Just Dropping This Here

DeSantis' political stunts exacerbate his unlikability. https://t.co/RxC9jrC7hW

— Salon (@Salon) May 20, 2023

Scholars studying the conspiracy theories these people fall for sometimes belabor the issue of whether they really "believe" such crackpot notions. Whether they believe is probably unknowable, but that is less important than the fact that loudly saying they believe it creates endless friction with relatives, co-workers, and neighbors. Being abrasive, if not actually threatening, gives them a sense of identity and attention they would otherwise lack.

Identity doesn’t start from who you are. It starts from who you aren’t.

Identity in childhood starts with your parents; and then you begin to differentiate, and “discover” who “you” are (this is how it was sold to me). Some of that is positive; some of it us negative. Almost all of it is from outside you. “Monkey see, monkey do” is not inapt. We primarily build an identity from what is around us; only in late adulthood from ourselves as we are, if ever.

And one of the first builders of identity is the group; who is in it, and who isn’t. From that it’s a short step to abrasion being a source of identity, especially if you’re abrasive towards the people not in your group.

Who you aren’t helps define who you are. Definition by exclusion, after all, is the easier path to definition than determination by what it is. What is a pencil, after all? After grouping it in “writing instruments,” it’s easier to distinguish it from a pen and a crayon and a dry erase marker than to explain just what a pencil is (wood, mechanical, color, etc.).

The real glue between Trump and his devotees is his endless assurances that their lot in life is not the result of their own laziness, irresponsibility or failure to seek counseling. No, they are innocent victims, endlessly picked on by elitists, socialists and foreigners. These sinister groups are constantly changing according to expediency, but the point is to keep his acolytes in a constant state of agitation.

”Religion is responsibility, or it is nothing at all.” What he’s describing is people who don’t want any responsibility (or religion, for that matter). Adolescents. Children. People just like Trump. His life is their American Dream.

At least they think it is.

I should do more with this, but:what the hell? It’s a blog post. It’s not like I get paid to pontificate.