Hypocrisy and Cognitive Dissonance

As I was writing this, news broke that Nancy Pelosi would finally start an impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump. Now, we're all hypocrites sometimes. It's a natural state for a human being to occupy based on how we evolved, in-group/out-group think, personal biases, and more. The difference is often merely one's ability to accept one is being hypocritical, and adjust one's thinking to reality. This is often tougher than it seems. Let's do an experiment.

If you support Trump, please try the following:

1. Read this statement - "Bernie Sanders asked the Ukraine to investigate Donald Trump to help his campaign for President."
2. Ask yourself if you think what Bernie did was wrong or unethical.
3. Read this statement - "Donald Trump asked the Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden to help his campaign for President."
4. Ask yourself if you think what Trump did was wrong or unethical.

If you came to the conclusion that when Sanders did it, it was wrong, but that when Trump did it, it was fine, you are a hypocrite. If an action is wrong when one party does it, it is still wrong if another party does it.

If you came to the conclusion that neither Sanders nor Trump did anything wrong, then you are either an unethical person, or don't actually believe in the Constitution or the Laws of the United States. Because soliciting the help of a foreign government to interfere in our electoral process is against the law.

If you came to the conclusion that both cases were wrong or unethical, congratulations you are ethically consistent, and able to look at the information presented in an unbiased manner.

Now, let's take it a step further. Here is a list of things that Donald Trump has done. These things are not under dispute. There is evidence for each of these items. Please do the same exercise with the following:

• Praised a Congressman for body-slamming a reporter.
• Lied about the size of the crowd at the inauguration.
• Threatened to take away security clearances from critics.
• Privately met with a foreign leader without a U.S. interpreter.
• Says he fell in love with the dictator of North Korea.
• Didn't visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Veteran's Day because it was raining.
• Asked about nuking a hurricane.
• Called other countries "shithole countries".
• Claims he can pardon himself.
• Paid off a pornstar for an alleged affair when his wife was pregnant.
• "Suggested" military personnel and the Vice President stay at his properties when traveling. Many, many times.
• Said that white supremacists and neo-nazi's were "very fine people".
• Told duly elected congressional delegates to "go back to where they came from". 
• Called himself "the chosen one".
• Locked up children away from their families.
• Asked the Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden to help his re-election campaign.

This list is by no means complete. There is a ton more, but I didn't want this piece to get out of hand. So, put your least favorite politician's name into those items, and check if you think everything is still fine. If you're being honest with yourself, you don't actually think so. Again, if it's wrong for the person you were thinking of, then it was wrong for Trump to do so. Intellectual consistency is a pre-requisite for having productive conversations about politicians, the role of government, and almost anything else. So, why are people unable to do so?

Cognitive Dissonance

“Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong. When they are presented with evidence that works against that belief, the new evidence cannot be accepted. It would create a feeling that is extremely uncomfortable, called cognitive dissonance. And because it is so important to protect the core belief, they will rationalize, ignore and even deny anything that doesn't fit in with the core belief.” - Frantz Fanon

Cognitive dissonance is the reason that you can have 97% of all climate scientists assert that human-based climate change is real, and yet have people deny it. It's how Evangelical Christians can support Trump despite his multiple divorces and affairs. It's how I can root for the Dallas Cowboys, but not like Jerry Jones.

The level of which congnitive dissonance does harm varies. My rooting for the Cowboys only really affects myself. I'm not making policies that benefit Jerry Jones because I am a Cowboys fan. However, if politicians are ignoring the agreed upon climate science, that has some very real, and very dangerous consequences for everyone on the planet.

There is a distinct lack of critical thinking skills today. The result is tribalism, the breakdown of communication, and unwillingness to put oneself in another's shoes. Empathy is lacking. It's how people are okay with children being put in cages. While most are contributing to this state of affairs at some level, Conservatives are playing it at another level entirely. And, before someone says "Obama put them in cages too", let me say that anyone who does that is wrong. Don't put kids in cages! That is my stance, regardless of who is doing it. That's being consistent.

What Can We Do?

Honestly, I'm not sure. I'm an evidence based person. As an agnostic atheist, and a skeptic, I am open to changing my position if presented with compelling evidence. Sadly, many are not able or willing to do so. Perhaps we need to explain things like climate change solutions in ways that align with their world view. Perhaps the left simply needs to win all the elections, change things, and let the right see how much better off they are? I'm certain it will take multiple approaches, and way too long. Here's hoping we don't burn the planet while trying to get people to recognize their hypocrisy and cognitive dissonance. 

Primaries and the General Election

Let me get this out of the way...

I'M VOTING FOR WHATEVER CANDIDATE WINS THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION!!!

