Brane Space: Continued American Downer Polling Suggests Mental Illness Triggered By Overexposure To Negative Media

"Cwy me a rivuh! Why is all so bad?"

"Get a clue, kiddo!"

by Thom Hartmann | November 18, 2023 - 8:40am | permalink

The Nazis in America are now “out.” This morning, former Republican Joe Scarborough explicitly compared Trump and his followers to Hitler and his Brownshirts on national television. They’re here.

At the same time, America’s richest man is retweeting antisemitism, rightwing influencers and radio/TV hosts are blaming “Jews and liberals” for the “invasion” of “illegals” to “replace white people,” and the entire GOP is embracing candidates and legislators who encourage hate and call for violence.

"The headline in the latest issue of the Economist magazine does not mince words: “Donald Trump poses the biggest danger to the world in 2024.” The alarm is twofold. First, that the former president could win the election next November; and second, what he might do if that happens ...

The Economist summed up why a Trump victory in 2024 could be materially different from his first in 2016. “A second Trump term would be a watershed in a way the first was not,” the editors wrote. “Victory would confirm his most destructive instincts about power. His plans would encounter less resistance. And because America will have voted him in while knowing the worst, its moral authority would decline.”." - Dan Balz, Washington Post, 'Voters Must Take Trump Seriously and Literally, The Stakes Are That High'

"Whatever it takes, Trump must not be president ever again." - Commenter on Washington Post responding to Dan Balz piece.

"We’re living in a brutalizing time: Scenes of mass savagery pervade the media. Americans have become vicious toward one another amid our disagreements. Everywhere I go, people are coping with an avalanche of negative emotions: shock, pain, contempt, anger, anxiety, fear." - David Brooks, NY Times, 'How To Stay Sane In Brutalizing Times'

"The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake found the parallels: Hitler frequently used vermin references to justify the murder of Jews and others across Europe, while “Trump has used it more broadly to suggest that his opponents are subhuman” and deserve punishment.

Parroting Hitler should not be considered normal behavior in any election cycle.

But the media have grown used to covering Trump’s extremism as if it’s standard political fare." -Tim Karr, Substack blogs

"Any activists who doubt President Trump’s resolve in the slightest are making a drastic error: Trump will unleash the vast arsenal of federal powers to implement the most spectacular migration crackdown. The immigration legal activists won’t know what’s happening.” Stephen Miller, in an interview with NY Times, divulging Trump's plans to crack down on immigration using federal power once he's re-elected next year.

"The simple reality of the past year or so is that America has accomplished what many, perhaps most, economists considered impossible: a large fall in inflation without a recession or even a big rise in unemployment."- Paul Krugman, 'What History Tells Us About The Feel Bad Economy', NY Times

“President Biden has already saved us from Trump and a damn recession. What the hell is wrong with you people? Do you understand that if GOP...Trump...gets back in we are all screwed? Do you understand there will be no freedom of the damn press? Or of speech? Do you?

Joe Biden is just fine. He appears physically challenged because he has arthritis of the spine causing him to appear challenged and old when he is walking. His mind works just fine. What if our President...anyone...was in a wheelchair? Does that disqualify them?” – Commenter on Washington Post

"Doh! People are upset a prices. And they blame Biden for that. Like he has any control over the cost of eggs." – Commenter on NY Times

“The Israel-Hamas war won't tear the world economy apart. Unless the U.S. somehow gets Donald Trump elected next year." – Alan Beattie, The Financial Times

"The nation is still in a twitchy, sour mood post-pandemic. People are worried about crime and homelessness and the surge of migrants at the southern border. They are still dealing with the toll Covid took on their kids. And the broader mental health crisis. And the opioid scourge. And the two wars in which America is playing a supporting role. .. You can't argue with someone's feelings ”. – Michelle Cottle, NY Times

“I'm not entirely sure about that, but you could stop reporting on people's feelings as if they are objective reality and focus on reporting that objective reality itself instead. The Media creates so much of the perceptions of the people that it's pretty offensive to then turn around and claim that they are just reporting it." - Commenter reply to Michelle Cottle, NY Times

“How can another 4 years of Biden, even at his age, possibly be worse than another 4 years of Trump, only 3 years younger? The Dems need to be constantly comparing Biden's record of upholding democracy, behaving honorably toward other countries, and just acting like a decent human being who can string together a complete sentence (despite his occasional gaffe) with Trump's. He's a wanna-be dictator who disparages other countries, acts like a bully, and spews a word salad that makes no sense. Hard to imagine two more opposite candidates for the same office.” - Commenter response to Cottle, NY Times

WSJ financial columnist Greg Ip, in his Thursday article (p.A2, Dark Mood, Strong Economy at Odds) asks : Why are Americans so gloomy?

