Reply #5: thanks for the thoughtful attempt to grapple with a big subject

[Batgirl]

I really think you're onto something, especially the speculation that some of these personality types might, to some degree and in some ancient circumstances, actually have provided our species with important survival benefits. Is some of what we're seeing now actually happening because our species is trying to evolve past behavioral tendencies that at one time may have served a useful purpose? (Not trying to sound condescending, as I am well aware of having various "unevolved" traits in my own personality.)

I, too, wonder if developing a better understanding of how personality type relates to political leanings -- might end up being a key piece of the puzzle. It's obviously a hugely complex subject, but I intuitively think it holds part of the answer to the incredible gulf that separates "us" (everyone who by now has seen through the Bush flim-flam) from "them" (the Bushbots who maintain a self-willed, blind allegiance to GWB in spite of the increasingly obvious evidence that their loyalty is misplaced.)

I wouldn't be concerned with understanding what makes them tick if there were too few of them to threaten the health of our democracy. But the fact that Bush's (no doubt artificially inflated) poll numbers are even in the low double digits at the end of such a revelatory year means there are still way too many who, in the face of reality, don't even have to be ordered to "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain." They already responded with the immature tactic of squeezing their eyes shut, sticking their fingers in their ears, and repeating "you can't make me look, la la la la la!"

The most extreme ones, we'll never get them to open their eyes. But maybe we can chip away at the less extreme ones occupying the next slice of the continuum.

Books have been written on how to deal with the difficult personalities in our lives, persons we may not be in a position to avoid (family members, coworkers, bosses and the like.) It's almost certain that at some point every one of us will have to interact with bullies, narcissists, liars, etc. And there are specific recommendations for how to communicate with these sorts of people to defuse volatility and keep oneself from being abused emotionally. I wonder if it would be helpful if we could figure out how to do someting like that on a massive scale.

I wonder if ways could be found for the Democratic party to reach people who tend to hover on that side of the continuum, many of whom I'm convinced are basically decent on some level. And I do mean by appealing to that decency, not by pandering to their baser natures.