After watching the recent Republican debates, last week's New Hampshire primary and the campaigning since then, I'm convinced that the GOP may have put itself on a path to self-destruction. And that's regrettable. It deprives the country of a serious debate over different, legitimate views about the roles of government, business, labor and citizens in general in dealing with the problems we face. Of course, that debate would assume that there's an agreed-upon set of realities about the current world.
Unfortunately, that's a tall order. It's more likely that Mitt Romney, if he's the candidate, and his party will present a vision that's largely disconnected from -- even denies -- documented facts and realities about today's world. Therefore, they're likely to offer solutions to problems that derive from their alternate reality.
In this post I suggest an explanation from a political psychology perspective. That is, by examining the emotional attitudes and beliefs that may underlie the Republican Party's view of the world and the solutions they offer to problems, as they define them. In particuar, the party appears wedded to a singular view of what "success" in life is, and should be. And yet, that vision is increasingly disconnected from emerging new realities, which point to the need for a broader, more inclusive view of success in today's world, and how to achieve it.
The New Normal
You've probably noticed the following:
- Unrelenting turmoil, disruption, and unpredictability throughout the world.
- Worldwide interconnection and transparency, socially, technologically, and economically.
- Rising diversity (which will become a majority within the current decade) along with acceptance of working and living with people of different backgrounds, beliefs and sexual orientation.
- Increasing scientific data about the impact of humanly-created climate change upon water shortages, famines, and weather extremes -- events we've already witnessed, with more already waiting in the wings.
- Factual evidence that Keynes was correct and continues to be -- made even clearer by the failure of austerity measures in the Eurozone.
The scope of the new normal is broad and encompassing. Recognizing it as a reality is the basis for creating solutions to the new challenges that worldwide turmoil and interconnection create. And that includes defining what success in personal life and for a society really means, in this new era. The problem is, current Republican ideology doesn't even acknowledge the new normal. Specifically, within its alternate universe, success means exclusionary pursuit of extraction and possession for oneself and like-minded associates.
That is, the Republican candidates embrace a self-interest-oriented, wealth-based view of success. It maintains that success and stability occur and prevail through unfettered pursuit of self-interest and in the absence of government regulations. It includes the failed policies of deregulation, lower taxes for the wealthiest and reducing the deficit. It also includes social and religious values that are acceptable to them as necessary for a successful life, as they define it.
In short, the Republican candidates' view of success is exclusionary, anti-inclusive, and opposed to serving the common good. Consistent with that view, Romney sees any criticism of it and of the financial inequality it creates as simply "envy" of the rich. But describing its negative consequences isn't "putting free enterprise on trial," as Romney likes to claim. Nor is it a stepping stone to a "European-style social welfare state." In fact, the recent polls showing opposition to the growing inequality between the rich and the rest of society reflect increased awareness of the negative impact the singular view of success had, the one that Republican candidates willingly embrace.
Until recently, that is. By attacking Romney's work at Bain Capital as "vulture capitalism" and destructive to people's lives, Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry have -- perhaps unwittingly -- heightened public awareness of the damage created not by capitalism, per se, but by different kinds of capitalism, as E.J. Dionne pointed out in his recent Washington Post column. It's the contrast between the goals of extracting value vs. building something that generates value; "vulture" vs. "creative" capitalism.
The Republican candidates express a more entrenched, extreme version of an old theme, actually -- the consequences of intoxication by financial wealth, power, and possessions. That view of success can warp and distort the ego to the point of self-delusion, self-deception and self-aggrandizement. We read about examples of such psychological consequences in the media most every day.
Some recent studies point out the social and individual dysfunction this can create. For example, one found that people in power tend to shift to analytical thinking which then becomes divorced from perceiving the larger context of the problem. While that can enhance the capacity for power and control, it also diminishes the ability to recognize how achieving power and maintaining success depends so much upon others; your interconnection with them. That diminishment fuels what I've called our "empathy deficit disorder" in a previous post.
Moreover, another recent study found that humble leaders are more highly effective than those who are egocentric. The latter are more associated with an exclusionary, self-focused view of their success and importance. In a similar vein, recent research finds that lower class people are quicker to show compassion in the face of suffering. The point is that a singular pursuit of wealth can, in fact, blunt your capacity for compassion and negatively impact your effectiveness in your work roles or other relationships.
What's "Success" In Today's World?
The interdependence and turmoil of the new normal point towards expanding our view of success to one that's more relevant to our times; more psychologically healthy. It includes being able to build, contribute, create and innovate in ways that have impact on and can benefit all people and institutions for the long run, not only oneself or one's allies. Now, more than ever, it's true that "nothing comes from nothing." Creating success for oneself is inseparable from individual actions and public policies that promote security, opportunity for growth of competencies, physical and mental well-being, and a sustainable environment for future generations. Success means contribution to all of those things.
This broader view of success is increasingly framed as serving the common good, something larger than just your own needs and desires. That orientation reflects an awareness that beneath our surface differences we're all One. We experience the same human needs, fears and longings. We're all intertwined in mutual dependency on this shared planet. We're all equal shareholders in the future.