He goes on toward a needed excavation:

"Confidence readings are depressed. Some 69% of respondents to a Wall Street Journal survey in August said the country is headed in the wrong direction. President Biden’s approval ratings are mired around or below 40%, and approval for his handling of the economy is even lower. A popular explanation for this dichotomy is that good feelings about jobs are more than offset by high inflation. There is a lot of evidence for this, but it’s still not an entirely satisfying answer."

Indeed, and I had noted this in an earlier (Feb., 2022) post, much of the miasma is media orchestrated. I had written:

"In a normal setting- with a president that adheres to norms and doesn't shred citizen's neurons tweeting crap 10 times a day - the media can't deal with it. By which I mean the lagging interest in regular news about the presidency, the policy aspects, law-making, normal international conferences, and the rest. But especially the fall off in circulation and profits as the interest in everything Trump waned, especially after he was barred from Twitter. So there were no more turbulent 24 hr. cycles with Trump meltdowns, narcissistic rage or rhetoric to obsess over- or waste column space on to grab eyeballs or clicks. They got conditioned to so much circulation and profit during the tumultuous Trump years they got addicted to it. It is admittedly a kind of human flaw- even for the collective media ...

What to do? Well, pile onto Biden, lowball his achievements by negative framing - then exaggerate his perceived fumbles to at least get a lot of marginal swing voters into the click bait fold. Especially vile and deranged is how so many can heap scorn on Biden for the economy when it is doing literal gangbusters."

Ip then goes on to point out that some gauges put underlying inflation at around 3% and the Fed has even halted interest rate increases for now. Then he writes:

"Yet the mood has worsened. The share of survey respondents saying the U.S. is headed in the wrong direction topped 50% in the mid-2000s under George W. Bush and hasn’t gone below since."

He goes on:

"I suspect a lot of pessimism is 'referred pain.' Just as one part of your body can hurt because of injury to another, pessimism about the economy may reflect dissatisfaction with the country as a whole. There is a lot to be dissatisfied about: intensifying political and cultural conflict and intolerance, the pandemic, the border, mass shootings, crime, Ukraine and now the Middle East.

It’s hard to explain attitudes otherwise. Just 37% approve of Biden’s handling of the economy in the Journal survey. Yet just 39% approve of his handling of Social Security and Medicare, which is odd since he has literally done nothing to either.

Only 45% approve of Biden’s handling of infrastructure, and 42% of how he’s bringing back manufacturing jobs. This is weird for a president who signed popular legislation boosting infrastructure and manufacturing."

Ip's 'referred pain' theory- with "weirdness" elements is part of the story, but I am now convinced the other part is a simmering mental illness. A mental illness embodying all the elements of clinical depression manifested on a national landscape. At first, when I came up with this hypothesis, Shayl - my tenured Psychology Prof niece- disputed it. Then I referred her to Aja Raden's book, 'The Truth About Lies' - detailing how masses of people fed disinformation, hoaxes and gaslighting basically became unhinged, or severely dysfunctional and irrational.

Ms. Raden cites the most radical single incident transpired the night before Halloween, 1938 with Orson Welles mock Mercury Theater broadcast of the 'War of the Worlds'. While Welles did give a preliminary 'heads up' before beginning the broadcast - i.e. that it was a fictional - millions never got the message, as they tuned in late. As Raden writes (p. 202):

"They believed that what they were hearing was real news. And they lost their fucking minds. Looting and rioting ensued. Accidents proliferated and hospitals were jammed with people injured or killed by other people, hysterical people, people in shock, stroke and heart attack victims. People scared stiff, as well as others who harmed themselves rather than be captured or killed by the Martians. "

Raden's account here is an extreme example of what can happen after mass belief is provoked from one phony radio show. The short -term media stimulus, in this case a partly heard radio broadcast concerning an alien invasion with even regular interruptions of ads to make it sound real. But now change the terms from a fictional radio broadcast to a slow-moving, steady, deliberate media drumbeat of negatives about a president doing his best and what do you get? In Shayl's words:

"Less drastic but still ongoing mental illness in the form of persistent depression. The exposure to constant negative information would reduce stores of serotonin in the hypothalamus, lower mood, leading to subsequent serotonin re-uptake and full-fledged depression."

