Double Psych Out

In this crazed maelstrom of a society, surely there is one thing that we can all agree on. And it is simply this:

Terror Management Theory is an awesome name for a punk band.

It’s a missed opportunity, however, because this term actually describes a psychological model for how humans deal with the knowledge that we will die someday. Terror management theory (TMT) postulates that “death anxiety drives people to adopt worldviews that protect their self-esteem, worthiness, and sustainability and allow them to believe that they play an important role in a meaningful world.”

Of course, I’m Gen X, so I can’t help but bust out in cynical laughter at the phrase “important role in a meaningful world.” 

Ha, there it is again. Sorry, last time, I promise.

In any case, TMT proposes that individuals develop “close relationships within their own cultural group in order to convince themselves that they will somehow live on — if only symbolically — after their inevitable death.”

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An Unfair Fight

OK, imagine you’re a Democratic legislator, and you’re rushing to the chamber to cast your vote on a crucial bill. An old lady collapses in front of you, clutching her heart. If you stop to help her, you will likely cost your party a vote and send the bill to defeat. Do you stop?

Now imagine that you are a Republican legislator in the exact same situation. Do you stop?

This scenario comes courtesy of Rick Perlstein, a historian who theorizes that most Democrats would help the old lady, while most Republicans would step over her writhing body.

Perlstein argues that this is not because Republicans are indifferent to human suffering. It is because they are focused on winning and advancing their agenda at all costs. Democrats, in contrast, are focused on fairness and bleeding-heart concepts such as, for example, helping out old women who have heart attacks.

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Saviors

Perhaps you’ve heard of Benjamin Rush.

Most likely, however, you have not.

Well, Benjamin Rush was one of the more obscure Founding Fathers, but he was kind of a big deal back in the day. 

Rush signed the Declaration of Independence, served as surgeon general of the Continental Army, and was an all-around Enlightenment intellectual. He opposed slavery, advocated for free public education, supported women’s rights, and lobbied for a more equitable justice system — all edgy ideas for the 1700s. He is also regarded as the father of American psychiatry, and he left a legacy of philanthropy and scientific excellence.

Wow, he sounds great, doesn’t he?

Oh, he also believed that being Black was a horrible disease, and that with proper “treatment,” African Americans could be “cured” and become White.

So there’s that as well.

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The Roots of Rage

If I ran straight at you, screaming insults and talking gibberish, would you turn and hurry away? Or would you stop, nod, and say, “You’ve got my vote”?

Well, for members of the Republican Party, the answer would be the latter, followed by an earnest plea to please yell louder.

You see, there is no debating that the GOP has been “baptized in crazy,” and that “from QAnon lunatics to fanatical evangelicals, the Grand Old Party is out of its mind.”

We’re talking about people who sincerely believe that Trump is the “true president,” that the economy is collapsing (it’s not), and that "the traditional American way of life is disappearing so fast” that conservatives may have to “use force to save it."

Yeah, that’s all pretty nuts. But the only thing worse than a crazy man is an angry crazy man. And that combo of madness and rage is what makes the conservative movement so dangerous.

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Freedom! (With Exclamation Points and Everything!)

As this horrific pandemic eases into a merely bad epidemic, we are ditching our face masks, embracing strangers, and running into crowded rooms to yell, “Free! We are finally free!”

OK, maybe that’s not quite what’s happening, but after 14 months of fear and isolation, it sure feels like it. However, as we rediscover the outside world, it’s worth asking the following metaphysical question: 

What does it mean to be free?

Now, we could go full-blown Sartre and ruminate and pontificate about freedom, but for most of us, this concept has a fairly simple definition. It basically means that we can do whatever we want, as long as it doesn’t mess with somebody else’s rights. That’s straightforward enough, right?

Oh, I forgot to add one thing. Freedom only applies if you are a white man.

Wait… you didn’t know that part?

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