Thread by @madlori

Hey, anybody want some Friday night half-baked amateur sociological theory that I believe explains the world in general's total inability to deal with Donald Trump? Pull up a chair, space friends, and lemme bend your ear for a tic. Strap in, this gon be long. 1/25

The societies in which we live operate under a complex series of social codes in order to run smoothly. In fact, these codes exist in a hierarchy defined by necessity of compliance, and the severity of consequence for violation. 2/25

In this theory (my own, so take it with a grain of salt) there are three levels to this hierarchy, and yes there's something of a corollary here to be drawn with Maslow's hierarchy of needs. 3/25

In increasing order of necessity of compliance:
Level 3 rules define a polite society.
Level 2 rules define a civilized society.
Level 2 rules define an ordered society. 4/25

Level 3 rules are about interpersonal contact to make things nice. Things like, wait your turn. Don't interrupt. Share and be kind. Don't be rude to total strangers. Don't intrude on someone's personal space. These are also the rules that vary the most between cultures. 5/25

Violation of Level 3 rules is handled socially. A rebuke, a dirty look, possibly an argument. These violations are common, and we all handle them almost daily. Our strategies to handle them vary, but we all have the basic tools - even if the tool is to ignore it. 6/25

Level 2 rules are about interaction with fellows in a civilized manner. Things like don't take someone else's possessions, don't physically assult or murder someone, don't force yourself on someone sexually. Rules needed to allow everyone to live safely and peacefully. 7/25

Violation of Level 2 rules is handled legally, by the society's authority. These are violations we've codified into laws, because they are severe enough to require stronger response. But we still have strategies to react if one happens. These violations aren't unknown. 8/25

Now, the nitty gritty: Level 1. These are rules that allow society to exist in the first place. Things like, you will walk on two legs if you're able. You will speak a shared language and not make up your own. You will wear some kind of clothing. 9/25

You've probably never thought about those things as being rules, right? Because they're so basic, that you never think to articulate them. You'd no more teach someone to do those things than you'd teach them to breathe oxygen. These rules are less taught than absorbed. 10/25

So what's the consequence for a Level 1 violation? Well...there really isn't one. Not because they don't require one, but because they are so fundamental that we never learn tools for how to deal with a violation. We can't handle a violation. It crashes the OS. 11/25

To illustrate these levels, let's posit a scenario. You are eating dinner in a crowded restaurant with a variety of people in it, all of them observing all three levels of social coding. Let's see what happens with a violation at each level. 12/25

A Level 3 violation might be a rude waiter, or a couple at the next table arguing, or a disorderly child not being corrected by their parents. Maybe someone talking too loud, or swearing too much. Regular stuff. 13/25

These violations merit social correction. Stiffing the waiter, a dirty look, a rebuke or even a verbal confrontation. Or even pretending you don't notice, with is also a response strategy. 14/25

So how about a Level 2 violation? Someone robs the restaurant. A diner picks up a steak knife and stabs their companion. A drunk driver drives through the front window. Not so regular stuff. 15/25

And yet, our minds still contain a mechanism to react. Maybe you dial 911, or yell for help, or even jump in. Maybe you run away, or leave the area, or cry and scream. Having the *right* response isn't the issue - it's that your brain contains pathways for what to do. 16/25

So what would happen if someone committed a Level 1 violation? Say, someone got up on a table, ripped off their clothes, and started gibbering in nonsense. What do you do? What would most people do?

Probably nothing. Freeze. Stare. Blue screen of death. 17/25

We are not equipped with the tools to deal with a social violation of this magnitude, that is so fundamental to how our society is organized. We just don't know how to even begin to address this level of dysfunction. 18/25

Are you starting to see where I'm going with this?

Donald Trump is committing Level 1 violations against the governmental norms. Daily. Repeatedly. 19/25

Level 3 and 2 violations in the government are common. But they occur while assuming a certain baseline level of functioning, and are predicated upon a fundamental bedrock of common organizational norms. 20/25

Nobody has any tools to handle violations at this level of dysfunction. Trump is doing the governmental equivalent of walking on all fours or speaking his own made-up language, and nobody even knows where to start. 21/25

Solutions to Level 2 and 3 problems are based on the presumption that eveyone obeys the Level 1 norms. That presumption is no longer valid. People keep trying to do scold him for butting in line when he's dancing naked on a table. 22/25

To complicate matters, there is an entire segment of people who not only refuse to impose consequences, at any level, but who refuse to acknowledge that a Level 1 violation has occurred and is constantly occurring. 23/25

They insist that dancing naked on a table is normal, it's just how things are done now. But it violates the very basis of the organizational pyramid of society (in this case, the government-as-society). 24/25

It's not enough to say that nobody knows how to deal with Trump. It's that nobody CAN know, because the violations he's committing are so fundamental that there exists no mechanism to react, let alone counter it. We're all gonna have to hope that they can adapt. Quickly. 25/25

^^ that should be Level 1 rules define an ordered society. Dammit, the most important tweet - I proofread this thread three times.