The Real Reason Conservatives Always Win - Common Dreams, Joe Brewer

[NRaleighLiberal]

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/06/22-12

"Have you ever wondered why it is that Progressives repeatedly lose ground in American politics? We almost always have the facts on our side. The experts agree with us. Hell, a lot of us are the experts. And yet history clearly shows that Conservatives have the best political game in town. They dominate political discourse, establishing which frames shape the most important issues of the day. Their values associated with rugged individualism, mass consumption, and a contempt for civil society are blasted at the American public through massive media outlets that they have acquired and built up over the last several decades. And when the global economy melts down as a direct result of their economic and fiscal policies, who gets blamed? In a word, liberals.

What’s going on here? Why is it that Conservatives are so good at winning and Progressives produce a lackluster resistance at best? The answer comes from a fundamental insight from evolutionary biology. Stated simply, it goes like this:

When two groups compete, the one with the most social cohesion wins in the long run.

This insight arises from research on group selection that reveals how social animals capable of working as a team readily out compete those individuals who must struggle on their own. The astute observer will already note the profound irony here — a political group whose ideology elevates the individual over the group (Conservatives) has managed to cultivate more group cohesion than the political group whose ideology blends community well-being with that of the individual. I’ll come back to this irony in a moment."

______________________________________________________________

A very interesting read.....worth pondering some of the points made in the article.

[Bennyboy]

1. Interesting......

The single point message is very effective for them. Stay on message. They are masters at that.

[Speck Tater]

2. Oh, but MY hot button issue is more important than your issue.

Forget all that other crap about unions and reproductive choice. We need to concentrate on saving the pilliated water skeeter.

Part of the problem is that we are being attacked on so many different fronts and everyone has staked out ONE of those fronts as THE most important battle. In the meanwhile people who could be doing real work to move progressive agenda forward are taking urban camping trips and screaming with righteous indignation at anyone who points out that what they are doing is a colossal waste of time.

The right gives people concrete answers, even if those answers are bullshit. The left gives people vague euphemisms, crude language, and threatening positions that make the average person uncomfortable.




The occupy movement is not about results. It's about feeling self-righteous. It alienates the very people that we need to persuade.

(Go ahead. Tell me how wrong I am. Quote me some vague slogans.)

[DonCoquixote]

3. Some ugly truths

One, is that we do have more common ground on the left than the right, if nothing else, the right wants us ALL dead or in chains. However, the ugly truth is that, as a by product of the fact we tend to THINK more, we tend to be easier to divide. A by product of intelligence is an ego, and the Corporations are masters at manipulating ego.

WARNING: This OP will express a lot of frustration I have, so if offensive language offends you, skip this.

Go ahead and read DU. You will see a rag tag group of people that frankly HATE each other at times. You have the liberal religious types fight with the Dawkins style atheists, you have the Marijuana users fight with anyone who does not use it, you have Vegans fighting with Meat eaters. Let's not get into the real blood feuds, like Gun Owners versus Gun Control, or the various vendettas about who can be a "Feminist" and what one is, wave one two such and such. Of course, let's avoid the Gen X, Y, Z versus Boomers. Oh, and let us not even get into the perennial Civil War where some Southerners keep saying "The war was not about Slavery" and their Yankee counterparts keep demonizing all southerners. You know that there will be the "Let's kick the South out" threads coming like clockwork come November of this year, regardless of who wins, and regardless that some of the best liberals are from Dixie, and some of the worst Neocons are in New York! Of course, there is even simple hate that different shades of left have, where those who like Bill Clinton and those who like Che Guevara duel.

Our American culture promotes EGO, and therefore, it is easy for the Corporations to find a weakness and hack it at, knowing that the Left does NOT care for it's wounded. Someone speak too loud, let's drop some honey traps, that will make sure women and men fight! Edwards, Clinton, Spitzer, Weiner, all served their EGO, their NARCISSTIC ego, and truth be told, we slit our own throats. You have some minority speak too loud, let's make them scary, since we know many people are as scared of the Van Joneses and Al Sharptons as we are, not because people are racist, but because outspoken people offend the EGO! Of course, the media, and I do mean all media, including here, only focus on people who have BIG EGOS, so that from center to hard left, the only voices people respect are those who are Narcissists, on all levels, from the far left vegans whose tone is "let them eat Organic cake" to the centrists who say "Change, but leave MY privilege alone!"

