{"id":124571,"date":"2018-12-24T12:00:25","date_gmt":"2018-12-24T12:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=124571"},"modified":"2018-12-21T13:03:21","modified_gmt":"2018-12-21T13:03:21","slug":"get-ready-for-these-political-mind-games-in-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2018\/12\/get-ready-for-these-political-mind-games-in-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Get Ready for These Political Mind Games in 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Forewarned is Forearmed<\/em><\/p>\n

20 Dec 2018 – <\/em>For many, the calendar\u2019s turning is a traditional time for reflecting and for resolving to act with greater decency and compassion in the new year ahead. But if history is any guide, we shouldn\u2019t expect anything of the sort from one highly influential group: those members of the so-called 1% who\u2019ve long cared far more about their extraordinary wealth and power than about the common good.<\/p>\n

These representatives of America\u2019s plutocracy\u2014some high-profile politicians and billionaire businessmen immediately come to mind\u2014won\u2019t change their stripes when January arrives. They\u2019ll persist in pursuing an agenda that advances their own interests while ignoring the needs and desires of the rest of us. And in doing so, they\u2019ll continue to rely on what I call\u00a0\u201cpolitical mind games\u201d<\/a>\u00a0to confuse, to deceive, and to divide\u2014for as long as they can get away with it.<\/p>\n

In my research as a psychologist, I\u2019ve found that manipulative appeals from the 1% are often designed to target issues of vulnerability, injustice, distrust, superiority<\/em>, and\u00a0helplessness<\/em>. That\u2019s because these are the core concerns that govern the way we make sense of the world around us. Indeed, each is associated with a basic question we ask in our daily lives: Are we safe? Are we treated fairly? Who should we trust? Are we good enough? Can we control what happens to us? By offering disingenuous answers to these questions, self-serving one-percenters aim to shape\u00a0our<\/em>\u00a0understanding of what\u2019s happening, what\u2019s right, and what\u2019s possible to\u00a0their<\/em>\u00a0own advantage.<\/p>\n

Therefore, for any prospect of returning to government \u201cof the people, by the people, for the people,\u201d it will be essential to recognize and resist these plutocratic ploys when they inevitably come our way in 2019 (and beyond). As a guide, then, here are twenty mind games to watch out for in the year ahead.<\/p>\n

Vulnerability<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a Dangerous World<\/em>.\u201d \u00a0From unwarranted military aggression to draconian austerity measures, one-percenters will falsely argue that their actions are driven by a desire to keep us safe. They know our support for any policy is strongly influenced by whether we think it will protect us from harm. They also realize that we\u2019re quick to imagine the worst. This can make us easy prey for warnings that urge us to fall in line and follow all instructions, whatever they may be.<\/p>\n

\u201cChange Is Dangerous.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Whether they\u2019re maligning Medicare-for-All or blocking cuts to our bloated defense budget, members of the 1% will warn of dire consequences whenever other initiatives clash with their ambitions. Regardless of the evidence, with this mind game they\u2019ll insist that such reform efforts will place everyone in grave jeopardy. Their fearmongering is designed to preserve a status quo that benefits the few instead of the many.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cIt\u2019s a False Alarm.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>From rejecting climate science to placing corporate profits over public safety, today\u2019s plutocrats will defend misguided and destructive policies by insisting that our worries about adverse effects are overblown. Too often, we mistakenly take comfort in unfounded assurances offered from on high. When that happens, we fail to mobilize to protect the common good from those whose foremost concern is simply preserving their own extraordinary wealth and power.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll Make You Sorry.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Whether they\u2019re bullying of protesters or pressuring non-establishment candidates to step aside, one-percenters will turn to coercive threats and outright retaliation when crackdowns against opponents seem necessary. They command a range of resources that can be put to use in punishing those who step out of line. These risks of painful and potentially life-changing reprisals alter the stakes for both individual acts of civil disobedience and sustained collective action.<\/p>\n

