For several years Democrats have warned that Republicans would refuse to accept the outcome of the 2024 election and behave responsibly. Now that the election has come and gone, that warning has proved prophetic. But, wonder of wonders, the resisters have turned out to be the Democrats themselves!
The governors of Illinois, Massachusetts, and California have reportedly called for emergency sessions to oppose Trump’s programs before they have been initiated, notably by refusing to work with federal agencies in securing the border. Not surprisingly, the defiance is being carried out in the name of freedom, liberty, moral values, and social harmony.
It is understandable why those governors, like most Democrats, wholeheartedly believe that Trump is a Fascist who hates democracy and will be as much a dictator as Hitler and Stalin were. After all, the legacy media have unrelentingly communicated that message to them and other citizens for the last eight years. Moreover, Kamala Harris made it the centerpiece of her campaign. The shock is that the message failed to win anywhere near the number of voters necessary to defeat Trump.
That shock was felt by all types of Democrats. The affluent, including Hollywood types, reacted by pledging to leave the country. Others expressed themselves in less expensive ways, such as taking videos of themselves screaming and stomping their feet, much as children do to embarrass Mommy into buying them candy in the supermarket.
Given the anti-Trump propagandizing Democrats have been exposed to, their extreme reactions are understandable. But even so, we might expect they would be short lived. After all, most of them are well educated, intelligent, well-read in general, including in current affairs. But despite this, there are indications their extremism will continue through Trump’s term in office if not well beyond it, as it did after his first term.
Trump’s electoral success should not have surprised them. He talked to voters about his past achievements and detailed his plans for expanding them. In contrast, Harris offered no program at all but devoted her entire campaign to denying Trump’s achievements, attempting to read his mind, and calling him vile names. A majority of voters were unimpressed by the emptiness of her campaign and voted accordingly. Most Americans understand this, so why have so many Democrats not understood? The answer can be found in their thought processes.
Let’s begin by noting some common misperceptions about being a good thinker. Having a high IQ is not necessary, nor are having done well in school or having graduated from a prestigious college. We can have all three and yet be poor thinkers. On the other hand, we can lack all of them and be excellent thinkers. What is necessary is having effective habits of mind. These are among the most important: Remembering our imperfection, Being willing to learn from others, Maintaining our curiosity, Thinking critically about our own ideas and beliefs as well as other peoples’.
Over the last sixty years several false ideas have dominated western culture. Here are those ideas and how they have undermined good thinking habits:
FALSE IDEA 1: Truth and reality are not objective but subjective and therefore not found by seeking and reasoning but by consulting our feelings. EFFECT: Our attention is forced inward and diminishes our natural curiosity about ideas and actions outside ourselves. It therefore prevents us from learning from others.
FALSE IDEA 2: Our opinions express our personal truth and reality and are the basis of our dignity. EFFECT: Seeing our opinions as definitively true rather than possibly true lessens our interest in other people’s ideas, which in turn prevents us from comparing our opinions with theirs and deciding which are more accurate.
FALSE IDEA 3: When others disagree with us, they are denying the truth of our opinions and challenging our dignity. EFFECT: We take offense at the perceived disrespect of our right to our opinion. We therefore hold the “offenders” in contempt and refuse meaningful discussion with them.
FALSE IDEA 4: Thinking critically about our own opinions undermines our self-esteem and blocks achievement. EFFECT: We avoid examining our own opinions for accuracy, reasonableness, and positive/negative consequences for fear of injuring ourselves emotionally. This avoidance of self-criticism can lead to hyper-criticism of opposing opinions.
Neither Liberals nor Conservatives have been immune to these false ideas, but the greater impact has been on Liberals because they are less committed to traditional ideas and values and therefore more open to new and daring ones. This explains some strange behaviors of Democrats in recent years.
For example, from 2016 to the present, Trump’s MAGA slogan has been branded as meaningless, or even as crazy, when in fact it was eminently reasonable. “Making America Great Again” simply meant addressing problems and overcoming them, in other words achieving progress. Since progress is what liberals claim to champion, it is illogical to call it crazy.
More recently, when Republicans mention Donald Trump’s accomplishments in office, Democrats do not respond but simply call him a Fascist, racist, homophobe, and anti-Semite, who wishes to destroy America. Also, when it is suggested that Biden/Harris have set the country back in border security and the price of food and fuel, Democrats say there is no problem because Biden/Harris solved the problems Trump left them. Both responses are not only irrelevant to the matter of accomplishments but a blatant denial of proven reality. Such insults to voters’ intelligence surely played a role in Trump’s winning the 2024 election. Democrats’ contrary opinions, no matter how profoundly felt cannot change these facts.
As we approach the January inauguration of Donald Trump, it’s best not to fool ourselves into believing that harmony will be easily restored. Given the present situation, the harder the President and his cabinet work to Make America Great Again, the more they will be denounced by Democrats. And the greater their achievement, the louder the denunciation will be. The only way to restore harmony will be for millions of people to overcome their false ideas and form more positive attitudes toward others.
In the months and years ahead, we will do well to heed actress Betty Davis’ famous line, “Fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be a bumpy night” . . . or in our case, a bumpy four years!
Copyright © 2024 by Vincent Ryan Ruggiero. All rights reserved.