Now, the purpose of the above paragraph (outside of badly needed venting) was to show that all of us are part of the problem. America has always been able to put the lid on class struggle kettles because we have a talent for seeking an "us" to be a part of and a "them" to hate. Yes, the GOP has that too, but they are simpler, based on more primal urges, and therefore able to be dragged about. Yes, we know most right wingers HATE Romney, but they will suck it up, vote for him, and save the bloodsport for when they have the luxury of being in POWER. They also realize that power is gained at the LOWER levels, at school boards, at city councils, even churches, places we hang out with people we would not normally hang out with. At DU, some of us are so in love with our "US vs Them" that we cannot even be civil on a bloody glorified we page. heaven forbid we actually tried talking about issues over Coffee and Doughnuts, half of us would want Starbucks, half would want Duncan Donuts, and both sides would make some sort of sociological/philosophical/socioeconomic/metaphysical judgement, never mind that the idea that we think that we are what we consume and like IS a major part of the problem in the first place, as it allows us to be conquered and herded!

Please, I am not, repeat not saying we need to become DUMB like the right wing, nor am I calling for us to become uniform. All I am saying is that we have to learn the art of when to argue, and when to march as one. Like it or not, we DO have a common lot, because as the nukes fly, and the oceans rise, forces much stronger than ALL of us will be at our door, and they will NOT give a damn about the thousand little egotistical ways we define ourselves! I do not have to agree with you, or even like you, to know that before we can argue about how to cook dinner, we have to avoid becoming dinner! Also, once we strip away the masks, we might find that we resemble each other more than we thought. After all, as much as we may hate the fact, we are family in the end, and while nobody annoys and frustrates like family, in the end, we are all we have.

[calikid]

4. Well said

[KoKo]

6. You bring up some interesting points.

Ones some of us on the Left have been thinking about...but are reluctant dare to bring up.

[orwell]

8. Nice post...n/t

[Ghost of Huey Long]

10. "A by product of intelligence is an ego"

I'm not saying that Democrats don't have a problem with ego, however the more you know, the more you realize how little you know...and are more humbled.

The real ego issues are with people who don't know crap.

They need to cover up the fact they have not been paying attention and know nothing about anything, so they react with anger and denial. They don't want to have a discussion with you because it might turn out you know more about something, so they avoid conversation altogether. Reacting with anger and denial is the perfect way to boost your ego, hah! I showed them, while having absolutely no argument.

Then because some part of you knows you know nothing, you turn on Rush Limbaugh to get some validation for your ignorant denial. And Rush Limbaugh even tells his listeners, don't even bother talking to a liberal. He wants them to act irrationally and not actually discuss the issues facing our nation. If they were ever forced into an intelligent discussion, they might figure out Limbaugh is full of shit and only working for himself.

It is ego that is controlling our nation, but it is the ego of the people afraid to admit they have been enabling fascism.

[MicaelS]

17. Damn good post..Democrats biggest weakness is

Last edited Mon Jun 25, 2012, 01:44 PM - Edit history (1)

That we often resemble a circular firing squad, and forget the real enemy is outside, not inside.

[cbrer]

19. Does this stem from an overall intellectual outlook

That is at times, whether factually or not, also perceived as pacifistic and not prepared for the physical side of political battle? Not fist fights (necessarily) But the animated in your face attitude that seems to convince citizens more easily scared or amused by seeming "wit", that the speaker is right?

I'm not sure I can precisely put into words what I mean. We are a varied lot, and not afraid of a good debate.

[DonCoquixote]

20. Not quite

However, we on the left do seem to suffer from a false perception of being intellectual in the arrogant sense. The reason why someone like Michael Moore manages to make an impact is because he is a fat, ugly, blue collar type that can boil things down to simple terms, in Junior High School Language. Indeed, some people will think I just insulted the man, when really, those are his strengths.

[Nay]

5. Make sure to read all the comments after this essay. I initially agreed with the essayist, but

the letters brought up some excellent points that modified my understanding and changed my initial opinion.

IMHO, the essayist's assertion is correct - but it doesn't address the larger problem. "When two groups compete, the one with the most social cohesion wins in the long run." True, but he doesn't address HOW these groups were formed, nor does he exactly understand WHAT groups we are talking about.

