Tuesday, April 06, 2010

The Hyper-Moralized Politics of Self-Esteem

Read the whole thing. Blurb:

Purging moral questions from politics is both impossible and undesirable. But today's tendency to turn every contentious issue into a moral confrontation is divisive. One way of fortifying people's self-esteem is praising them as smart, public-spirited and virtuous. But an easier way is to portray the "other side" as scum: The more scummy "they" are, the more superior "we" are. This logic governs the political conversation of left and right, especially talk radio, cable channels and the blogosphere.

Unlike economic benefits, psychic benefits can be dispensed without going through Congress. Mere talk does the trick. Shrillness and venom are the coin of the realm. The opposition cannot simply be mistaken. It must be evil, selfish, racist, unpatriotic, immoral or just stupid. A culture of self-righteousness reigns across the political spectrum.
It's not the politics of thinking, sensible adults. It's the politics of puerile narcissists. But it is the politics of the day. And left unchecked and unchallenged I'm pretty sure it will bring far more misery than it claims to cure.

Oh, and on the self-righteousness topic: in my personal experience, folks on the right think folks on the left are misguided or wrong. Folks on the left, though, think folks on the right are eeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil. There is a big difference there! Then again, what do I know? I'm just an ignorant bitter racist clinging to my guns and Bible.

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