I wish I knew more about the details of why people not just support people like Michele Bachmann, but are so vehement about it. Time after time she has been shown to be either a liar or so horribly misinformed that if she were the basis of a Saturday Night Live skit instead of in congress, everyone would laugh openly at her.
What is it about people that allows them to accept obvious bullshit as truth, and with so much vigor? It's a serious human flaw that I think all of us suffer from--some more than others, of course, as with most afflictions.
Maybe it's simply something innate that causes us to want to maintain the status quo, even for those who are the worst off under it. Change for those who are vulnerable is more feared than attempting to make improvements. Maybe it's that simple.
The often-used claim that things were better in the past and returning to it would be preferable also has an appeal because it's a known condition, even if that condition is made up and lied about. It can be sold as a known commodity, which is more comforting than the unknown future touted by those who want change to occur there. Plus, for groups who were seen as better off in the past, members of that group who are now struggling can more easily support a move backwards, even if its a subconscious energy. Some whites, for example, might see themselves as better off before integration and the Civil Rights movement. Returning to a segregated society might seem to be an advantage.
So, maybe, anyone who promises to either maintain the current system--or go back to something familiar (even if it sucked)--has an appeal that causes people to fight for it rather than taking what is seen as an unacceptable risk to improve society.
Throw a god into the mix and the future gets even scarier if humans are allowed to tinker with it. Someone's god may not like it.
What is it about people that allows them to accept obvious bullshit as truth, and with so much vigor? It's a serious human flaw that I think all of us suffer from--some more than others, of course, as with most afflictions.
Maybe it's simply something innate that causes us to want to maintain the status quo, even for those who are the worst off under it. Change for those who are vulnerable is more feared than attempting to make improvements. Maybe it's that simple.
The often-used claim that things were better in the past and returning to it would be preferable also has an appeal because it's a known condition, even if that condition is made up and lied about. It can be sold as a known commodity, which is more comforting than the unknown future touted by those who want change to occur there. Plus, for groups who were seen as better off in the past, members of that group who are now struggling can more easily support a move backwards, even if its a subconscious energy. Some whites, for example, might see themselves as better off before integration and the Civil Rights movement. Returning to a segregated society might seem to be an advantage.
So, maybe, anyone who promises to either maintain the current system--or go back to something familiar (even if it sucked)--has an appeal that causes people to fight for it rather than taking what is seen as an unacceptable risk to improve society.
Throw a god into the mix and the future gets even scarier if humans are allowed to tinker with it. Someone's god may not like it.
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