https://lucid.substack.com/p/why-joy-is-an-effective-anti-authoritarian
'Can "Joy and Hope," the slogan of the Harris-Walz campaign, help Democrats to
win the 2024 election? Patrick Healy, deputy opinion editor of the
New York
Times, is doubtful. "I cringed a little in the convention hall Tuesday night
when Bill Clinton said Kamala Harris would be the 'president of joy'," Healy
wrote in a recent op-ed, comparing the Democratic focus on joy to Donald
Trump's embrace of his anointment as a divinity by his most fervent followers.
"Joy is not a political strategy. And God is not a political strategy."
I disagree. As I have written in
Strongmen, positive emotions such as love,
solidarity, and yes, joy, have been part of successful anti-authoritarian
political strategies. Positive emotions motivate people to engage in politics
when they might have grown apathetic or cynical about the possibility of
change.
Americans were ready to feel joy. Healy's impulse to "cringe" when the
possibility of a "president of joy" was mentioned is not just a sign of
discomfort with strong emotions in politics. It was a reaction to something
unfamiliar.
For almost a decade now, Trump and his allies have been flooding
our social media feeds and television screens with negative images and rhetoric
designed to evoke fear, contempt, hatred, and disgust with others.
The goal of such messaging is to create enemies, but it also aims at making us
feel hopeless and down, so that we lose our faith in ourselves and each other.
That is why Trump goes out of his way to degrade everyone around him. He
engages in ritual humiliation of the sycophantic GOP politicians who support
him, and goes out of his way to let his grassroots followers know that he does
not care about them. “Even if you vote and then pass away it will be worth it,"
he told Iowans during the January caucus.
In fact, even passing away does not guarantee you will not be denigrated by
Trump. Just the other day he treated the Arlington National Cemetery grave of
Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee as a backdrop for a photo in which he performed his
trademark thumbs-up gesture, as though he were at a rally.
All of this is profoundly depressing, and I believe that we have not fully
digested the emotional and social effects of this relentless psychological
warfare. No wonder joy seems shocking! No wonder people are flooding into the
stadiums, convention centers, and other venues to hear Harris and Walz. These
politicians genuinely care about others and the country. They fill us with hope
that together we can do what is possible to save our freedoms.'
Via Kevin O'Brien.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
