Meeting held on Monday 18th January 2021
10 people were present. Three gave apologies for not attending. There was no face to face meeting due to corona virus restrictions.
We reflected upon the recent storming of the Capitol in Washington DC by Trump supporters. The far right has now become much more visible in US. However, given the large degree of support for Trump at the election, it is difficult to distinguish between the far (and potentially violent) right wing and the more moderate majority in the Republican Party.
Attempting to explain the rise of Trump, there seemed to be a ‘space’ created for him by the changing circumstances in US. De-industrialisation, stagnant wages, liberalisation of traditional values and increasing inequality had led to a growing perception of politicians as a liberal elite, remote and disinterested in the lot of the majority of working people. In this context political debate had become increasingly emotional and bound up with a ‘cultural war’ of ‘traditional’ vs ‘liberal’ values. This was similar, but less extreme, in the Brexit movement in UK led by Johnson.
Trump occupied this space by presenting the liberal elite and the associated democratic structures as the enemy of the people. This view was not presented through argument but rather as a belief, with Trump as its inspiration.
We observed that, through social media, people tend to connect with the with similar beliefs, thus having their beliefs confirmed rather than contested. This was a factor in Trump’s ability to gather such a degree of support. In conditions of insecurity, people are perhaps more inclined to seek others who confirm their belief system, rather than develop critical or rational argument by seeking out those who have different views. But how do people come to hold beliefs irrationally?
It was suggested that insights from therapy might help here. In therapeutic contexts, individuals often demonstrate anger which is unfocussed and often unacknowledged. Such unrecognised anger readily leads to aggression. The task of the therapy is to identify and focus the anger so that it becomes a productive source of energy which can be used to improve the situation. How might this insight apply in the wider political (rather than interpersonal) sphere?
When people’s political belief arises from such unacknowledged anger they cannot be engaged in rational argument. In such circumstances it has been suggested that political change is much more likely to arise as a consequence of pursuing one’s political project thus demonstrating a clear statement of political position, rather than making any attempt to engage those with different beliefs in rational debate. This explains why attempts to win over political opponents through argument invariably fails.
The next meeting will be by Zoom on Monday 18th January. There may also be a face-to-face meeting if regulations permit.