Jere Krischel
Jul 21, 2017 · 2 min read

It’s perhaps ironic, then, that the leftists pushing this “tribal” idea are demonstrably more “tribal” than their conservative counterparts — case in point the critical people who flipped from Obama to Trump (I wonder if we have good stats for Romney to Hillary flips? I’ve seen some relative data on it, but no apples to apples comparisons.).

Smells like their “tribal” epithet is boomeranging on them the same way their “fake news” epithet boomeranged on them :)

An Odd Observation

Not directly related to the topic, but something I wanted to write up somewhere — it seems we have an interesting cross-wire phenomenon going on. I’m not quite sure what to call it yet, but let me try and describe it.

Trump is a hyperbolic buffoon. Trump is impulsive, trollish, and selfish. Trump is grandiose, and seeks attention. All qualities demonstrated often by the panicky left which is so obsessed with him, in riots, protests, and hyperbolic articles and videos.

Hillary is an even tempered, dispassionate policy wonk. Hillary is reasonable in the face of crazy. Hillary is forgiving of betrayals and vices, such as exhibited by her rapist husband. All qualities demonstrated often by the Trump voters of 2016, who haven’t rioted or panicked and insisted that the world is going to end.

So, how is it that these groups of voters have become mirror images of the people they voted against? Is there some sort of previously described psychological phenomena happening here? Or is this just completely brand new?

I recently heard Scott Adams talk to Sam Harris on Trump, and it was amazing to see how an otherwise rational Sam Harris (who famously schooled a reflexively emotional Ben Affleck on Bill Maher’s show), lose it like Lego Batman at bedtime. It was absolutely fascinating to see Sam Harris mirror the traits of the object of his displeasure — reaching the hyperbolic Hitler analogy about 45 minutes into the 2+ hour conversation.

The only sort of nebulous ideas I have about this now relate to a lack of introspection, externalization of causes, and an inability to moderate emotional state…but it doesn’t quite fit together as neatly as I’d like as an explanation.

Anyway, that’s the filter I thought of when you mentioned that leftists came up with the “tribal” epithet — it seems more of a reflection of their own insecurities.

)

    Jere Krischel

    Socially liberal, fiscally conservative, born again carnivore, musician, firearms instructor and skeptical civil rights activist.

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