Politics, Political Parties, and Psychological Projection
Psychological projection is very evident on the left and right. However, each side of the spectrum projects in very different ways. This has played a part in getting us to where we are today.
On the Right:
I first became aware of this years ago, it seems oh so long ago, when Obama was President. I was puzzled and confused by the reaction of some people to him. Having studied media psychology, I understood that media was driving some of their reactions. But there seemed to be something more going on.
Before I continue, I need to take us back to that time.
During those Obama times, the right was talking about FEMA camps. People I knew were worried that Obama was going to imprison people in these camps. Then Jade Helm, a regular military action in the US, suddenly took on new significance as these same people thought it was an exercise to take over or worse, a real action being taken under the guise of an exercise, that would represent a take over of our democracy by Obama.
I could not figure out why this would seem possible to them. Nothing on the left indicated that this was their intention. In fact, they largely were unaware of these concerns or dismissed them as being ridiculous. But mostly they were completely unaware.
Finally, I came to understand that these things seemed reasonable to them, not because of the actions or statements on the left or by Obama, but because it is was something that they would do if they were in Obama’s situation. This realization was a disconcerting because I realized the extent to which they were prepared psychologically to abuse power power. They were on one hand concerned that Obama was going to open up FEMA camps to detain people but, as I later found, did not see a problem with having Japanese-like internment camps for Muslims because “you never know” and “it worked with the Japanese”.
At the time, however, I was able to push those concerns aside even as I continued to question them and why they thought that Obama would be doing such a thing. They had very little (no) credible evidence but that did not matter. They had all the evidence they needed about the possibility of such a thing because they could imagine it. And it seemed reasonable because that is what they would do if they had power.
…let that sink in….
And coincidentally, was I was preparing to write this I came across an article, Now I Know Why They Said I Lied, published in the Atlantic by a reporter Michelle Fields on November 8, 2018. She explains:
“ When I said that Corey Lewandowski, then Trump’s campaign manager, had grabbed and bruised me at a rally in 2016, Trump World called me a liar.”
They accused her of faking the bruises and the audio. This did not make sense to her even with video that documented the event until:
Flash forward to Jim Acosta of CNN and the press conference in which he brushed the arm of the intern and the White House released a doctored video to make the incident look worse and to justify the pulling of Jim’s credentials by the White House.
She realized only then that they would believe accusations that she would make up the incident years ago because THEY WOULD DO IT.
Projection.
On the Left:
The left has its issues with projection too and they have actually played a part in the mess we see today.
The left, in contrast to the right, has tended to underestimate what the right was up to. They tended to over look, be too trusting in the goodness of men even when those men have demonstrated themselves to be untrustworthy.
While the right was equating them with terrorists during the Obama years, they ignored the rhetoric as crazy and outside the mainstream — even as it was penetrating the mainstream thought and discussion.
By the end of the Obama years, many on the right were conditioned to believe that they were fighting an existential threat — the left — and that they alone may have to take up arms to save the country. (THIS WAS BEFORE TRUMP.)
The left did not react because they could not conceive of being at war with their fellow Americans.
Projection.
How this contributed to this messy point in history:
The projection by the right led to amped up irrational beliefs that horrible things were going to happen under Obama. This solidified an us vs them narrative. (This was not accidental.)
The left, on the other hand, was too slow to recognize the threat that this radicalization posed. Instead of calling it out, of working to push back, the left let it go thinking it was harmless.
While the right projects fear and danger into the world to justify their responses (even when it is not justified), the left does the opposite and projects the idea that people will work together (even when they should react). As a result, one group (the right) was radicalized towards violence while the left was silent.
Only more recently, has the left awaken and now people are acting up and speaking out. The right is blow every incident out of proportion and the left still largely ignore it.
Millions of people march in protest. No violence. Fox News shows over flowing garbage cans to show how untidy and messy the left is. Thousands march and at the end a couple of people get out of hand and the right reports the violent left.
And here is one more. The right (reference Scott Walker thinking he was talking to a Koch brother) will plant people to stir up trouble so they can “crack down” and preserve their narratives). The left, because this is not consistent with their thinking, has never really checked into who is behind the violence at their events. They write it off as a outsiders or bad apples — but they seriously should aggressively investigate connections to right wing groups.
Conclusion:
Psychological projection creates “blind spots”. They are effectively, deeply embedded narratives that affect how we perceive events and therefore how we react.
The right during the Obama years perceived everything from the context of knowing that he was set to abuse power. Therefore they highlighted it, magnified things and even created things to support this believe. A simple hello can become sinister.
Significantly, they also affect what we are prone to notice — the left, for example, was blind to the radicalization on the right because their minds told them that it was not possible.
Things have now shifted where many on the left are more aware of the predicament we are in. Awareness does not, however, mean that the left will be able to hold a sustainable position to effectively deal with the radicalization on the right. That will be the fundamental challenge.
(The role of media in amplifying the attitudes will be discussed in a latter blog.)