Bingo. (She also tags Tik Tok with its viral "silent depression" baloney as a source of angst in younger voters, and keeping support for Biden to barely 1% positive).

That quote of hers is also my take - though not with the same parlance - and I am sticking with it until someone can convince me otherwise, or the dreary ongoing negative polling changes. In respect of the latter one of the worst indicators is a Sienna- NY Times poll showing Trump leading Biden in five swing states. Trump leads by 10 points in Nevada, six in Georgia, five in Arizona, five in Michigan and four in Pennsylvania. If the election were held today this degenerate dirtbag traitor Trump would win with over 300 electoral votes.

One sign of the incipient madness: Spencer Weiss, a 53-year-old electrical substation specialist in Bloomsburg, Pa., who supported Mr. Biden in 2020 blabbed in a NYT piece on the Siena - NY Times Poll:

“The world is falling apart under Biden. I would much rather see somebody that I feel can be a positive role-model leader for the country. At least I think Trump has his wits about him.”

Positive role model? Trump!? He's 4 times -indicted, 91 felony count maggot! Has his wits about him? Even right wing firebrand Ann Coulter admitted his vocabulary is only about 85 words, and that number likely matches his IQ! World "falling apart under Biden"? How so? Biden has reinforced our alliances and staved off an imminent Russian takeover of Ukraine! Are you mad or just plain blind, stupid or ignorant?

You really want to put that imbecilic, deranged Turd of a Trump in power when he's vowed to destroy our democracy? You want a world falling apart? Put Trump back in at the center of it! As Robert Reich put it ('Trump vs. Biden: How worried should we be?) on his Substack blog:

"I’m appalled that majorities in five key swing states are for Trump. What planet have they been living on? What planet have I been living on? How can it be that majorities in five pivotal states are willing to vote for a person who staged an attempted coup against the United States and is now being tried for four separate state or federal crimes, not to mention civil fraud?"

But as Shayl noted, there is more to negative media's effects on brains. After all, the media have always leaned toward pushing negative stories.

She reminded me that for over two years a vast social trauma incepted by a worldwide plague devastated mental health: kids having to do schooling at home, no proms, no social contacts, parents forced to work from home and cater to their kids' mental problems and massive lockdowns dislocating the economy. Triggering massive supply side blockages and inflation. Toss in the Ukraine war and gas hikes because of it and you have a ready made 'broth' to cultivate mental illness.

As she noted: "You can't underestimate the carryover effects of Covid!"

But now, for the first time I see how the "good Germans" who put Hitler into power, could have had their brains scuttled by the woes affecting the Weimar Republic in the late 1920s, early 30s. How that mental miasma led to putting a dictator into power, and how that nation (Germany) was reduced to rubble within 12 years of Hitler becoming Chancellor.

Also, how easily some current negative global events can trigger its potential replication if Americans forget the words of philosopher George Santayana: "Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it."

Bolstering that worry one reads this from the NYT piece:

"That (Siena poll) result is especially problematic for Mr. Biden because nearly twice as many voters said economic issues would determine their 2024 vote compared with social issues, such as abortion or guns. And those economic voters favored Mr. Trump by a landslide 60 percent to 32 percent."

Fortunately, not all experts - such as Univ. of Denver Political Science Professor Seth Masket - are buying it. Indeed, Prof. Masket doesn't think the poll passes the "smell test". See e.g.

Noting:

The New York Times/Siena College survey may also be significantly understating Biden’s support and overstating Trump’s. Trump’s supporters are particularly exercised right now because he is under attack from a variety of sources and their first reaction is always to defend him. Biden, who is in the midst of making hard calls on Israel, Ukraine and other difficult domestic issues, is invariably going to be making many people upset, even within his own coalition.

And there are a number of ways in which that poll struggles to pass the smell test. It shows 22% of Black voters backing Trump when he won 12% of that demographic in 2020, with that figure often below 10% for Republican presidential candidates. The poll shows voters under 30 preferring Biden by only one percentage point; Biden won that group by double digits three years ago.

Is it possible that these Democratic leaning groups have moved so quickly in the Republican direction? It’s possible, but not particularly probable — demographic change in political support rarely happens that quickly, even allowing for some past polls being relatively accurate a year before an election.

Greg Ip's words at the end of his piece also offers some solace out of this mental morass:

"The good news for Biden, if you want to call it that, is that people may not be as upset about the economy as they tell pollsters. The bad news is, they’re pretty upset about everything else."

Otherwise, are Americans really ready for all hell to break loose if they put this vermin in power again? