I’ve been reflecting upon the election and this quote below was the first clue I found that touches upon the real cause of why Trump won over Harris. In effect, Trump won by tapping into and manipulating the existing limiting beliefs and conventional mindset of most of Americans.
In other words, misinformation only works if there is an existing belief or tendency to play off, which means that it doesn’t create beliefs so much as confirm them.
Mathew Ingram
Social media is a symptom, not a cause
In developmental psychology, these are roughly 60% of people who are operating from their base psychological needs (ie survival, belonging, and self-esteem). In effect, people who are often dependent upon someone else to save them from their situation. And in this case, they believed Trump was that person.
This was the second clue I found as to why Trump won over Harris. In particular, the opening subtitle stating the following.
When the world stops making sense, we instinctively look for the simple solutions. Someone to blame, an easy way out or a strong leader who will “fix it”. But what is the price for the quick fix?
Alis Anagnostakis, PhD
Staring Over The Edge Into The Darkness And It’s A Familiar Sight
In effect, many Democrats are now feeling like Republican voters in the past. They’ve regressed to a state where they’re feeling like the following. “I’m fearful, angry, and upset. Who can I blame? Who will save us from this mess?” In other words, a sense of hopelessness and a sense of being powerless, with a feeling of being unable to change the situation they are within.
This was the third clue that I found, that revealed why Trump won over Harris, that really started bringing everything together.
But Democrats need to realize that they have less a policy problem than a propaganda problem, one that is evident in both the messages the parties send and the systems through which information is delivered. If Democrats can figure out how to do something about that, they’ll be less likely to find themselves in the position they are now.
Paul Waldman
Voters punished Biden for problems he didn’t cause and effectively addressed
In other words, while Bernie Sanders saying that Democrats had abandoned working class people wasn’t completely true (since Biden supported unions), the issue here is that the average, conventionally minded American believed that the Democrats had abandoned the working class person because of the increasing wicked problems (aka highly complex problems) arising in our world today.
Yet the average American, let alone most politicians even, often have no capacity to understand the inherent nature of these wicked problems and where they are coming from. They just want someone to fix them and save them from this increasing uncertainty right now.
This was the fourth clue that I found that revealed why Trump won over Harris, particularly these two quotes below.
Take the time you need to mourn the future we lost on Nov. 5, but as we gear up for what is almost certainly another dark chapter in American history, it’s important to recognize that we still have agency. Experiencing grief and disappointment doesn’t make you powerless, Martin stresses.
“Community is really essential in these moments, and there’s so much power in mobilizing,” she says. “When people are feeling powerlessness and hopelessness, I encourage them to find ways to take that power back, to be an agent of change in your community and your home in the world.”
Those experiencing fear and anger should try channeling those emotions into something productive, like caring for yourself and others.
Elizabeth Yuko
That Sinking Feeling In Your Stomach? That’s ‘Political Grief’
In effect, go beyond your base reaction to the situation and instead learn how to respond to it positively and creatively. This is the very thing that neither just the left or right need to do but rather what all Americans need to do.
In effect, to step beyond their feeling of dependency and powerlessness to recognizing the independent latent power already within themselves. In other words, the saviour (aka strong leader) you’re seeking isn’t out there. It’s within you…within every one of us.
The fifth clue as to why Trump won over Harris lies within a YouTube interview with Cheryl Dorsey from three years ago, in which she speaks about social innovation and how we need to tap into the collective leadership within us all to bring about the social change we seek (i.e. Gandhi’s “Be the change you wish to see in the world”).
9:11 Toiling in the field of social innovation two plus decades now. The animating feature of social Innovation is this clear-eyed recognition that current systems are not working or not working for enough of us. But there’s this real animating feature to try to fix, repair, rebuild, reimagine those systems to make them more inclusive and provide more opportunity for all.
9:38 But the diagnosis that these systems aren’t working is the same diagnosis that we see from those who are animated by populist anger. Right. So we come at the problem from the same vantage point. The way we have constructed societal forces are simply not working. I often talk about the weight of systems, systems residue, that is weighing folks down. People of colour. Marginalized folks. Women. We can go through all the forms of oppression. And these systems are exacerbating those.
10:13 So we all see it. However our prescription for what to do about it is radically different. Social innovators recognize that indeed there’s a problem but they raise their hands as engaged, committed citizens to say “Well it’s our job to fix it. We roll up our sleeves, we get to work, and we figure out what we can do.”
10:30 So much of the populist anger is a nihilistic one as you said Peter. It’s blow it all up, consequences be damned. And these conflicting forces that are butting heads, there has to be a way to engage more folks from the other side who are as frustrated as many of us arewho are engaged in the work of social innovation but do it within the realm of democratic practice that provides a seat for all of us at the table. I think that’s the needle to thread. And I think we have to figure it out and we have to figure it out sooner than later.
Cheryl Dorsey
Social Innovation and Social Justice in an Age of Pandemics
Now in reflecting upon these five clues as to why Trump won over Harris, I decided to have a chat with ChatGPT, so as to see if a dialogue on the subject would reveal something important about the relationship between them all. And it did, in a very surprising way. In effect, it showed me how Trump’s insurmountable power in manipulating people was the very constraint that needed to be leveraged, so as empower people and see him for what he really is. That being someone who craves people’s dependency of him, so that he can maintain his power indefinitely.
Here’s my quote from my conversation with ChatGPT that really highlighted this point.
Wait a minute. What you’re effectively saying here is teaching people how to take leadership over their own lives. This is the exact opposite of what manipulating people with their limiting beliefs does because it reinforces a victim mindset that requires someone else saving them (ie Trump). So it’s asking the person, do you want to be a victim who needs someone to save you or a leader who can take leadership of their own lives. Isn’t this something that Obama tried to communicate to people when he got in but again people saw him as a saviour and when he didn’t save them (because he couldn’t do it alone), they got upset.
Nollind Whachell
And here’s a quote by ChatGPT that touches upon what happened with Obama.
Obama’s messaging often focused on hope, unity, and the idea that “we are the change we seek,” encouraging people to see themselves as part of a larger movement working toward collective goals. However, the desire for a quick fix led many to see him as a savior figure. When systemic change didn’t happen fast enough or his policies met resistance, some grew frustrated, feeling he hadn’t delivered on his promises, even though true change would have required ongoing engagement from both leadership and citizens alike.
ChatGPT
But how can leaders, who have at least a basic grasp of the highly complex problems we face today, actually mobilize people as actual responsible, empowered citizens, taking action to bring about the change they seek?
Again another quote by ChatGPT touches upon this.
Leaders who successfully communicate this message—without becoming savior figures—help citizens shift from a victim mindset to one of empowerment. This shift can be transformative, as it promotes a culture where people recognize both their challenges and their ability to address them. In this way, the real impact of leadership becomes enabling individuals to lead themselves and contribute meaningfully to society.
ChatGPT