Injustice<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re Fighting Injustice.\u201d \u00a0<\/em>From voter suppression to corporate school reform, representatives of the 1% will argue that their self-serving efforts are necessary to correct the unjust actions of others. But they\u2019re little different from wolves in sheep\u2019s clothing, hoping we\u2019ll lower our guard when we hear tales of their justice-seeking exploits. Their appeals aim to misappropriate and misdirect the outrage we naturally feel upon recognizing the injustices in our midst.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo Injustice Here<\/em>.\u201d \u00a0Whether they\u2019re criminalizing poverty or locking up asylum-seekers at the border, today\u2019s plutocrats will deny that they\u2019ve done anything wrong. Instead, they\u2019ll portray these outcomes as appropriate consequences for the victims\u2019 own poor decisions. Whenever we\u2019re fooled by their duplicitous explanations for unconscionable disparities in life prospects. it discourages collective action by defusing the passion linked to the righting of wrongs.<\/p>\n

\u201cChange Is Unjust.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 From defending mass incarceration to opposing minimum wage hikes, one-percenters will warn that changes to the status quo will lead to grave injustices. They\u2019ll try to sideline reformers by falsely arguing that efforts to help the disadvantaged will have adverse and unjust ramifications far worse than current conditions. Planting these seeds of doubt can be enough to obstruct the formation of coalitions committed to challenging their agenda.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re the Victims<\/em>.\u201d \u00a0Whether it\u2019s complaints that they\u2019re over-taxed or that their purported generosity goes unappreciated, the 1% will paint themselves as suffering from mistreatment and unfair criticism. With such portrayals, they\u2019ll hope to encourage our uncertainty over issues of right and wrong and victim and perpetrator. The collective pursuit of greater justice and equality is too often stymied by such manipulative misrepresentations.<\/p>\n

Distrust<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re Devious and Dishonest.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0From condemning labor activists to vilifying racial justice advocates, one-percenters will portray their adversaries as treacherous, devious, and evil in intent. With this mind game, they\u2019ll encourage us to be suspicious and unsympathetic toward those who are facing difficult circumstances or insurmountable hardships. When this appeal works, we\u2019re more likely to turn our backs on the victims of the self-aggrandizing rich and powerful.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re Different from Us.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>Whether they\u2019re stigmatizing immigrant groups or progressive reformers, the 1% will describe those they deplore as unworthy of our trust, casting them as different and out of touch with what most Americans want. Whenever this deceitful ploy is successful, it leads potential allies to view each other as adversaries instead. In this way, natural coalitions that could develop among individuals and groups opposed to today\u2019s plutocrats are instead squelched or destroyed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re Misguided and Misinformed.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0From the corruption on Wall Street to the further militarization of foreign policy, one-percenters will argue that their critics are misinformed and unreliable, and that their judgments are unworthy of serious consideration and not to be trusted. Whenever we\u2019re persuaded by such defensive appeals, we discount or entirely disregard important voices of dissent. Crucial opportunities for tackling inequality and advancing the common good are lost as a result.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrust Us.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0Whether it\u2019s billionaire union-busters or lobby-backed politicians, the 1% will promote themselves as paragons of integrity. They know that their efforts and policies will be much harder to counter if we mistakenly view them as trustworthy and selfless in word and deed. The weight of evidence doesn\u2019t support this favorable image, but that reality doesn\u2019t matter if we fail to recognize their devious misrepresentations, hollow promises, and corrupt enterprises.<\/p>\n

Superiority<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re Losers.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0From reviling the homeless to disparaging the unemployed, today\u2019s plutocrats will portray those who are down-and-out as inferior to the rest of us. With this mind game, they\u2019ll encourage us to stand aloof from decent people who deserve our compassion and solidarity. And by boosting our own sense of self-worth, they\u2019ll aim to discourage us from recognizing that the massive concentrations of wealth and power in this country reflect ruthless exploitation and unconscionable disregard of the needy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve Earned It<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 Whether CEOs are defending their astronomical pay or claiming the mantle of indispensable job creators, one-percenters will fraudulently argue that they\u2019ve earned everything they have through determination and fair play\u2014and that they deserve our praise rather than criticism for their actions and choices. These assertions of superiority go hand in hand with the pursuit of ever greater dominance. As long as their self-glorifying narratives go uncontested, extreme inequality will remain a disturbing fixture of our society.<\/p>\n

