Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych Profile picture
Nov 21, 2021 38 tweets 9 min read Read on X
This is an attempt to use identity politics, perpetual grievance/victimhood, and the exploitation of neuropsychological fear responses to manipulate the majority demographic (and what will most likely be the party in power in 2022) to react/govern as a persecuted minority. 1/ Image
The term "identity politics" is associated with minority groups because the dominant political group is usually also the dominant culture. This dynamic creates the impression that only minority groups embrace/promote their “identity” through politics,….2/
….when in reality, the preservation of the dominant culture is also an exercise of identity politics.

Trump's, "Make American Great Again"?

Identity politics.

Michael Flynn's, “One nation, and one religion under God”?:

Identity politics. 4/

Not only has the Right been extremely effective at creating a minority persecution complex within the majority demographic to create an "othering", "identity politics" victimhood narrative that has not only been embraced by its base..... 5/
...but they've also been effective at creating a victimhood narrative that expands beyond traditional “conservative” constituents…to implicitly create an identity politics coalition around anti-vax.

6/
The anti-vax hysteria/paranoia narrative has allowed Republicans to create political alliances with constituencies that conservative policies have historically alienated/disenfranchised, or simply failed to attract, including: 7/
Government-distrusting minorities, previously apolitical/politically disengaged conspiracy theorists (9/11 “truthers”, etc.), left-leaning pre-covid anti-vaxers,....8/
...and politically-apathetic people who couldn’t be bothered with civic duty (voting) when it inconvenienced their self-absorbed lives….and who might otherwise lean Left when socially conservative policies/beliefs encroached upon their lifestyle/activities…..9/
...but who now align themselves with Republicans b/c masks/vaccines & closed gyms/bars/sporting events triggered their sense of narcissistic entitlement to recreation/entertainment & their “right"/"freedom” to be exempt from shared sacrifice/contributing to the greater good. 10/
This describes some of the Joe Rogan crowd, for whom politics was too boring to pay attention until the conflict resembled a highly entertaining pro-wrestling match that not only positively reinforced their narcissism (“freedom”)…but created meaning/purpose in their lives. 11/
This same conflict-driven purpose/meaning phenomenon can be seen in the “Gated-Community Revolutionaries”….

....who apparently have had it too good…for too long… and they’re not going to take it anymore. 12/

storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/84fe30…
This thread's analysis goes into more detail on how the cognitive dissonance of “American Exceptionalism” factors into “The Gated Community Revolution”: 13/
I've previously analyzed how relentless manipulation of the neuropsychological fight-or-flight fear response creates PTSD-like, hyper-vigilance that causes people to see nearly everyone/everything as an enemy/threat, and to perceive minor threats through an existential lens: 14/
In order to manipulate/exploit society's collective neuropsychology, the Right has to create the perception of relentless threat.

This is accomplished through the perception of perpetual victimhood….as explained in this thread/excerpt: 21/ Image
As was recently observed in the Rittenhouse trial, in our society, there is a belief that victims have a right to take extreme measures to defend themselves, up to and including, deadly force. 22/

This perceived/observed right to “extreme measures” is why the Right has worked so hard to condition people to think in terms of victimhood, and to create the “othering” narrative around vaccine refusal: 23/
...To create a persecuted “minority”-status mindset among a demographic (white Americans) that is not only still in the demographic majority....

...but more importantly, that will most likely be in the political majority after 2022 (Republicans). 24/
In 2022, the GOP may take back Congress. Conditioning the party in power/majority to believe they are persecuted for a particular “identity” is a dangerous political tactic b/c it empowers the majority to act in *self-defense*…to act with “pre-emptive retaliation”. 25/

(cont.)
But unlike an actual minority faction that possesses limited power over the majority, the majority has the power to tyrannize the minority…..26/
Remember, society grants victims the right to take extreme measures to defend themselves when operating under the assumption that they are in a disadvantageous position from a numbers standpoint (“minority”, or outnumbered in a fight),….27/
…..(society grants victims the right) to defend themselves when they are in a disadvantageous position from a strength/power standpoint (attacked by a more powerful person/group), or because they are being attacked in a sacred place (home/”castle doctrine”). 28/
The current psychological manipulation employed by the Right is designed to create a victim mentality (smaller/weaker) through the use of “othering” narratives, to create justification for taking extreme measures. 29/
The difference (objective) is that they won’t be defensive measures taken by a minority/disadvantaged group….they will be taken by a majority group in power who believe they have a “moral authority” to take offensive measures: pre-emptive retaliation. 30/
When a majority group in power acts with a persecuted minority/victim mindset, there can be catastrophic outcomes.

