One of the largest questions frequently lifted is how is Trump still able to garner 40-ish percent approval with all that he has done and is doing? It is a puzzler. How often do we hear (former?) friends and family members singing the Trump accolades for how much he has done? Often in response to our incredulous come back, "What has he done," we get fuzzy mumbled answers that frequently make no sense or have no connection to the reality we see. To find an answer we have to remove our caps and gowns and put on special glasses to peer into the minds and emotions of those in the 40%.
Ali Breland, a reporter for Mother Jones, in August of 2019 wrote an excellent piece (https://tinyurl.com/y6l9rvdt) entitled, "Why Are Right-Wing Conspiracies So Obsessed With Pedophilia?" They brought to the surface some realities about the history and pattern of conspiracy theories that reveal a lot about the deeper social disturbance through which we are living. Breland says, "Conspiracy theories of all kinds draw their energy from social anxieties." What social anxieties do we have at present?
So many conservatives start out their discussion of Trumpian politics by saying, "After enduring 8 years of the horrors of Obama..." Liberals are left mystified by this statement because so many positive things happened with the Obama Presidency. Big red-letter issues that stick in the craw of social conservatives are gay marriage, transgender protections, freely available contraception, and an expanded social safety net (especially Obamacare.) In addition, there has been a 400-year history of white majority/dominate rule, which came to a screeching bump in the road with the election of a Black man for president. Unresolved agreement on "border security" is perceived by conservatives as an "open border," which allows the Hispanic population to further erode and threaten the white power majority. All of these "social anxieties" for conservatives raise fear and foreboding about their further loss of influence, structure, stability, and power. Trump has capitalized on magnifying these fears to the point that many on the right react with "lizard brain" white-knuckled rage and the fight side of their stressed fight-flight-freeze reaction fully lit up. A Facebook meme has circulated that says, in effect, "It's not what Trump has done, but who he hates that his supporters love." His supporters genuinely believe their very way of life is under siege and they feel they're at risk of losing everything. All this to the point that our democracy is seriously threatened.
In order for our democracy to be saved, what do we do? The present mind set is basically a classic military approach. To any invasion we apply a greater force to repel it. The primary focus is on "getting out the vote." Get so many out to vote that the minority loses and then we can put our progressive agenda back on track is the commonly held belief. This strategy may be effective when the side being fought against is only in the 10-20% range. But we are at 39-42%. Forcing a change at this level, without addressing the social anxiety, is likely only going to increase the disturbing trend toward militias, armaments, violence (and conspiracy theories.) And a side note: whether the source of the anxiety is "real" or not is immaterial. To a person experiencing anxiety that is real and you will not get anywhere telling that person to just "calm down." Life feels threatening. The person (group) have a primordial built-in response to fight the aggressor for their life.
What can be done to change this hostile frustrated division in our country? Both sides are supremely frustrated, some even rage-filled to the point of murder, with the other side not being able to hear "reasonable arguments." Reasonable arguments that press the "logic" of one's red or blue position are not going to cut it. Why? Mainly because there's an inherent dynamic in the world of debating that you're on a side that has to win and very often that doesn't allow the other to hear. In this author's humble opinion, we need to be willing to put down our sword and shield and step across the lines and start asking the question (with a sincere interest in the answer) like "What frightens you the most about the course the country is on?" "What makes you anxious about where our country is right now? "On what are you basing your assumptions?" If we engage in the more vulnerable, emotion-laden conversations from a caring place we are liable to get further along and build the relationships better than arguing, fighting, and retreating into separate bunkers. World War I lasted in the trenches a God-awful destructively long time. I don't think anyone really wants to go there. So, let's start the one by one by one.... conversations and see if it doesn't bring down the levels of frustration with each other a bit?
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