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Trumping Conservativism

Trumping Conservativism. How do we feel about politics? How does feeling threatened affect our politics? How has conservativism evolved over our lifetimes? How has that evolution led to Trump’s candidacy? What’s his appeal to conservatives? What’s up for debate in this election?

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Trumping Conservativism

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  1. Trumping Conservativism • How do we feel about politics? • How does feeling threatened affect our politics? • How has conservativism evolved over our lifetimes? • How has that evolution led to Trump’s candidacy? • What’s his appeal to conservatives? • What’s up for debate in this election? • Given the threats we feel, what’s the best we can hope for?

  2. over the weekend

  3. How we feel about Politics

  4. Haidt’s Five Moral Values • Harm/Care – agreed on by both liberal and conservative • Fairness/reciprocity – agreed on by both liberal and conservative • Ingroup loyalty—only among humans do you find large groups, though liberals are more independent • Authority/respect—liberals reject authority, while conservatives embrace it • Purity/sanctity—while political right moralizes sex, left moralizes food and other aspects of self-control

  5. Our tribal instincts enable us to connect with larger causes that transcend our own lives Such connections shape our identifications with with our national, political and religious traditions. Ernest Becker The Denial of Death(1973): “We build character and culture in order to shield ourselves from the devastating awareness of underlying helplessness and terror of our inevitable death.”

  6. The Conservative Tradition in AmericaRussell Kirk’s The Conservative Mind (1953) • Truth and justice are based on natural laws. • Differences in social standing are natural. • A classless society is impossible, but equal opportunities are vital. • Individual freedom enables prosperity. • Customs and traditions guide our thinking. • Change, especially rapid change, creates risk.

  7. How can threatening people be a winning strategy? From “The Appeal of Donald Trump” by Ira Hyman • Do you feel like we need to try something really different, something unusual, something risky?  Are you willing to take a risk?  Are you willing to gamble with your money, your health, and the future of your country?  When does the risky choice become more attractive than the safe choice?  What leads people to feel like taking a big risk?  • Decisions about trying risky or safe alternatives are influenced by the decision frame . . . . Framing effects occur when you can bias judgments by how you present a problem.  . . . We often frame problems in terms of gains or losses.  When a problem is framed in terms of gains or saving things, then people are risk averse . . . .  When a problem is presented in terms of losses and threats, then people will make risky choices and be willing to take risky gambles. 

  8. Who is Donald Trump? Heir to a construction fortune, business magnate, New York City tabloid obsession, reality TV star and now, the Republican Party's presumptive presidential nominee. For more than 40 years, Donald Trump has sought, found and sustained a global celebrity. When people ask me about Donald's wealth and whether he's a self-made man, I have to remind them that he was born into one of the wealthiest families in America. In the 1970s his father was worth $200 million, so Donald will say, "Oh, I got a loan of a million bucks from my dad," and that's true too, but he also could access all that wealth in addition to all of his political connections, so there's some who estimate that if he had parked that money in a mutual fund he'd be just as rich today as he is now with all the machinations of his business life, but hey, he kept us entertained, so let him be a developer, let him be a serial entrepreneur. It's fun to watch.

  9. Donald Trump Jr., Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump on live finale of 2008 season of The Apprentice.

  10. Is Donald Trump conservative?Ben Shapiro, Breibart (1/24/16) Ted Cruz: “Donald’s record does not match what he says as a candidate.” Rush Limbaugh: Trump is not a “genuine conservative.” Mark Levin: “Trump is NOT the real deal… He is not a conservative.” Andrew Breitbart [subsequently hired as Trump’s Campaign Chief]: “Of course he’s not a conservative. He was for Nancy Pelosi before he was against Nancy Pelosi.” With all that said, it’s worthwhile exploring Trump’s worldview. To do that, we must separate two elements of that worldview: his current positions, and his historic positions. The first goes to supposed conservatism, and the second goes to credibility – even if he says he’s conservative today, should you believe him? • Immigration. After a career of flip-flopping on immigration (he ripped Mitt Romney in 2012 for being too harsh on illegal immigration and in 2013 said he hired illegals at his golf courses), Trump has famously taken the most right-wing position on illegal immigration in this race. . . . • Foreign Policy. Trump’s been all over the place here. He’s said we should leave the Islamic State to Russia and expressed sympathy for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, but also said that we should “bomb the s***” out of ISIS. He has both said that he would topple Bashar Assad and that he would not arm the Syrian rebels. . . . • Abortion. Trump says he’s pro-life. [Cites previous states on his being “very pro-choice” and“pro-life, with the caveats. You have to have the caveats.”

  11. Same-Sex Marriage. Trump says he’s anti-same sex marriage but that it’s the “law of the land.” . . . • Religious Freedom. Trump pledges to uphold religious freedom but has not commented on the Indiana Religious Freedom and Restoration Act. . . . • Entitlements. Unlike virtually all the other Republican candidates, Trump has said he wouldn’t touch entitlements. . . . . • Campaign Finance Reform. Trump is for it, and he routinely attacks super PACs. . . . • Government Involvement In The Economy. . . . He’s admitted over and over to paying elected officials to grease the skids on his deals. . . . • Education. Trump opposes Common Core but has flip-flopped on whether he’d do away with the Department of Education. . . . • Healthcare. Trump says he’d dump Obamacare but then praises the nationalized health care system of Canada and Great Britain. • Tax Plan. Trump’s tax plan is certainly conservative. . . . • Trade. Trump is for international tariffs, including an extraordinarily heavy tariff on Chinese goods, in the mistaken belief that this . . . helps the American economy. . . . • Guns. Trump has become progressively more pro-Second Amendment over time. . . . • Trump is far more populist than conservative — which means he has appeal to blue-collar Democrats, but also that he may not reliably stand by conservative principles in office. In fact, given his repeated position switching, the safe bet is that anything he says today will changed based on convenience. . . .

  12. Typical responses “He’s not a career politician, and he doesn’t owe politicians anything. He’s got real-world experience that most career politicians lack.” “As bad as he is, I think Hillary is worse for our country.” Pew Charitable Trust Survey, of 4500, including 4000 registered voters 8/12-9/16, 2016

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