There's several differentiating factors. First, the Right has masculinized patriotism to the point of creating a situation that is driven by the dynamics of both “collective narcissism”……1/
@Nick_Carmody
@captanne @ShultzS0814 @sue_sume @steven_metz "collective narcissism occurs when an exaggerated, inflated, and unrealistic view of the in-group compensates for creeping feelings of loss of dominance and declining importance, while also displaying a hypersensitivity to any out-group threats to the in-group’s image. 2/
….where “loyalty” to the flag not only demands absolute alignment w/increasingly narrow definitions of patriotism, but any deviation is seen as renouncement of self-identifying membership in their ideological/nationalistic tribes….as well as forfeiture of their masculinity. 3/
The net result is that there’s no room for constructive criticism of party/leader/country…..and even entertaining the thought of challenging a decision/action runs the risk of being ostracized from the tribes for being a weak (not man/masculine enough), unpatriotic traitor. 4/
An important point to consider is that the increasingly narrow definition of Patriotism correlates to an increasingly narrow demographical definition of “Republican” (white/male/older/less educated). 5/
The byproduct of all of this, as was seen with Mitt Romney, is that all-or-nothing purity tests are imposed on every Republican, and have essentially become a daily referendum on their Patriotism:
6/
If you don’t back Trump 100% on every lie, on every inaccuracy, on every mistake, and on every corrupt act…then you are a traitor to the party (Rino), a traitor to the country, and a p*ssy....7/
The Left also engages in identity politics, but the Left’s embrace of identity politics is often a reaction to historically being excluded by the “In-group” majority through the denial of rights/equality, or by not fitting the majority’s definition of “real” Americans/patriot. 8/
...the diversity of the Left actually works against the party b/c it results in a fractious multitude of identity politics-driven sub-groups that abstain from the political process (don’t vote) or vote for 3rd party candidate with no chance of winning. 11/
Furthermore, similar to the Right, despite wrapping itself in the flag of diversity, the Left has increasingly imposed purity tests. But unlike the Right, where the increasingly homogeneous demographical makeup results in a unified, identity politics-driven solidarity…10/
As a result, the identifying factor used by the “In-group” majority to exclude (race/gender/etc) is what the “Out-group” embraces as the primary identifying factor when engaging the political process. This causes the majority to double down on their exclusion. And repeat. 9/
As a result, the Left fails to take advantage of the considerable popular vote advantage that could otherwise neutralize the Right’s inherent electoral college and gerrymanderring advantage. This is Left’s failure to overcome it’s own binary, all-or-nothing thinking.... 12/
Circling back to the original point about “patriot-shaming”, and the binary orientation/absolute thinking that drives it…
....despite the binary/purity test point made above,….13/
….progressive ideology often attracts people whose minds/personality are comfortable operating in the abstract, and seeing the world in non-binary or non-black/white “shades of grey”. This allows them to recognize that two things can be true at the same time. Specifically,...14/
…..that people can be critical of, or hold their government/president/party accountable....
…and still believe that America is the greatest country in world. 15/
In fact, America has been the greatest country in the world BECAUSE "patriots" and “real Americans” would hold people accountable (“American values”).
Unfortunately, we are not that country right now.....
16/16
Relevant threads on the (e)masculization of politics.
Thoughts on @duty2warn's Patriot-shaming insight:
There's several differentiating factors. First, the Right has masculinized patriotism to the point of creating a situation that is driven by the dynamics of both “collective narcissism”……1/....and “binary orientation”….. 2/….where “loyalty” to the flag not only demands absolute alignment w/increasingly narrow definitions of patriotism, but any deviation is seen as renouncement of self-identifying membership in their ideological/nationalistic tribes….as well as forfeiture of their masculinity. 3/The net result is that there’s no room for constructive criticism of party/leader/country…..and even entertaining the thought of challenging a decision/action runs the risk of being ostracized from the tribes for being a weak (not man/masculine enough), unpatriotic traitor. 4/An important point to consider is that the increasingly narrow definition of Patriotism correlates to an increasingly narrow demographical definition of “Republican” (white/male/older/less educated). 5/The byproduct of all of this, as was seen with Mitt Romney, is that all-or-nothing purity tests are imposed on every Republican, and have essentially become a daily referendum on their Patriotism:
6/If you don’t back Trump 100% on every lie, on every inaccuracy, on every mistake, and on every corrupt act…then you are a traitor to the party (Rino), a traitor to the country, and a p*ssy....7/The Left also engages in identity politics, but the Left’s embrace of identity politics is often a reaction to historically being excluded by the “In-group” majority through the denial of rights/equality, or by not fitting the majority’s definition of “real” Americans/patriot. 8/...the diversity of the Left actually works against the party b/c it results in a fractious multitude of identity politics-driven sub-groups that abstain from the political process (don’t vote) or vote for 3rd party candidate with no chance of winning. 11/Furthermore, similar to the Right, despite wrapping itself in the flag of diversity, the Left has increasingly imposed purity tests. But unlike the Right, where the increasingly homogeneous demographical makeup results in a unified, identity politics-driven solidarity…10/As a result, the identifying factor used by the “In-group” majority to exclude (race/gender/etc) is what the “Out-group” embraces as the primary identifying factor when engaging the political process. This causes the majority to double down on their exclusion. And repeat. 9/As a result, the Left fails to take advantage of the considerable popular vote advantage that could otherwise neutralize the Right’s inherent electoral college and gerrymanderring advantage. This is Left’s failure to overcome it’s own binary, all-or-nothing thinking.... 12/Circling back to the original point about “patriot-shaming”, and the binary orientation/absolute thinking that drives it…
....despite the binary/purity test point made above,….13/….progressive ideology often attracts people whose minds/personality are comfortable operating in the abstract, and seeing the world in non-binary or non-black/white “shades of grey”. This allows them to recognize that two things can be true at the same time. Specifically,...14/…..that people can be critical of, or hold their government/president/party accountable....
