Any theory of mind must account for temperament. The innate disposition of individuals and how they relate to "the world," and perhaps their own interior experience.

I should preface by saying that I think temperament may be malleable over time. Experience can shape it. Some of it may be shaped epigenetically in the womb. But it exists.

Some people are more comfortable with the chaos and uncertainty of democratic forms of government. Others would prefer a more "orderly" form of government.

Some people are open to new experience, others find them discomforting.

Some people are extroverts, others are introverts.

Temperament doesn't determine whether people do "good" or "bad" things. But it can help shape the outcomes of large scale events.

I think a pronounced affinity for a "strong" form of government probably exists in about a third of any given population. They like certainty, action, clarity. That's a pretty significant constituency to build from, if you're an ambitious politician inclined the same way, or willing to exploit it.

It wasn't just the eggs. It wasn't just racism and misogyny. It wasn't just Gaza or Israel. It wasn't just the raw milk raid. It wasn't just that working class voters can't relate to college-educated voters. It wasn't just that the Democratic Party has ceased being the party of the working class and is now the party of the college educated.

It was all of the above, layered over temperament, media diet, selfishness, cynicism, ignorance, greed, ambition and a complex interior emotional state that tries to order all of that into conscious awareness that makes some kind of "sense."

I alluded in the first paragraph that temperament may also influence how one relates to one's own interior experience. Whether one is more inclined or less inclined to self-reflection or introspection.

We are complicated beings. Consciousness may be a complex, non-linear dynamic system.

Perhaps that should admit some room for empathy.

But then there's temperament again.

"Play stupid games, win stupid prizes," as the cool kids say.

This complicated consciousness is disinclined toward empathy; because regardless of how anyone feels about anything, it should have been clear that the President-elect is unfit for office. I mean, when a Marine four-star general who worked for him tells you that...

Yet, here we are.

Yes, I do get why people chose to ignore his manifest unfitness.

But it was a choice. And choices have consequences.

"Fuck around and find out," is the other popular idiomatic expression of that incontrovertible fact.

Choices have consequences.

And maybe those consequences will open a path to recovering the "muddy middle."

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 07:47 Friday, 8 November 2024