Many of the commenters recognize that the conservative/liberal group designations are wrong - the groups are actually the 1% and the 99%, with the 1% being able to dominate the sphere of ideas with RW memes by literally buying up every media outlet, populating every school board, and owning the voting machines. There is only 1% of the ppl in the 1%, but they have managed to get a significant proportion of the 99% to agree with them by flooding the airwaves with their poison for 40 years. This "group" has a "social cohesion" that is entirely artificially maintained by the propaganda machine that replaces thought with emotional slogans. This group also contains millions of people who do not actually agree with RW notions, but who have been immersed in the soup of RW shit for so long that they respond positively to RW shit just by default.

[KoKo]

7. +1

[Ghost of Huey Long]

11. This 'social cohesion' is actually manufactured consent by the corporate media

It is not social cohesion that puts Republicans on every talk show on the 'liberal' media.

It is called a bought and paid for media. Corporate media using our public airwaves for their own purposes. They can and should have their license revoked by the FCC for lying to the American people. The FCC license specifically requires that they serve the public interest on our public airwaves.

We have to take back the media and our election processes if we are to save our Democracy.

Even after everything we have seen, even on DU...everyone still believes the corporate media when it comes to our elections.

No one saw a Republican 'get out the vote' effort in Wisconsin, yet record turnout all favored Walker because people don't like recalls.

Right.

I mean, how stupid was that excuse, and yet everyone still bought it and are trying to figure out 'what did we do wrong?'..maybe if we just get out the vote next time....

[Nay]

13. That's exactly what I said above - it's an artificially-constructed cohesion. Held together by

the utter domination of RW media and the effect it has on the very atmosphere people grow up in. After 40 years of this shit, no one remembers what a real Republican used to be, or a real Democrat, either.

[Uncle Joe]

18. No one knows this better than the reich wing Supreme Court and that's why

they legalized megaphones for the 1% with their Citizens United decision even overturning the Montana Supreme Court disregarding overwhelming historic and modern day evidence of the corruption that money has played in politics.

This Supreme Court; knows the power that mass propaganda plays in either unifying an ignorant populace or dividing an otherwise enlightened one and they will do whatever it takes to enable a Republican victory.

Without Citizens United the 1%'s monopolistic hold on power would've been greatly threatened, they needed the megaphones to drown out the peoples' 1st Amendment free speech power and thus money becomes speech and the peoples' voices are quarantined into that part of the forest where no one can hear a tree fall.

[DonCoquixote]

21. Religion is the elephant in the room

It is easy to bash religion, but that does not change the fact that, unlike many of us, they have an institution that can offer support people know they will need. We can laugh at the Mormons, but, unlike many religions that expect you to have large families, they, through their welfare program, actually provide the food and diapers. I know that we should not ,make up a religion per se, but we need to offer a cohesive, clear alternative that provides support networks.

[Ghost of Huey Long]

9. or maybe they buy off the media who then uses our public airwaves to lie to us

Then they steal elections, and pay the corporate media to manufacture consent.

They stay on message alright, but it is all a lie. If only we had a free press...

[yurbud]

12. I thought it was the one with the most money and most ruthless that wins

and the one who owns a significant percentage of the opposition.

The last is fairly critical: on the biggest issues, even when Democrats have a majority and in the Senate a supermajority, Blue Dogs and DLCers will vote with the GOP if their rich masters tell them to.

Even in a very progressive state like California, Democrats have let the Republican minority checkmate them on issue after issue.

[Doctor_J]

14. Here is another fundamental insight

the group that controls the means of mass communication wins.

The day after we take some decisive action against Big Media, our fortunes will change drastically for the better.

[Rhiannon12866]

15. K&R. "I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat."

The Will Rogers quote was my first thought, LOL. Thanks so much for posting this, a very Good Read...

[4dsc]

16. And here I thought we just had weak leadership

who fails to STAND UP AND BE COUNTED against these attacks from the right. I could have been so wrong to believe it was for reasons I never thought about before.


Until the PARTY get more STRONG LEADERS(sorry but Pelosi and Reid don't cut it) we will remain the party of the timid and I'm sure that pisses off more people than some reason listed above.