The firehouse of falsehood isn’t about belief, it’s about power. You *have* to engage with Trump as he speaks, because we give deference to the President. Liberals are frustrated because conservatives still back him. But what if that’s an inherent trait? thread/
Here’s a TED talk about personality differences between liberals and conservatives. On a key trait, respect for authority, liberals rank much lower than conservatives:
This means that an inherent part of being conservative is placing value on authority and the pronouncements of authority figures. This is deep-brain stuff. If you don’t have this, you’re probably not conservative.
So when a conservative politician says something, conservatives respond favorably by default. It’s harder for them to go against their party leaders than it is for liberals. That’s not a judgment: that’s just part of having a conservative brain.
It’s no different from liberals chasing dumb trends like shirts made of fruit fibers or sustainable bamboo lunch boxes or kale. (Admit it: now you want those things.) Conservatives are fine with plaid. It looks decent on everyone.
So what happens specifically to conservatives when their President lies nonstop, all the time? Their brains are predisposed to say yes to authority, but they still can see reality... when it’s inescapable. The sky is blue, grass is green...
... but how big *was* that inaugural crowd, anyway? Sure, there could be dangerous people in “the caravan”. And doesn’t it kind of look like @Acosta shoved that lady? ⬅️ This is how the conservative brain responds to lies by authority figures: by WANTING them to be true.
This is a problem peculiar to conservatives. Liberals are by no means immune to tribalism, but we aren’t inclined to blindly trust our guys.
We can rag on conservatives for this all day long, because it’s not a trait we respect. But it’s NOT inherently a bad thing.
When you are trying to organize a society, adherence to authority is helpful. Just ask a parent who’s trying to get three kids out of the house! “No I do not want to explain WHY you need to put your shoes on JUST DO IT OKAY?!?”
People who always question authority are kind of a pain in the ass. I’m sure any Democratic Party leader could tell stories... stories that would really confuse their Republican counterparts, who don’t face similar challenges.
Republicans’ deference to Trump’s lies is therefore not an inherent flaw, because deference to authority is not inherently a flaw. It’s GOOD that this trait exists in society. But it DOES reflect Trump exploiting a weakness in his supporters’ psychology.
(Just like he does when he gets liberals outraged about six different things at once, knowing that we’ll predictably fracture into multiple interest groups who want to defend the press and protect Mueller and fight voter suppression and and and and...)
The question is, how can those of us with liberal, authority-questioning brains HELP our fellow citizens deal with the attacks that they are under? I know it feels weird in this hyper-tribal time to think of Republicans as victims, but they absolutely ARE being exploited.
How do we help Republicans deal with lies they inherently want to believe because they are coming from an authority figure? They aren’t going to stop wanting to trust authority.
They are never going to stop trying to see how there could be some truth in there. They CAN’T, any more then you can stop being outraged by institutional racism or climate change deniers or Ted Cruz.
Unless we can give Republicans a viable-for-them alternative to believing Trump, they will continue to do so, even if they kinda know he’s lying.
P.S., I know it’s not fair to focus on Republican victimhood when, gah, EVERYTHING IS HORRIBLE. I get it. But if we cede this ground then Trump will keep taking it. It’s hard to get small wins on climate change when half the country accepts the lie that it’s a Chinese hoax.
@threadreaderapp unroll
