A Culture of Denial in America

 

                      A Culture of Denial in America                   Gerry OShea

In William Shakespeare’s celebrated play, Hamlet, the character of Horatio, representing science and reason as opposed to wild imaginings about late-night ghosts, was rebuked by Hamlet in memorable lines, “There are more things in heaven and on earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

Steve Bannon, guru of far-right politics in the United States, was making a similar point when he explained his central insight for achieving power in America: “People now move in tribes. Persuasion is highly-overrated.”

The Republican hierarchy seems to follow the same line of thinking. Amazingly for a major political party, they did not promulgate a policy manifesto during last year’s national elections campaign. While they lost the presidency, they increased their numbers in the House of Representatives, suggesting that American voters were not particularly impressed by the detailed legislative programs presented by the Democrats.

Republicans, especially, are tuned into emotional engagement with the electorate which they have learned will nearly always trump rational arguments. They realize the power of promptings about gut-level topics, centering on race, invasions at the southern border or restrictive gun laws - all issues that stir the blood in the current political climate in America.

 Combine these topics with pushing a shared conservative sense of victimhood suffered at the hands of media elites and you have the working plan of the party’s current election strategy.

Social scientists explain that what they call Confirmation Bias is an important human dynamic which stresses that people gladly accept information or indeed propaganda that confirm their own beliefs and prejudices – and this strong human tendency applies to liberals as much as to conservatives.

Consider the crucial healthcare issue which is at the center of American political debate for the last fifty years. What is the Republican alternative to the disastrously expensive and inadequate prevailing hospital and doctor care system? Well, they are against the Affordable Care Act, passed by President Obama, and they really rage against the Medicare-for-all that Senator Bernie Sanders promotes.

 But what are they for? Donald Trump said that he had a healthcare policy ready just to dot the i’s and cross the t’s. He made that promise six years ago and it is safe to assert that neither he nor any other senior Republican has the slightest intention of coming forward with a proposal in this vital area of public life in the foreseeable future.

In the 2016 presidential election Hilary Clinton operated from the premise that it was vital to convince people that she, the first serious female candidate for the White House, was competent and informed about all the policy issues, while her opponent, Donald Trump, saw the election as an extension of show business – and he won!

James Carville’s famous aphorism when he was Bill Clinton’s main strategist that “it is the economy stupid” carries less weight today. Half of Americans live from month to month but most vote for the Republican Party which opposes progressive policies that would lighten the load for working families.

President Biden’s proposal to continue a generous monthly child allowance for families will run into stormy waters in Washington because of instinctive Republican opposition to any welfare program. Reforming the tax system to favor low and middle-income families will almost certainly meet with the same fate. Ironically, such sensible progressive proposals will be defeated by senators who received most of the working class votes in their states.

In Arkansas and some other Southern States, the Delta variant has multiplied the hospital admissions for the COVID. Only about one-third of the people in many of these mostly-red states have chosen to be vaccinated, so, with increased risk from new and deadlier variants, you might expect a rush to the clinics for Pfizer or Moderna protection.

Not so!  The tribal response in these places elicits all kinds of rationalizations for inaction. Balderdash talk is at a premium. Some say that they don’t trust vaccines on advice from local “experts” or from some Fox News commentators; others say that it is all God’s will and he determines who lives and dies. Most of all, they resent the fancy all-knowing elitist medics like Anthony Fauci telling them how to live their lives.

Logic suggests that a legal mandate compelling vaccination should be seriously considered in accordance with the sound reasoning that people who refuse a free inoculation present a real danger to other members of the community. After all, based on the same thinking, every state requires a driver’s license for car users to protect the wider community.

President Biden is against imposing a vaccination mandate, but he urged community leaders to visit recalcitrant neighbors to persuade them to get vaccinated. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene responded by accusing the president of using brown-shirt Nazi tactics to push what she considers his immoral agenda. The Republican base loved her crazy defiance.

The vast majority of these citizens identify as Trump supporters, who are still convinced that the presidential election was stolen by Joe Biden. Interestingly, Mr. Trump and his wife were vaccinated last December, but without television cameras or any publicity. If their inoculation was touted at that time, it would surely have encouraged his followers to do the same.

The insurrection in the Capitol Building on January 6^th heightened the tribal divisions in America. Republicans, who always present themselves as the party of law and order, had to find some explanation for the riotous behavior of their supporters on that disgraceful occasion.

  Congressman Andrew Clyde from Georgia stated that what he witnessed on that memorable winter day was followers behaving like tourists. Another Republican congressman, Paul Gosar from Arizona, claimed that he only saw peaceful patriots expressing their legitimate political opinions.

Senator Ron Johnson from Wisconsin described the mood of the rioters as “jovial, serious but not violent.” He was not afraid during the invasion but if the protesters were representing BLM or Antifa he would be scared. Donald Trump has declared repeatedly that the best descriptor of the crowd is “loving.”

Pseudologia Fantastica (PF) is a fancy technical psychological description of behavior that shows a strong wish to be right all the time, while overriding rational considerations and distorting perceptions and memories. It is a form of pathological lying designed to make a person feel special and normal and correct. It indicates a very tangential connection with reality and is named in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) as a mental disorder.

 Tens of millions of Republicans are convinced that Donald Trump will be restored to the White House prior to the end of August or certainly before the new year arrives. There is no chance whatsoever that this will happen. It is a wild belief that clearly suggests that some version of PF is embedded and thriving in powerful parts of American culture.

Republicans have backed themselves into a no-win corner. A clear majority of their followers believe the Big Lie, that Donald Trump was cheated of victory and should still be on top in Washington and not twiddling his thumbs in Mar-a-Lago. Their candidates will run on or will be tied to this outrageous assertion in the senate and congressional elections next year.

 If they try to renege, the Trumpers will repudiate them. In addition, they are dancing with the selfish anti-vaccinators and justifying the insurrection of January 6^th – both extensions of the Big Lie.

This is a recipe for disaster for the Republican Party where only their daft hardliners – a huge crowd but insufficient for electoral success – will continue to affirm blatant mendacity. Hugging the far extreme of the political spectrum in La-La Land will consign them to minority status in the House and Senate.

 Expect major Democratic gains in both Houses in the mid-term elections.

Gerry OShea blogs at wemustbetalking.com