{"id":10441,"date":"2020-03-04T07:23:29","date_gmt":"2020-03-04T12:23:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=10441"},"modified":"2020-03-04T07:29:58","modified_gmt":"2020-03-04T12:29:58","slug":"be-afraid-be-very-afraid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=10441","title":{"rendered":"be afraid. be very afraid."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Soon after reading Ben Sasse\u2019s Them: Why We Hate Each Other\u2014and How to Heal <\/em>last summer, I began thinking increasingly more about how the politicians, pundits, Sean Hannity\u2019s and Rachel Maddow\u2019s of the world are actually fueling the latest (not-so)<\/em> great divide. Sasse made the point that the goal is rage \u2014 to make us mad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with CNN\u2019s Jake Tapper, Sasse said: \u201cToday, the most watched cable programming in America, Hannity is number one and Rachel Maddow is usually number two. Both of them have the same basic business model, which is try to intensify the political addictions of the 1% of America that’s listening to you and you can always just demonize your opponent, and never give a fair shake to what the other argument is.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I say that as one of the most conservative members of the U.S. Senate. I’m the second most conservative member of the Senate. I’m not mealy mouth indifferent on policy, but I don’t think policy differences mean that people I differ with, on a given policy, I have to regard as evil and, therefore, not as a part of a shared America\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve since concluded that there\u2019s a deeper aim employed, as we recognize a common root of anger. Allow me to quote Dr. Leon F. Seltzer, a dual doctorate holder, popular psychologist and author, in a post from \u201cPsychology Today\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026 anger is almost never a primary emotion in that even when anger seems like an instantaneous, knee-jerk reaction to provocation, there’s always some other feeling that gave rise to it. And this particular feeling is precisely what the anger has contrived to camouflage or control.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The simplest example of my admittedly unorthodox relegation of anger to secondary, \u2018reactive\u2019 status might relate to the universally frustrating situation of being cut off while driving. Virtually everyone I’ve ever asked has responded emphatically that their immediate reaction to such an event is anger. But when I further inquire as to what being \u2018cut off\u2019 typically involves\u2014namely, the very real threat of an accident\u2014they realize that in the fraction of a second before acting successfully to avert a collision, their emotion must certainly have been one of apprehension or fear. Cycling from the heightened arousal level of fear to equally intense anger happens with such breathtaking speed that almost no one can recollect that flash of trepidation preceding the anger\u2014or even rage\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fear seems employed in order to fast fuel the divide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look again at the politicians and pundits \u2014 whether running or currently in office. Look at what they want us afraid of… certain people… now even a potential pandemic. Not that there aren’t reasons to be watchful and concerned, but fear is a different level, so-to-speak; there’s an unhealthy motive in the fear. And on a macro level, no less, those persons seem to intentionally attempt to make each of us \u2014 from varied angles \u2014 fear loss.<\/strong> The goal is to make us afraid of something we are about to lose\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

i.e. Guns. Children. Other people\u2019s children. Healthcare. Voting rights. Reproductive rights. Equality.  Employment. Citizenship. A safe country. Money. Retirement accounts. The freedom to worship, speak, or have a free press. Even more money. And even more rights.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The challenge is that we \u201cregress to tribalism when afraid.\u201d Such is the point of international consultant, expert, and also Psychology Today<\/em> author, David Ropeik. He writes: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026As a result of the inherent nature of risk perception, our desire for the safety of the tribe when we are threatened is cleaving us into camps, polarized and mistrustful and defensive tribes, ready to follow divisive \u2018We’re Under Attack\u2019 voices\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The politicians, pundits, Sean Hannity\u2019s and Rachel Maddow\u2019s of the world (and many of us on social media)<\/em> are doing exactly that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continues Ropeik: \u201cThe problem is, an Us AGAINST Them world doesn’t allow for middle ground, for the flexibility and compromise and give as well as take that we need in order to help solve the big problems we face. This sort of risk perception is actually a pretty dumb way to actually try and protect ourselves\u2026 We need to recognize the danger…the danger from the instinctive tribal way we’re behaving…and recognize that we all belong to a larger tribe, and the big threats threatens us all…and perhaps that tribal identification can bring us a little closer together and allow solutions that will make us a little safer. Us AGAINST Them may feel safe in the short term, but in the long run it’s a far more dangerous path.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being lured into fear is a dangerous path. It shatters the idea of a shared America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May we thus realize that our wisest resistance may be to the tribal mentality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respectfully\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AR
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Soon after reading Ben Sasse\u2019s Them: Why We Hate Each Other\u2014and How to Heal last summer, I began thinking increasingly more about how the politicians, pundits, Sean Hannity\u2019s and Rachel Maddow\u2019s of the world are actually fueling the latest (not-so) great divide. Sasse made the point that the goal is rage \u2014 to make us … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “be afraid. be very afraid.”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-event"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10441"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10441\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10448,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10441\/revisions\/10448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}