Today however, I'm going to return to an old favourite - the study of conservative thinking.
I first became aware of the broad field of study when I wrote about it in this post, where I referenced a study that claimed conservatives were more likely to be identified with the 'Dark Triad' of behavioural traits. In other words, you don't have to be a psychopath or sociopath to be a conservative, but you may feel more at home if you are.
Next I happened across a TED talk by Jonathan Haidt, where he outlines his theories on conservative and liberal thinking. I wrote about it here, and my thoughts on the overlap between the two theories.
Then I did a quick update, throwing a somewhat tangential study of the confluence of deep, deep stupidity, conservative thought and racism into the mix here. I did an infographic which was altogether too much info and not enough graphic.
And today, another tidbit has wandered into the mix. Chris Mooney, on Alternet, has also thrown his hat into the ring, with a quite fascinating essay here, a distillation of a forthcoming book. It not only cites Haidt's work (and updates the TED talk with a sixth comparison factor) but adds thoughts from George Lakoff (and here's one here over on the HuffPo that's quite a good read).
The picture that is building is an interesting one, and one that causes me to respect less and less the conservative viewpoint. It has also led me to think that instead of just saying 'Urg, Andrew Bolt is such a douchebag' for example, I'd probably be much better off saying that I think his views are irrelevant as they are not founded in any kind of concern for broader society or empathy and are instead malicious, selfish and ultimately short-sighted.
Other studies have crossed my eye, such as one that links zealous religious belief to the same area of the brain that Temporal Lobe Epilepsy originates from. Having a bee in my bonnet about when religion jumps the wall of church and state, studies like this interest me. It might be malicious, I might be looking for ammo to throw at a belief system I believe to be silly, fallacious, even dangerous, but at some level, I also think that it is floating into my mental corral of studies on conservative thought.
One of the things that you are confronted with daily if you are a progressive is what seems to be the sheer insanity of your ideological opponents on the conservative side. Mooney addresses this quite well, but the angst of it is not really ameliorated by the explanation. Understanding conservative thought might be the first step out of that angst. The behavioural tidal pull to explode in rage is strong - as evidenced by the name of my blog ;) - but these studies combined provide a handy channel for that rage. Instead of exploding with fury like the Incredible Hulk, this information can probably help us navigate around the somewhat insane demands of conservatives.
When it comes to conservative views and public policy, the responses are notoriously predictable. Look for the patriarchal daddy figure versus the touchy-feely nebulous community in any news issue, and you can pick the conservative response with 9/10 accuracy. I wrote about the right's ability to frame issues to suit themselves way back here in a different context.
"...See right wing people are not very good with facts. They start from a position of not liking them, and the relationship tends to sour from that point. What right wing people are good at, is changing the nature of the question around the facts. So, rather than say 'I like to let impoverished and desperate men, women and children drown at sea, or be tortured, raped and murdered when they are sent back home', they prefer to change the nature of the issue to 'I am keeping our borders safe from potential terrorists.' It's rather like if someone asks you if you want milk or sugar in your tea, and you answer 'bourbon'.
"John Howard said that the real problem was not that he said stupid or hateful things, or ran roughshod over civil and human rights, it's that the media reporting these things was biased. Biased against crooks, tyrants and absolute lying f#cking liars I can only imagine. So he had a series of commissars installed at the 'biased' media outlets, that the government happened to own - the SBS and ABC. All the other TV networks were privately owned, and also coincidentally biased in favour of crooks, tyrants and absolute lying f#cking liars, so that was okay."
This is what conservatives do. Unable to see any variation or complexity in an issue, it is reduced to a simple 'daddy makes things better' angle. The strength of a progressive viewpoint is seeing behind the limited, selfish, cultish outlook of the conservative. They do not understand compassion and are afraid of facts, unable as they are generally to process them.
Mooney suggests that progressives should adopt some of the methodology of conservatives, and I don't think that's too bad an idea. We could certainly do worse. Tactics we can adopt include;
Don't go on the defensive.
When an issue comes up, do not defend against the accusation, refute its validity entirely.
Bad:
Conservative: "You Greenies want to destroy our economy!"
Progressive: "Yeah, well, you're a fucking idiot, and the economy's all run by fucking fatcats anyway!"
Good:
Conservative: "You Greenies want to destroy our economy!"