…and still believe that America is the greatest country in world. 15/In fact, America has been the greatest country in the world BECAUSE "patriots" and “real Americans” would hold people accountable (“American values”).
Unfortunately, we are not that country right now.....
16/16Relevant threads on the (e)masculization of politics.And….And a thread on white identity politics:
yes
Thoughts on @duty2warn's Patriot-shaming insight:
There's several differentiating factors. First, the Right has masculinized patriotism to the point of creating a situation that is driven by the dynamics of both “collective narcissism”……1/ ... ....and “binary orientation”….. 2/ ... ….where “loyalty” to the flag not only demands absolute alignment w/increasingly narrow definitions of patriotism, but any deviation is seen as renouncement of self-identifying membership in their ideological/nationalistic tribes….as well as forfeiture of their masculinity. 3/ ... The net result is that there’s no room for constructive criticism of party/leader/country…..and even entertaining the thought of challenging a decision/action runs the risk of being ostracized from the tribes for being a weak (not man/masculine enough), unpatriotic traitor. 4/ ... An important point to consider is that the increasingly narrow definition of Patriotism correlates to an increasingly narrow demographical definition of “Republican” (white/male/older/less educated). 5/ ... The byproduct of all of this, as was seen with Mitt Romney, is that all-or-nothing purity tests are imposed on every Republican, and have essentially become a daily referendum on their Patriotism:
6/ ... If you don’t back Trump 100% on every lie, on every inaccuracy, on every mistake, and on every corrupt act…then you are a traitor to the party (Rino), a traitor to the country, and a p*ssy....7/ ... The Left also engages in identity politics, but the Left’s embrace of identity politics is often a reaction to historically being excluded by the “In-group” majority through the denial of rights/equality, or by not fitting the majority’s definition of “real” Americans/patriot. 8/ ... ...the diversity of the Left actually works against the party b/c it results in a fractious multitude of identity politics-driven sub-groups that abstain from the political process (don’t vote) or vote for 3rd party candidate with no chance of winning. 11/ ... Furthermore, similar to the Right, despite wrapping itself in the flag of diversity, the Left has increasingly imposed purity tests. But unlike the Right, where the increasingly homogeneous demographical makeup results in a unified, identity politics-driven solidarity…10/ ... As a result, the identifying factor used by the “In-group” majority to exclude (race/gender/etc) is what the “Out-group” embraces as the primary identifying factor when engaging the political process. This causes the majority to double down on their exclusion. And repeat. 9/ ... As a result, the Left fails to take advantage of the considerable popular vote advantage that could otherwise neutralize the Right’s inherent electoral college and gerrymanderring advantage. This is Left’s failure to overcome it’s own binary, all-or-nothing thinking.... 12/ ... Circling back to the original point about “patriot-shaming”, and the binary orientation/absolute thinking that drives it…
....despite the binary/purity test point made above,….13/ ... ….progressive ideology often attracts people whose minds/personality are comfortable operating in the abstract, and seeing the world in non-binary or non-black/white “shades of grey”. This allows them to recognize that two things can be true at the same time. Specifically,...14/ ... …..that people can be critical of, or hold their government/president/party accountable....
…and still believe that America is the greatest country in world. 15/ ... In fact, America has been the greatest country in the world BECAUSE "patriots" and “real Americans” would hold people accountable (“American values”).
Unfortunately, we are not that country right now.....
16/16 ... Relevant threads on the (e)masculization of politics. ... And…. ... And a thread on white identity politics: ... ...
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