\u201cPursuing a Higher Purpose.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>From promoting inequality-boosting right-to-work legislation to defending human rights abuses, the 1% will insist that their actions embrace and protect the values we cherish. But prioritizing big-money interests subverts the vision of a nation of equal opportunity, where people from all walks of life join together for the common good. Despite this glaring contradiction, greed-driven appeals often succeed because they tap into our sense of pride over our country\u2019s accomplishments and influence in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re Un-American.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Whether they\u2019re railing against desperate immigrants or kneeling football players, one-percenters will stoke intolerance by presenting their critics as inauthentic and unpatriotic Americans. They recognize that their rule will be jeopardized if unwelcome change-seekers gain broad support. So they\u2019ll condemn those individuals and groups that refuse to silently accept hardship and mistreatment, characterizing them as ungrateful outsiders who fail to appreciate all that\u2019s good about the United States.<\/p>\n

Helplessness<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cChange Is Impossible.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0From catastrophic climate change to inequality-boosting globalization, the 1% will insist that the world is shaped by forces much too powerful to be tamed by human intervention. Closer analysis, however, reveals that they lack the motivation\u2014not the capacity\u2014to exert influence over these disturbing phenomena. Indeed, even when they\u2019re not the direct cause of others\u2019 misery, too often they\u2019re bystanders unwilling to use their enormous resources to benefit the common good.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll All Be Helpless.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0Whether they\u2019re opposing gun reform measures or minimum wage hikes, one-percenters will warn us that changes will produce harmful repercussions that we\u2019ll all be powerless to combat. The goal is to frighten us into accepting a status quo that serves their own interests but causes widespread damage to the public good. They hope that concerns about future helplessness will lead us to turn our backs on those suffering under the current system.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t Blame Us.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0From environmental disasters at home to reckless militarism overseas, the 1% will be quick to claim there was nothing they could do when circumstances take a turn for the worse. Given their inordinate wealth and power, these cries of helplessness and blamelessness merit careful scrutiny. Although they strut the stage boasting about their purported talents and accomplishments, today\u2019s plutocrats head for the shadows when it\u2019s time to accept responsibility for their policy failures.<\/p>\n

\u201cResistance Is Futile.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Whether it\u2019s protecting tax cuts for billionaires or flooding political campaigns with cash for future favors, the 1% will try to convince us that we\u2019re helpless to wrest our lives and our country from their control. If we believe that we\u2019ll never succeed, our change efforts grind to a halt. But we should remember that one-percenters are susceptible to the disempowering effects of perceived helplessness too\u2014if we can demonstrate our own collective power.<\/p>\n

Resisting the 1%\u2019s Mind Games<\/strong><\/p>\n

Any effective strategy for turning the tide on the 1% in 2019 depends upon countering and neutralizing these mind games. To be clear, concerns about vulnerability, injustice, distrust, superiority, and helplessness deserve to be important guides in policy debates and in efforts to advance the general welfare. But today\u2019s plutocrats cunningly exploit these concerns solely for their own benefit, disregarding the harmful consequences that befall everyone else.<\/p>\n

What, then, can we do? First, we should understand that the 1%\u2019s mind games are much like a rampant virus that can infect unsuspecting people with false and democracy-endangering beliefs. Second, we should take the steps necessary to psychologically inoculate ourselves. That\u2019s best accomplished by learning to recognize these flawed, manipulative appeals wherever they appear\u2014in the media or in our neighborhoods\u2014and by preparing forceful counter-arguments to them. And third, having become skilled \u201cfirst responders,\u201d we should organize others in our communities to do the same. The mission starts now.<\/p>\n

_______________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em>Roy Eidelson is a member of the TRANSCEND Network<\/a> and was a member of the American Psychological Association for over 25 years, prior to his resignation. He is a clinical psychologist and the president of Eidelson Consulting<\/a>, where he studies, writes about, and consults on the role of psychological issues in political, organizational, and group conflict settings. He is a past president of Psychologists for Social Responsibility<\/a>, associate director of the Solomon Asch Center for Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict at Bryn Mawr College, and a member of the Coalition for an Ethical Psychology<\/a>. Roy can be reached at reidelson@eidelsonconsulting.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 counterpunch.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

20 Dec 2018 – In my research as a psychologist, I\u2019ve found that manipulative appeals from the 1% are often designed to target issues of vulnerability, injustice, distrust, superiority, and helplessness. Are we safe? Are we treated fairly? Who should we trust? Are we good enough? Can we control what happens to us? By offering disingenuous answers to these questions, self-serving one-percenters aim to shape \u2018our\u2019 understanding of what\u2019s happening, what\u2019s right, and what\u2019s possible to \u2018their\u2019 own advantage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":124572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-transcend-members"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124571\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}