The Psychology of Status Drives Right Wing Politics, Anti Abortion and Anti Gays


 

How did Trump get elected? Enough has been written to fill libraries and more is yet to come.

But those who write about social status and about those wrongly rising in status surely are onto something important. Our own concept of self worth causes us to vote and do other things not in the national interest. 

Another way of putting it is, "How could people who self identify as Christian vote for a politician whose behavior is the opposite of Christian tenets?" The answer is their status and social standing was, and remains, so injured they ignore actual religious teaching and vote for the candidate they think understands their falling status. Women have advanced while some demographic categories of men have not. Trump understands how much this hurts and plays with people's heads. Gays have advanced, straight men have not as much. Trump plays to this.

When Trump said, "I will appoint anti abortion judges," those who have lost status heard, "Trump will stop the advance of women and give men like me a chance." While Trump carries bigger majorities with men, plenty of women voted for him because they believed, and continue to believe, women should not have status equal to men.

Trump promised to stop Chinese imports so manufacturing in the U.S. would grow. Manufacturing is a sector that employs more men than women. His unsuccessful trade negotiations did not phase the slow downward trend in U.S. manufacturing. Yet, it was successful in appealing to a large and gullible male electorate.

It would be a good thing if government policies could help all groups in our society. In the case of rural areas a strong export market for agricultural products is the best bet. Even this helps the wealthy in rural areas more than the poor. But Trump harmed the export market with his foolish tariffs on Chinese goods and the Chinese seem happy importing from elsewhere.

Critical thinking of many kinds, including critical race theory, is exactly what conservative and rural Christians need now more than ever. It is what their leaders persuade them to oppose.  


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maybe the "Original Sin" Should be Reassigned

Image
We can all agree most Catholic priests are fine people and not guilty of sexual abuse. What Catholics must face, however, it that their church harbors executives who are dishonest . There is an incredible story about the Argentine Bishop Zanchetta. The Pope worked with him in Argentina and they are considered friends. Around 2015 Zanchetta sent nude pictures of himself and they began circulating world wide. He also was too friendly with young seminarians and some left because of him.  Three different officials say they made formal complaints to the Vatican about Zanchetta between 2015 and 2017. Yet, in 2018, the Vatican claimed it was unaware of any complaints about Zanchetta. This might be a good time to repeat the Catholic hierarchy claims to have the sole authority handed down from Jesus to what the faith stands for. It condemns as sinners those who practice birth control, have abortions and gay sexual relationships. Handing the hierarchy this responsibility would make som
Read more

The Religious Capitol Invaders May Yet Win

Image
So much about U.S. society and religion can be learned from the Civil War and what happened afterwards. After its defeat, the South started a myth about the unethical soldiers from the North. The South fought for principles of God and states rights. The North did not. It was the South, this propaganda told the country, that had the high moral ground.  The Capitol invaders, encouraged by Trump, swallowed the myth that Biden's election was stolen. Thus, they think they held and still hold the high moral ground. This was reinforced by the cross and prayers during the invasion. Even with Trump is gone, we will see political opportunists like Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley stroking crowds and feeding the same lies as Trump. Like "the South will rise again" these gullible followers will talk of victory over the unclean. After the Civil War the South rallied around the phrase, Lost Cause. For decades, and maybe to this day, there are ceremonies remembering fallen martyrs, Re
Read more

Father Frank Pavone, the Ultimate Crook

Image
Recently, the Vatican defrocked Frank Pavone. His diehard fans are outraged. This is because he cleverly manipulated his fans and the press all the while living well from donations and, apparently, abusing some women. By making abortion the "sin" of the century, and himself the main opposition to this one sin, he himself could get away with any sin he pleased.  As the link points out, Pavone was the perfect priest for the Trump era. Trump is so self-important laws have no role in his life. He felt accountable to no one. Women were there to be had. Pavone and Trump are interchangeable.  Pavone was very successful raising money. In his mind, abortion was so important in Catholic beliefs and he was so important in anti-abortion the money he raised opposing it was his to do with what he liked. The Catholic Church, the brand name he used to raise this money, thought the money belonged to it. When he gave the Vatican the bird, it gave him walking papers. With polls showing the majo
Read more