You know, the research that suggests the Deplorables voted for Trump because they felt their social status was threatened, as opposed to their reacting to the economic decline of the American middle and working classes. The lady was on NPR this morning being interviewed about her findings. Yep, this is really catching on, especially with the chattering classes. The Pledge Break People have a new standard bearer.
Well, I don’t buy it. Sure, these self-esteem factors may play some role in the Trump victory, although its not clear how they come into play in Europe where the rise of neofascism is also well documented. And of course, American Liberals will certainly embrace any explanation that allows them to point out how bigoted their Conservative political opponents are while simultaneously rejecting any explanation that maybe its just the result of good old-fashioned class struggle. Like all Americans, Left and Right, they seem to be thoroughly indoctrinated to reject any view of the social universe that recognizes the idea that politics and economics are inseparable and interchangeable.
Sure, psychological, social, historical and cultural factors all play a role, but the major determinant in political evolution throughout all human history is the fact that given even the slightest opportunity, the strong will always take from the weak. If you need proof, recall that every single progressive movement in human history has always been opposed by the power elite–the propertied classes. Every single one.
While the “causes” of these social phenomena may be in dispute, the results are nonetheless pretty clear. Taxes for the rich will fall along with social programs for the poor. Legislation that protects the worker, the consumer, and the environment will be dismantled, while that which protects property, wealth and their political expression will flourish. Civil rights will always take a back seat to property rights. All policies promoted by the Right are designed to increase and protect private wealth and control, particularly corporate profits. And the best way to do this is to ensure that jobs are scarce and vulnerable, that unemployment and bankruptcy are always at the door. Even immigration policy is designed to do this. It guarantees labor will always be divided, cheap and docile. Racism, nationalism, nativism, male chavinism and class snobbery are just tools in the toolbox.
And now we are presented with the idea that the defining conflict in the power struggle for the 21st century is not that the upper classes are eager to shelter and further their own interests, but that the lower and middle classes are bigots. I presume that assures us the commercial and financial elites are not. How fucking convenient.
No, I’m not accusing Dr Mutz of being a conscious tool and lackey of the capitalist puppet masters. Not only is it not true, it is too simplistic an explanation. I’m sure her research technique is valid and her conclusions justified. But there is an insidious form of natural selection, an evil evolution, at work here which pushes her study to the forefront of public scrutiny because it furthers and supports a particular narrative–one that favors a particular caste. You don’t need sinister conspiracies to explain social change, or how we perceive it; sometimes the environment itself molds and shapes the conversation, subtly filters it, favors one interpretation over another. In a Babel of contradictory and conflicting ideas, some have a slight advantage because they favor certain interests; they will naturally encounter more support and less friction. It is an almost automatic process, an emergent phenomenon that operates below our level of conscious perception.
Set one group of victims against another. Drive a wedge between those who truly have a common purpose and mutual interest. Divide and conquer, confuse and obfuscate, distract and mislead. Its the same old story, the same shoot-em-up, the same rodeo. I’ve seen this all before and I won’t fall for it.