another way politics poison everything…
Unfortunately, people often act against their best interests and do so not because they haven’t been told what would be a better choice or had evidence withheld from them, but because they’re rebelling against authority, even if they chose these authorities themselves. That seems to be the thesis of psychologist Drew Westen in his book about the effect of politics on human behavior, as featured in BBC News. When people want to rebel and take matters into their own hands, facts seem irrelevant and whoever can stoke the most resentment will win the debate. Rationality and analysis have to fly out the window. It’s all about who can harness the rage of a furious mob and bend it to their whims. In the American healthcare debate, the Republicans have been by far the most skilled at doing so, proving that negative politics work amazingly well and anger can replace policy.
I’ve seen how this plays out firsthand, hearing people complain about how they don’t have health insurance of any kind because they can’t afford it, yet fuming about the “socialist totalitarianism” of a health bill what wanted to make that insurance more affordable and punish the companies offering policies for rejecting sick patients in the name of profit. One would think that’s a no brainer. If you don’t have coverage, why would you side with a corporate lobby that wants to keep prices high and reject you if given the slightest chance? Well, according to Weston, the thought pattern behind such a position goes something like this…
They do it because they resent having their interests decided for them by politicians who think they know best. There is nothing voters hate more than having things explained to them as though they were idiots. As the saying goes, in politics, when you’re explaining, you’re losing. And that makes anything as complex or as messy as healthcare reform a very hard sell.
But the flip side is that the decision is still being turned over by politicians who think they know best. All they do is trade one set of smarmy, self-aggrandizing politicos for another. And those other politicians could very well be on the take from the insurance companies who want to keep making money from denying people coverage and keeping health insurance out of reach for millions of people. There’s also the huge element of red-baiting involved here. Calling anything “socialist” or “collectivist” or comparing it to “Communist Russia” immediately triggers outrage from a conservative base of voters who combine the above-detailed distaste for details with a searing, institutional hatred of anything that’s described by Cold War terminology. Richard Hofstadter’s image of “paranoid politics” in the U.S. is still alive and well.
The big question is how do we try to make laws that actually do something for a majority of the nation when an entire political culture hostile to facts, numbers and logical analysis has taken such firm root. We know that a furious monolog, or a feat of anti-intellectualism that manages to equate good education and command of the policy involved with elitism and snobbery, often substitutes the relevant facts for millions. But how do we get a real legislative framework in spite of these ridiculous political games? How can you run a rational government if emotions, hysteria and deep seeded paranoia frames every important action?
gfish,
Sew the wind, reap the whirlwind. Americans were not always this goofy. I grew up just in time to escape the Cold War Mania. It was not a policy, rather it was a groundswell. When I graduated high-school in 1958, I could feel the freshening, as the air off an approching thunderstorm, but it didn’t grab me by the throat. In 1958 a Methodist was considered a good Christian, now they’re ranked with the communists. The only argument small minds could marshall against the Communist dialectic, which was regarded as exquisitely seductive to the downtrodden masses, was God. Communists were atheists. Thus, “It’s God against the Communists.” “Communism is Socialism.” “Liberals are Socialists.” Therefore,”God hates liberals.” “Communism is the ‘Evil Empire’, ergo., Liberals are Evil.” And on and on ad neausium.
American school teachers did this, unbidden. They had help I suppose, but they were the ones in the trenches. They were duty bound to indoctrinate a generation, and they did a helluva job. Now we pay with the fact that nothing that sounds liberal, no matter how downtrodden the masses, has a chance. Honest to God, I’m not making this up. Look around.
When my boys were in grade school My wife and I went to some sort of PTA special thing. During the obligatory Pledge of Allegiance, I said, “…one Nation, under God, …” and was promptly assaulted by a cute 5’2″ blonde of about 23 who said, “There’s no comma between nation and under God.” She’s one of my boy’s teachers. I’m 45, a father, husband of the same woman for 22 years, upstanding citizen – never failed to vote, and a veteran of the United States Army, and I am on the verge of retaliation. Fortunately, my wife of 22 years, on the other side, is digging her fingernails into the inside of my bare upper arm; I smiled down at her and said, “I learned to say it before Congress passed the “under God” part, sorry Ma’am.” How many hours do you suppose my kids had spent learning to say that (patently parenthetical) phrase without pausing after “nation?” This was in the late 70′s or early 80′s. This girl was herself a victim of the indoctrination she was now dishing out. It’s God against liberals.
She failed, I might add, miserably. My kids are rational. Most of that generation are, but they seem to regard politics as a joke, and normally choose not to be involved. hope we can survive as a viable national entity for another generation, ’cause this one is hopeless. Anyone under 68 will go to the polls and cheerfully cut his nose off to spite his face, and anyone under 40 will not go at all. Those between 40 and 60 are dedicated to a mindless (counter)ideology and cannot be discouraged by any facts.
Have a lovely evening.
Good points. If American healthcare is so great, why aren’t Europeans wearing out their governments to get American style care. More cost for less service! Who would pass on such a deal as that? Those crazy Europeans. I would add to the psychologist’s diagnosis the fear of change, and the failure to consider what is best for future generations. Americans are all about individual freedom and what’s best for number one, but it can also be woefully shortsighted.
@Bob: Well, Bob, I’m not sure about your average American, in that sense. You might be surprised, but that certainly typifies the current corporate mentality, and , indirectly that fits right in wiith what you just said.
A required course in Engineering when I was in school was variously called Engineering Economic Analysis or Capital Alllocation Analysis. The idea was to learn how to project the long term cost/benefit relationships, or alternatively, the current value of future outcomes of alternative current investments. Like, for instance, should we keep using (and fixing) the wornout equipment we have or buy new stuff? It’s not a stupid question. At least not if you plan to keep running this thing for a while.
Corporations are now run by market people. Their only question is what will it look like on the stock exchange tomorrow. “Exxon invests $3.25 billion in super high-tech exploration technology,” might look OK, but “GM replaces old equipment with $1.25 billion in robotic technology, which Japan has been using for decades,” is a real downer. Investors run the world’s corporations, and investments reduce dividends, they are therefore bad. Layoffs are good. Fewer wages to pay with the same capitalization, hey, that’s gotta be good, right. ‘Til maybe next month when the cheeze starts to bind, then sell. Voila!
Health care is a perfect example. Huge corporations got it cranked into their budget/tax picture. It’s small businesses who’ve got the problem. They create all the jobs, but they can’t offer real health care benefits to their employees, so their employees are always looking. Got no problem in Europe, everybody’s covered. You can work for Roan & Hoffpauir Surveyig Co. of Nacogdoches, Texas for $12.00/hr, and be home by 5:00 PM every night of the year, coach little league, serve as a deacon of your church, go for a run or play tennis with friends, or work for XYZ, Inc. at $24.00/hr and maybe be sent to California next month or, hell, maybe to Saudi Arabia for a year, your choice. Not just now Jose, XYZ, Inc has meds. Not even worth discussing. Just make sure Mama’s pregnant when you leave for Saudi.
Yada, yada,yada. Just more liberal BS that is destroying this country. Maybe try reading the Constitution and see where the founding fathers had more faith in the “common” man than the government. The fact of the matter is that the majority of Americans across this great land are not stupid, they can think for themselves, and they know when they are being “conned” with this National Health Insurance BS coming down from Washingon!
Yada, yada,yada. Just more liberal BS that is destroying this country.
Very persuasive argument. And by persuasive I meant empty. Unlike you, I’ve actually looked at the Constitution. The founding fathers had so much trust in the citizenry, the president is chosen by the Electoral College instead of direct elections to give those in power at the time sway over who would ultimately win the post. They also had such an open policy towards voting, only white male landowners like them were allowed to vote for over a century.
I’m sure that trying to give people cheap health insurance must be totally ruining this nation, far more than say, special interest groups, government corruption and wildly fluctuating economy which leaves millions jobless at a moment’s notice. Because if we just let all that happen, everything would be just fine, right?