I‘d been thinking about buying a Ukrainian flag to fly outside my home in solidarity with the people of that besieged nation. There were many flag choices on Amazon, and as I usually do before checking out, I looked at a few reviews. Much to my surprise, I saw comments from 2020 in which American buyers boasted of displaying Ukrainian flags in order to “annoy liberals” and “upset Democrats.” This seemed odd to me, in part because calling attention to Trump’s impeachment and Hunter Biden could have just as easily have backfired and dissuaded voters from supporting Trump. But if upsetting liberal voters was their only goal, perhaps other consequences didn’t matter. Even if that were true, why was this goal so important? (And I also wondered, were those allegedly liberal-baiting flags now being displayed in support of Ukrainians, or stuffed in the back of a drawer?)
(To be clear, I’m focusing on what appear to be unilateral actions, rather those taken immediately in response to a perceived provocation. That said, if one surveys conservative men, you’re sure to hear a list of grievances about incivility and cancel culture that they may say justifies their provocations of those on the left.)
Merchandise targeted to conservatives for use in taunting liberals appears to be a big business.
And there are many other examples of conservative bullying in daily life, with some quite costly to the bullies. Modifying your diesel truck to do this is not cheap.
This led me on a search for answers as to why humiliating and dominating liberals, AKA “owning the libs,” “is the singular part of Republican political culture” and a popular exercise for many on the right.
Some commentators find this to be a source of irony. “The funny thing about owning the libs is that it’s textbook performative virtue signaling, from people who say they hate that,” says comedian Patrick Monahan. Others, such as Eve Peyser, express sadness about its inherent nihilism. “The problem is, the ‘owning the libs’ model of politics doesn’t have a point of view. It isn’t about furthering an ideological goal, only churlishness — it seeks to make the world a nastier and dumber place. The emptiness of it all is haunting.”
So why are so many self-styled “patriots” nihilists? Right wing media often is cited as a cause. Fox News uses the word “hate” a lot, mostly in service of convincing viewers that liberals hate them. Kevin Drum observed that “Fox News is a grinding, daily cesspool of white grievance, mistrust of deep-state government, and a belief that liberals are literally trying to destroy the country out of sheer malice.”
Fair enough. But it’s a safe bet that very few Fox News viewers are forced to watch. So why do they choose to do so? Perhaps it’s because some research finds conservatives less able to distinguish falsehoods from truth than non-conservatives. Regardless, the network gives viewers what they want: fuel for the sport of heaping scorn on liberals (that existed long before the emergence of Fox). Disgraced Vice-President Spiro Agnew used such insults to gain a national spotlight. Twenty-five years later, Newt Gingrich took demonizing language to a new level, weaponizing and scaling it into a national political strategy.
But why is this sport such irresistible candy to so many? In an earlier post I wrote about System Justification Theory. To summarize, people tend to support the status quo if they perceive it as offering stability and a place for them anywhere above those on the lowest socioeconomic rungs. People affected by SJT, which includes both Democrats and Republicans, need to perceive that others are worse off than they are.
But here’s where partisan tendencies diverge. In his book The Righteous Mind, political psychologist Johnathan Haidt observed that conservatives more highly value affiliation with those they see as in their own tribe and maintenance of the social hierarchy, and are more likely to be disgusted by those that they see as illegitimately trying to disrupt these anchors.
Conservatives also tend to more highly value self-reliance and individual responsibility as mechanisms to maintain one’s place in society. Conservatives more often characterize the other side as weak and value projecting strength. This became a factor in the politicization of mask wearing, which some mask resisters labeled as a shameful sign of weakness.
But here’s more irony. A recent study confirmed that conservatives’ greater attraction to “the ‘binding’ foundations (in-group loyalty, respect for authority, and purity) were associated with epistemic and existential needs to reduce uncertainty and threat.” So, despite the supposedly high value they place on individualism, conservatives have a greater need for strong group affiliations than do liberals, perhaps because their level of fear is higher. A number of commentators have argued that encouraging in-group support is a hallmark of practicing conservatism, which leads to spiraling one-upmanship in heaping scorn and even cruelty on those outside the group. The result is that this behavior becomes an end unto itself.
The hyperbole of Trump’s taunts and threats of violence against his opponents strongly appealed to many voters. Journalist Adam Serwer explained that this performative cruelty signaling has deep cultural antecedents. “It is that cruelty, and the delight it brings them, that binds his most ardent supporters to him, in shared scorn for those they hate and fear: immigrants, black voters, feminists, and treasonous white men who empathize with any of those who would steal their birthright. The president’s ability to execute that cruelty through word and deed makes them euphoric. It makes them feel good, it makes them feel proud, it makes them feel happy, it makes them feel united. And as long as he makes them feel that way, they will let him get away with anything, no matter what it costs them.”
So, what is to be done to foster greater civility? Germany tried to erase the cultural stain of Nazism by educating children about its cruelty. But neo-Nazis remain a strong movement there. Germany’s experience notwithstanding, it is vital that our schools promote tolerance and prevent bullying. Except that lots of parents don’t appear to want that. Nor does the GOP. It’s no accident that the GOP is encouraging parents who desire schools modeled on the values of the 1950s to protest at school board meetings, run in school board elections and support state restrictions on any instruction that seems connected to “wokeness.” The themes urging parental control are reminiscent of the successful “Take Back Control” slogan of the Brexit campaign.
I don’t know how we reverse our dangerous slide towards purposely triggering each other’s fears and anger, and it saddens me. All I can do is ask, “What’s so Funny ‘bout Peace, Love and Understanding?”
What’s so Funny about Peace, Love and Understanding?
I agree…let’s work together for peace, love and unity instead of tearing ourselves apart with hate and fear.