I think you now get a flavour of why I had trouble with West Wing.
As for the election, and the divide. I'm not so sure that it is necessarily a full-hearted belief in Bush that has earned him so much support...I feel it is probably a mix of some of the following:
- Evangelical religious conviction, with some freakish millennarian belief systems that have evolved from the very Puritanical madfolk that Europe smartly sent packing as soon as it possibly could.
- Dogged loyalty to Party, nevermind the consequences.
- An ingrained aspect of American culture that fails to connect personal motivations, personal actions, social costs, and other wider impacts 'far' from the focus. (i.e. 'externalities' in econ-speech). E.g. 'My ambition to better myself inevitably impacts others in my community, and screw them if they have problems with my success.'
- A traditional disposition against 'Yankee' Northerners amongst Southern states. With all the stereotypes played out.
- The stubborn belief amongst some that democracy is a pretty luxury item that should be locked away in a vault guarded by armies to keep it safe.
----- Reasons not to worry overmuch:
To some extent, there has always been this division in the US, but the pressures on those divisions has grown with the combined stresses of economic malaise and war. Even when war is seen as 'purposeful' (as many now think of the Second World War), there can be considerable domestic stress. If the nation moves off from one or more of these, then these divisions may calm...regardless of the rhetoric. The question is whether the US will, depending on who wins the Presidency.
Also - a Bush victory under these conditions would be very atypical and against historical cases. Then again, Bush has been atypical his entire Presidency. :-/
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chiming
West Wing and the election
Date: October 5th, 2004 09:28 am (UTC)From:As for the election, and the divide. I'm not so sure that it is necessarily a full-hearted belief in Bush that has earned him so much support...I feel it is probably a mix of some of the following:
- Evangelical religious conviction, with some freakish millennarian belief systems that have evolved from the very Puritanical madfolk that Europe smartly sent packing as soon as it possibly could.
- Dogged loyalty to Party, nevermind the consequences.
- An ingrained aspect of American culture that fails to connect personal motivations, personal actions, social costs, and other wider impacts 'far' from the focus. (i.e. 'externalities' in econ-speech). E.g. 'My ambition to better myself inevitably impacts others in my community, and screw them if they have problems with my success.'
- A traditional disposition against 'Yankee' Northerners amongst Southern states. With all the stereotypes played out.
- The stubborn belief amongst some that democracy is a pretty luxury item that should be locked away in a vault guarded by armies to keep it safe.
-----
Reasons not to worry overmuch:
To some extent, there has always been this division in the US, but the pressures on those divisions has grown with the combined stresses of economic malaise and war. Even when war is seen as 'purposeful' (as many now think of the Second World War), there can be considerable domestic stress. If the nation moves off from one or more of these, then these divisions may calm...regardless of the rhetoric. The question is whether the US will, depending on who wins the Presidency.
Also - a Bush victory under these conditions would be very atypical and against historical cases. Then again, Bush has been atypical his entire Presidency. :-/