A new Politico article sees “addiction to resentment” as the hold which Trump has over his base, and him as their fix.
We have struggled to understand Trump’s fervent and unwavering base.
They don’t seem to understand or care that his programs (Tax Break for the Wealthy, Covid / “Die for the Dow”, etc.) work against their own economic self interest. We marvel at their information gap. and wonder how to find ways to make them better informed so they can make better decisions. We recognize an unforeseen consequence of social media is unprecedented confirmation bias. The internet has allowed the development of massive Information/disinformation siloing, the ability to find people who think the way you do, no matter what cockamamie ideas you may hold. And we don’t know how you can counter that self-selected disinformation.
But we’ve been looking in the wrong direction.
This article discusses the science of addiction in relation to our current crisis. This does not exclude the disinformation role that Fox, Newsmax, and OANN play, nor the self-selected reinforcement available from like-minded others on Twitter and Facebook. But it does add an explanation for the strength of the emotions Trump’s followers so fervently display.
“President Donald Trump has made grievance a primary feature of his life and presidency, from the thousands of lawsuits he has filed to, most recently, his repeated claims of national election fraud … The hallmark of addiction is compulsive behavior despite harmful consequences. Trump’s unrelenting efforts to retaliate against those he believes have treated him unjustly (including, now, American voters) appear to be compulsive and uncontrollable.
“…. it turns out that your brain on grievance looks a lot like your brain on drugs. In fact, brain imaging studies show that harboring a grievance (a perceived wrong or injustice, real or imagined) activates the same neural reward circuitry as narcotics.
“Like substance addiction, revenge addiction appears to spread from person to person ... Because of his unique position and use of the media and social networks, Trump is able to spread his grievances to thousands or millions of others through Twitter, TV and rallies. His demand for retribution becomes their demand, causing his supporters to crave retaliation—and, in a vicious cycle, this in turn causes Trump’s targets and their supporters to feel aggrieved and want to retaliate, too.”
These are only excerpts – but you get the gist.
This certainly “rings true” to me in ways that “information-bias” attempts to explain do not.
As for the rage shown in the lead photo beneath the title, those followers are on a rage “high” and on some level enjoying themselves immensely. Fascinating.
And scary, because treatment is so unlikely to be sought.