. Ford.
Make no mistake: Trump wants you riled up.
Make no mistake: Trump wants you riled up.
7/ He wants his followers to cheer.
This polarizing wedge works on multiple levels.
It takes us out of normal politics of policy differences (left v. right) and into what Prof. Stanley @jasonintrator calls “the politics of us versus them.”
This polarizing wedge works on multiple levels.
It takes us out of normal politics of policy differences (left v. right) and into what Prof. Stanley @jasonintrator calls “the politics of us versus them.”
8/ The nation becomes divided into tribes. We see each other as enemies.
We so assume that everyone is an enemy that even when Orrin Hatch submits an appellate brief (Gamble v. US) making the exact same legal argument as the ACLU, people immediately ascribe bad ulterior motives.
We so assume that everyone is an enemy that even when Orrin Hatch submits an appellate brief (Gamble v. US) making the exact same legal argument as the ACLU, people immediately ascribe bad ulterior motives.
9/ Okay so what can we do about it?
I think we have to lift ourselves out of the destructive emotional cycle, or we’ll get worn out.
For me, understanding is calming. Scholars like Haidt, Snyder, Stanley, Paxton, Sunstein, and others helps me see how I'm being manipulated.
I think we have to lift ourselves out of the destructive emotional cycle, or we’ll get worn out.
For me, understanding is calming. Scholars like Haidt, Snyder, Stanley, Paxton, Sunstein, and others helps me see how I'm being manipulated.
10/ It also helps to turn emotions into action. Worried about midterms? Elections are held locally. Volunteer to help in yours. (I’m signed up as a volunteer lawyer to watch polls and vote tabulation to prevent fraud.)
11/ Snyder, in video series👇 has more ideas. He suggests subscribing to local newspapers to stay grounded in facts instead of spinning by TV spectacle, and subscribing to local newspapers as a way to support factuality, and keep the reporters in jobs.
12/ Snyder also suggests studying history to keep what's happening in perspective.
I know from my own reading of American history that this is not our first slide into oligarchy. The first was slavery. The second occurred in the 1920s. Our nation has been in worse shape.
I know from my own reading of American history that this is not our first slide into oligarchy. The first was slavery. The second occurred in the 1920s. Our nation has been in worse shape.
13/ Other nations have been in much worse shape, but pulled themselves back to a stable liberal democracy.
We should look to the future and think about how we can get there. The worst thing we can do is get worn down, despair, and give up. That’s exactly what Trump wants.
We should look to the future and think about how we can get there. The worst thing we can do is get worn down, despair, and give up. That’s exactly what Trump wants.