Throughout the last half of the twentieth century, our greatest fear/threat was nuclear proliferation.

31/
Arguably, our greatest threat currently, is the proliferation of victimhood. It’s essentially an arms race that has not only paralyzed government’s ability to function….it literally led to an attack to prevent its peaceful transfer of power. 32/
The subject matter of this thread was recently discussed on "The Muckrake" podcast:
Relevant thread on the "Gated Community Mentality", and how being the lone superpower caused us to look inward for enemies:
Article version (no paywall) of this thread on the weaponization of majority identity politics and the proliferation of victimhood: patreon.com/posts/59002277

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych

Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @Nick_Carmody

Mar 2
This was a very revealing, calculated meeting designed to characterize Zelensky/Ukraine as "deserving" of the "punishment" of an unfair deal that Trump/Vance are angling to give Putin.

Let's unpack.....

1/
The video starts with Trump claiming that he can’t speak negatively about Putin because it will undermine his role as a neutral mediator, and hamper negotiations.

However, that didn’t stop Trump from calling Zelensky a corrupt dictator.

2/
At the :30 second mark, Trump says that Zelensky “has tremendous hatred” for Putin, and obligatorily points out that Putin is “not in love with” Zelensky, either.

x.com/Nick_Carmody/s…

Trump is creating a false/moral equivalency between the president of an invaded country…..and the invading psychopathic autocrat…..

....in order to create a victimhood narrative for Putin.

3/
Read 51 tweets
Feb 25
Watching Yarvin pontificate in his leather jacket reminded me of a 6th year senior......still living in the dorms…

...pulling bong hits with 18 year old freshmen who are blown away by his enlightened "brilliance”...

...because they lack the life experience to call "bullshit".

Yarvin’s nonsensical philosophies would be amusing if he wasn’t taken seriously by so many powerful people.

Let’s unpack….

1/
@jordanbPeterson has been described as being a dumb person’s idea of a smart person….

2/
That description aptly describes Yarvin...

....except that the dumb person in this example isn't a 21 year old kid working at GameStop.....

It's JD Vance, Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, David Sachs, Mark Andreesen, etc.

They obviously are not dumb…..they are just exceptionally, arrogantly ignorant….

....recklessly self-interested…..or both.

3/
Read 93 tweets
Feb 15
Trump sycophants:

Americans voted for Trump/Elon to unconstitutionally dismantle the government.

This is a lie:

1) Many voted on inflation...which is getting worse

2) Trump disavowed the "extreme" Project 2025 playbook

To the extent people voted on Project 2025, it was by foolishly believing they could trust that a pathologically dishonest, sociopathic narcissist would not implement something he described as "extreme".

1/
Read 6 tweets
Feb 10
The statements by JD Vance and Mike Lee about rejecting the separation of powers….

.....and therefore the constitution…..

.....are evidence of the continual slide into authoritarianism.

1/
Back in 2021 Vance telegraphed a future Authoritarian-aspiring regime….

.....which turned out to be Trump 2.0….

.....unconstitutionally defying the Article 3 branch of the government (judiciary).

2/ Image
Trump ran on a populist message that resonated with (conned) millions of non-MAGA voters to put Trump back in power.

3/
Read 8 tweets
Feb 4
"Bannon on Musk & the Battle for Trump's Ear"

I was curious what Bannon thought about Musk commandeering the government.

Instead, the conversation further exposed the fraudulence of Trump as a populist leader…

...as well as the fraudulence of Bannon’s guerilla populist rhetoric (servitude).

Let’s unpack….

1/
At the 6:00 minute mark, Bannon indulges MAGA (populist) victimhood:

2/ Image
Here's the thing:
It's not necessarily that populism wasn’t taken seriously....

....it’s that Trump….as a true populist leader….couldn’t be taken seriously…..

….because, as we’re seeing currently….

3/
Read 55 tweets
Feb 1
Some observations on RFK:

His voice impairment benefits him, because it's difficult to pick up on subtle "tells" in inflection, cadence, tone, or changes in comfort, confidence, or authenticity when speaking.

Instead.....

1/ Image
.....there is a mix of truth, speculation, opinion, and conspiracy that is distorted and distracted by his speaking/voice issues.

2/ Image
At one point during his confirmation hearings, when confronted with the fact that there is no research/evidence linking Anti-depressant to school shootings...

....I thought I heard RFK defend his position by pointing out there is no evidence showing antidepressants don’t cause school shootings.

3/Image
Read 7 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(