Although it is unlikely that political "addiction" is causing people to fail to meet their physiological needs, there are parallels between addiction and hyper-political tribalism/obsession...4/
The relevant point of emphasis is the dysfunction and chaos that ensues when the continuation of the addictive behavior becomes a primary pursuit.
In this context, it would *functionally* preclude people from advancing to level three "Love and belonging". 6/
Admittedly, this is where it gets a bit complicated, b/c tribalism is, on its surface, is not only providing a sense of community/belonging....but there appears to be physiological factors in play that reinforce that "belonging"...as explained here: 7/
But in keeping with the addiction theme, there is also a sense of community created around addiction.
On one extreme, you have heroine addicts congregating in an abandoned building...and to a lesser extreme, cigarette smoking co-workers congregating during ten minute breaks. 11/
The existence of community and belonging, when existing purely as the by-product of self-destructive behavior.....does not satisfy the third hierarchy. 10/
Another observation is relevant to the second hierarchy: Safety needs.
In order to "graduate" to the next hierarchy, people need to satisfy/meet (or at least feel/believe they are satisfying/meeting) the needs of the current hierarchy.
In this case, "Safety needs". 11/
These needs are nearly impossible to satisfy when people experience constant exploitation/manipulation of their neuropsychological fear responses.
Or, as I've previously written about, when people are purposely kept in a state of hyper-vigilance: 12/
"The very same traits (pathologically dysfunctional competitiveness/greed/ambition), that drove them to manipulate the system to get ahead, "present" (symptoms) w/such intensity/severity that they are unable to turn "it" off even when "it" threatens to destroy what it created."
Rational former Republicans (@radiofreetom/@stuartpstevens) have struggled to understand what happened to people they thought they knew as "intelligent & reasonable".
There are several things at play. First, we often view others through our own subjective lens. Therefore,….1/
...even when agreeing on an issue, we assume we arrive at same conclusion for similar reasons.
Nichols/Stevens arrived at certain conclusions due to their belief in Conservativism’s “commitment to traditional values/ideas & opposition to change socially traditional ideas.” 2/
But the problem is that many of the “socially traditional ideas” that existed in this country's history involved racism, discrimination, misogyny, homophobia, & bigotry.
And although rational former Republicans were seduced by the pragmatism/deliberateness of the ideology....3/
Yes, Trump supporting Christian right engaged in moral compromisation (the "ends justifies the means")....to create moral authority. The moral compromisation occurred when the evangelicals adopted the "flawed leader" narrative to justify their support of Trump. 1/
An interesting study finding neuro-physiological parallels between white supremacy and addiction.
The study focuses on the dopamine “high”, but fails to recognize the potential neuro-physiological pain-avoidance “withdrawal” factor associated with group/tribal identity. 1/