Progressive: "What you have said makes no sense. You cannot in any way demonstrate any kind of position that defends what you have said. If you want to engage in facts, I'm prepared to listen, but if you're going to come out with paranoid, fantastic claptrap, well... I don't see why anyone should give you any attention."
Highlight your stance, minimise theirs.
Don't keep harping on the conservative viewpoint, emphasise yours and dismiss theirs as irrelevant.
Bad:
Conservative: "If poofs are allowed to marry, marrying children and animals will be next."
Progressive: "Stop mixing up paedophilia and bestiality with gay marriage you dumb Christian!"
Good:
Conservative: "If poofs are allowed to marry, marrying children and animals will be next!"
Progressive: "Marriage equality is simply a natural step to take. If we expect Australian citizens to pay taxes and vote, then there is no reason why we should deny a single right to certain Australians on the basis of the irrational fears and bigotries of a noisy minority."
Reframe the issue.
The right do this all the time. It usually involves invoking fear in order to make people scurry back to a protective and knowledgeable daddy figure, or to feel security in a tight-knit group of like-minded idiots.
Bad:
Conservative News: "Another ship of illegal immigrants has arrived. Find out in our special report where the government is putting these illegals in YOUR neighbourhood with YOUR tax dollars."
Progressive Response: (throws beer bottle at television)
Good:
Conservative News: "Another ship of illegal immigrants has arried. Find out in our special report where the government is putting these illegals in YOUR neighbourhood with YOUR tax dollars."
Progressive News: "Coast Guard officers rescued a badly damaged ship of asylum seekers today. In our special report, we talk to some of the survivors and discover the tales of hardship and torment that caused them to risk their lives to flee. The government is calling on local councils with available housing to provide temporary relief accomodation."
Acc-entuate the Positives, E-liminate the Negatives.
Progressives can disagree. No-one's saying don't do that. Any given issue is likely to contain so many variables that you can split hairs until you're bald. That's fine, but instead of throwing a tanty 'You don't agree with me 100% on every single issue! Waaahhh! Butthurt!', try to put the smaller differences aside or at least agree on a basic premise.
Bad: "I'm not going to vote for Obama! He authorised drone strikes! He's no fucking progressive! Fuck him! Oh yeah but Santorum's a c*nt too! Fuck him too!"
Good: "We can agree that Obama has done some questionable things, but in a choice of President between hardline ultra-right theocrat Santorum, and occasionally moderate but occasionally questionable Obama, we should probably throw weight behind Obama. We can campaign for specifics later, but there's not going to be any debating ground under a Santorum Presidency. It's best we protect the ground we've gained and fight for advances, than fight over specific issues and lose the ground we have."
Co-opt the middle ground.
Something conservatives are good at is tugging on the fears of the unaligned middle. Given a choice between untried and untested progressive policies and shitty, but familiar policies, most people aim for comfort over risk. The right are good at slowly shifting the landscape and making the moderate viewpoint slowly shift rightward. If progressives want to counter this, then finding ways to get moderates on side is vital.
Bad:
Moderate, somewhat religious person: "I'm a bit confused about Rick Santorum. I mean, he seems to be a Christian, but he says some very strange things."
Angry Progressive: "Well why don't you fuck off and join him in worshipping your fictional sky-fairy, you fucking hatemonger!"
Good:
Moderate, somewhat religious person: "I'm a bit confused about Rick Santorum. I mean, he seems to be a Christian, but he says some very strange things."
Calm Progressive: "True. His extreme stance is alienating other Christians too, you're not the only one feeling uneasy. Just because he plays to your faith doesn't mean you have to support him. Your faith is yours. No-one can take that away from you. What you can do is stop people corrupting your faith for shallow powerplays and legislated cruelty. It's better to be a good Christian and choose tolerance, than let a hate-monger speak for you."
I don't respect conservatives, and I especially don't respect religious conservatives. In my estimation they are people without conscience and an inability to see reality. While this makes them foolish, it also makes them very dangerous. If you are a progressive trying to understand and counter conservative thought, then good luck to you. It's hard, it bears little reward, but that understanding may in turn help you to position your views better, and by extension marginalise the most hateful shit that extreme conservatives come out with. The end result is better public discourse, better laws. That's something worth working toward I think.
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