You may have seen this image from this study being thrown around on the Nazi Hellscape that is twitter lately, and wondered why it has become a dog whistle for “all Lefties are crazy” or “Leftism is a mental illness”. Well, spoiler alert, it’s because of a very specific pathology on the Right, oddly not really related to this image at all, which points to a different problem with Right Wing emotional intelligence, or lack thereof.
So first of all, what’s the deal with the image? Really, it’s a study that examines the gulf between Left/Liberal’s more “Universalist” emotional worldview and attachments, compared to Right/Conservatives’ more “parochial” emotional worldview and attachments. On the surface, the Right values those who are closer to them – family, friends, religious and nationalist organizations, etc, while the Left sees a more global attachment, seeing humanity as a whole, the world as a whole, not just parts.
This is fairly innocuous on its own, and not really shocking. The Right is more insular, more in-group and identity based, vastly preferring monolithic spaces with people like them. The Left is more pluralistic, with broader understanding of what we share as humans, being able to find community and solidarity with a wider variety of people and identities.
This is not just behavior, but what we value, as per the study. These are the connections we value morally, not just what we express in action. This s important to note. The Right values close, in-group connections in others, even if they don’t show that in action. That preference for like-minded groups is a part of the identity. The Left values more universal connections, whether or not they show that in action. Pluralism is part of the identity.
This could be politically neutral in a more nuanced and authentic world, with a dynamic between groups to keep politics balanced between domestic and foreign policy, making sure help for one population doesn’t unnecessarily or unduly impact another. In a bipartisan world of good faith compromise, this dynamic could be very useful is developing best policy.
And if wishes and buts were berries and nuts, we’d all have a merry Christmas.
In the hyper-partisan world of reality, the heatmap doesn’t tell us nearly as much about the Right as their reaction to it does. Look, no one is surprised that the Right has a narrower, less emotionally intelligent view of the world. Uncertainty, fear, rage, anger, all inform Conservatism, from the beginning. Being tied to both lower cognitive ability and lower emotional intelligence, reflexive insularity and a fierce limiting of who they attach to is not news. The signature move of Fascism – the endgame of all Right Wing policy – is to enforce these ideas about in-group identity with State violence, such as ethnic cleansing, political purges, and genocide.
None of this is new. But the reaction to this heatmap shows us the other fundamental truth about the Right. A pathological, reactionary avoidance of shame, the immediate refusal of any critique, and the violent use of abuse tactics like DARVO, gaslighting, sealioning, and the mighty Uno Reverse card. A form of DARVO, it is the NO YOU of playground cheats, tantrum throwing children, and every Right Wing response to everything ever. Just find a way to throw the critique back at your opponent regardless of whether it fits or not.
The dog whistle here is “the Left are so psychotic, they don’t even love their families”. This is a blatant misreading and mischaracterizing of the study and its findings, and they know that. It says “the Right values in-group connections and don’t value larger, more plural ones”. It says “the Left values larger, more pluralist and universalist connections over smaller, more individualized ones.”
In the real world, this shows in one simple gestalt: Right Wingers will kick trans kids out of their family for not conforming to in-group identities. Left Wingers will cut off family members who refuse to accept them or their friends/community members for being trans. Morally speaking, the arrow of rightness goes one way on this.
“Anyone not like me is my enemy and will be punished and removed from the in-group” is the fundamental identity of the Right. Oh, they will deflect and Uno Reverse Card that onto the Left, but no one on the Left agrees with anyone else on the Left, so…objectively false. As Wilhoit’s Law states, “Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition …There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.” This is born out by this heatmap.
It’s the kneejerk, immediate reaction and impulse to, instead of engaging with the study, and building a cogent, cohesive counter-argument, simply find the laziest, easiest, most smooth-brained way to turn this back on their “enemy” that shows us the truth about the Right. There is no argument, and they understand that. There is no refutation of our fair critiques. They have learned that if they just refuse to accept anything outside of their insular, monochromatic false reality, they can deflect the shame and responsibility for their shitty views and even shittier behavior forever.
When we try to engage in intellectual discussions with Right Wing policy, we have to understand that we are largely talking to ourselves, and maybe to the undecided. It is vitally important that these ideas exist and are expressed robustly in the mainstream, but we have no illusions about them changing any minds of the Fascist True Believers. They are identitarian cultists, not intellectual positionists, and as we see here, refuse to acknowledge much less engage with real, factual critiques of their increasingly violent and incompetent ideology. It is all in-group construction and enforcement, and there is no level of intellectual bullshittery that is off the table.
Their misuse of this image and study to deflect real critique is emblematic of why this toxic, fatal poison is so hard to root out. They lack the emotional intelligence, the cognitive ability, and the basic integrity to face their own bullshit the way the Left does, constantly. None of it is an argument, none of it is based on reality.
This is a power struggle with an identitarian cult that will never be undone by argument. Building the power base in solidarity and coalition to take power back, away from these Nazi shitbags, must be the primary goal of everyone who sees these dissembling, disingenuous fuckheads and understands that the world at large is at stake.
Kelsoland.Institute 