I'M VOTING FOR WHATEVER CANDIDATE WINS THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION!!!

I'M VOTING FOR WHATEVER CANDIDATE WINS THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION!!!

Was that fucking clear enough? Because now I'm going to get into why that doesn't mean I shouldn't push for a progressive candidate until that time.

So many of my fellow Democrats are so focused on beating Donald Trump, that they can't seem to focus on any policy issues. As such, they have it in their heads that Joe Biden is the presumptive nominee. Now, Biden as the nominee would make the Centrist Democrats, the Corporate Democrats, the Republicans, the corporate media, and maybe even Trump very, very happy. I don't like to make claims without providing supporting evidence or materials to back up my stance, so here it is.

Nope on Change

In Joe's own words (as quoted in this Salon article):

"I mean, we may not want to demonize anybody who has made money," he said. "The truth of the matter is, you all, you all know, you all know in your gut what has to be done. We can disagree in the margins but the truth of the matter is it's all within our wheelhouse and nobody has to be punished. No one's standard of living will change, nothing would fundamentally change."
Biden went on to say that the rich should not be blamed for income inequality, pleading to the donors, "I need you very badly."
"I hope if I win this nomination, I won't let you down. I promise you," he added.

The part to focus on here is the "nothing would fundamentally change" part. Our current system is broken. It is a rigged economy that shuttles money from the poor and middle class to the top. Conservatives are so worried about wealth distribution, they've failed to realize we already have such a system, it simply works the opposite way of what they're against. Either that, or they are the beneficiaries of that system and are actively trying to fool their followers into believing their "trickle-down economics" bullshit. People on the left and the right want the system to change. That's one of the reasons Trump won. He said populist things. While it was idiotic for voters to believe he'd enact such policies, he did speak to them. If the Democrats put up a "nothing will fundamentally change" candidate, they may very well lose again.

Joe has a Black friend

So far, Biden's campaign seems to be based on his being Vice President for Barack Obama. I did a little research, and this turns out to be true. It also turns out that Obama convinced Joe not to run against Hillary Clinton in 2016, and advised against running in 2020. Furthermore, Obama has not endorsed a candidate for 2020 yet. If President Obama believed in Biden for this job, he would have already come out in support for his Vice President. It is extremely telling that he has not done so. Just because Biden was Obama's VP is not a reason to support the man. Unfortunately, I've been told privately that the black community is giving Uncle Joe a pass on his previous stances on the Crime Bill and busing because of Obama. It is literally the "I have a black friend" defense.

The Electability Myth

There's a myth in this country that the centrist candidate has the best chance of winning any given election. How's that working out for you 2016 Democratic voters? Because an anti-intellectual, mysoginistic, narcissist running on racism and nationalism won the Presidency.

I mentioned above that the people wanted and still want change. The average person is hurting. The economy sucks if you aren't one of the people at the top. The jobs numbers are utter horseshit since they don't take into account the quality of the jobs. Too many people work full-time but don't earn a living wage. The gamblers in the stock market are not a good indication of the health of the economy for the average person. As such, average people are looking for help. They are looking for a job that supports their family. They are looking for affordable healthcare. Joe Biden has no policies that address these concerns. He simply says I'll make it like it was under Obama again. I'll agree that would be better than under Trump, but it still wasn't great! People still couldn't afford to get sick under that system. They still worked 2-3 jobs each, just to try and scrape by. It's not sustainable, and we need some fundamental changes. A centrist candidate won't do that, and they certainly won't bring any policies to the table that will excite the voters into showing up at the polls. It can't just be about beating Trump. We need to do that and more!

Policy Reality

The vast majority of American people support populist policy positions:

• Seventy percent of all Americans support Medicare for All. 
• Sixty percent of all registered voters support the Green New Deal. 
• Sixty-five percent of all Americans support legalizing marijuana. 
• Seventy-six percent of registered voters support raising taxes on the wealthy. 
• Sixty-one percent of all Americans support stricter gun laws. 
• Seventy-one percent of all Americans believe in human-caused climate change.

The list goes on and on, yet we're told by the centrist candidates that we need to do incremental change. The centrists had 40 years to do it, but they maintained establishment policies, and sold the country to the corporations. So no, we don't get to do it incrementally. If your candidate doesn't support the positions supported by the majority of Americans, why should I support them? Until that choice is taken from me, I'm going to support a candidate that does support those positions. Until it comes time to vote for the person challenging Trump, I will continue to support my preferred candidate. So should you. Feel free to try and convince me of why your candidate is the right choice. That's what primaries are for. They are not for annointing the establishment's choice. That should be a lesson we learned from 2016. I certainly did. Have you?