How loneliness affects our politics -- Sabrina Haake

[erronis]

https://sabrinahaake.substack.com/p/how-loneliness-affects-our-politics

Seven months past the November election, Trump supporters are still talking a big game about an electoral ‘mandate.’ Justifying their actions under Trump’s largely unconstitutional Executive Orders, cabinet members sing a constant chorus about Trump’s November “landslide” and voter “blowout.” His spokes-child repeats the phrase, “President Trump’s resounding mandate” ad nauseum, brandishing the mantra like a talisman that makes critics disappear.

But counting by the Electoral College vote or the popular vote, it was anything but. November election results reflect a nation nearly split down the middle, with 49 % voting for Trump and 48%% voting for Harris.

If there is any insight to be had about why the US is now veering dangerously close to fascism, the most pressing—but under-analyzed—question isn’t why people voted how they did, but why a plurality of qualified voters didn’t bother to vote at all. Trump won 77,304,184 votes compared to Harris’ 75,019,616, but an even greater number than either candidate won- 90,000,000 qualified voters- stayed home. We need, urgently, to understand why.

Voter disengagement may be personal more than political

Scholars are now examining loneliness as an independent predictor of electoral abstention. Loneliness is defined clinically as a subjective perception of a misalignment between one's expectations and the actual state of social relationships. Researchers at MIT report that political participation becomes less likely among people who suffer from loneliness due to alienation from society, real or perceived.

An in-depth 2021 study of voting patterns and mental health concluded that loneliness is associated with a reduced sense of the duty to vote, and correlates with lower voter turnout, concluding that, indeed, “loneliness is associated with political disengagement.” Strong empirical evidence suggests that “lonely individuals tend to feel detached from society and are less likely to feel obligated to participate” in civic functions, including the electoral process.

. . .

And a good review of the movie "Just Add Water" (https://www.amazon.com/Just-Add-Water-Renee-Simone/dp/B0DZFH7S5B) on an exploration of loneliness.

I’ve watched “Just add water” a couple times. It made me cry, but it also gave me hope. If a filmmaker so young can laugh at her own loneliness, and recognize it as impermanent, maybe we can laugh at our ridiculous date with extremism, realizing that it, too, is only temporary. As lonely people begin to understand that their online presence is robbing them of life and connection, maybe they will put down their devices and save themselves, just in time to save our country.

[Silent Type]

1. Used to believe those 90M qualified non-voters would vote Democratic. Sadly, not sure of that anymore.