West County Democrats

Yes, of course, there has been election meddling by Russia and probably others that influenced Trump/Republican voters in the last election.  Yes, there is a whole complex of well funded extreme right wing media to incense and motivate conservatives.  Yes, self-serving billionaires contribute gobs of cash to unqualified, but malleable candidates for office.  And, as everyone knows, some for-profit, evangelical Christian churches promote a false narrative of religious persecution to help drive donations and Republican voter turnout.

All that considered, why do some people buy into those influences and not others?  Why do some voters persistently vote against their own interests and those of the United States of America?

I had a recent exchange with a Trump supporter I know on Facebook and he said some things I am sure he would never say to my face–or his family –or his neighbors.  His words were counter-intuitive, accusatory, demeaning and outright offensive -but actually very revealing. 

Picking through the bluster, it occurred to me that he fundamentally hates being *told* anything by anyone who is presented as smarter, more educated, superior or an expert in any way.  Everything, EVERYTHING bad and untrue in the world is their fault.

Let’s call it the ‘chip on your shoulder’ effect.  Perhaps it his personal dissatisfaction with his self-perceived status in life and an inherent defensive psychology that have caused him to reject reason in all cases. I don’t have the qualifications to say, but HE calls it common-sense and despises anyone who disagrees.

Trump resonated with this man, specifically because he rejects accepted expertise in science, the military, the press, the government, religion and politics.  Chaos and divisiveness are good things– because all of those experts must be proven wrong.  

It is, after all, more important to be proven right than to be actually correct. So, let’s make those liberal heads explode. 

The State of Missouri has 114 counties. Most are rural.  Corporate agriculture and the growth of industry in the cities left residents in rural counties behind generations ago. Others in x-urban areas have lost well-paying work as those industries have transitioned to higher technology.  Wealth has been pulled away from those folks and concentrated like never before in fewer and fewer families.

And their belief is, all of this is because liberals sold us on the concepts of higher education bringing greater opportunity, egalitarianism and teamwork making us stronger, and prosperity is possible for all; Which, for whatever reason, is not working for many people in our culture, and (they believe) has hollowed out small communities across our state.

Oh, and empathy or civility are just liberal inventions that keep us from securing bold, decisive, SINGULAR leadership.

So, while our State circles the drain, we have a Governor, with no college degree and no business experience, eschewing democracy, who believes that Agriculture is the #1 industry in Missouri, and city folk are decidedly evil in all ways. Like Donald Trump, he is supported by a voting base who believe new-fangled ‘expertise’ is a just liberal mechanism for accumulating power and subverting common-sense.

This conflict in our state and our country appears to be about personal relevance vs. accepted expectations. I could tell them that there is not such thing as ‘common-sense’ because wisdom only comes from first hand experience and education.  There is nothing ‘common’ or genetic about it.

But, they wouldn’t listen anyway.

— Mark Toenjes, WCD Member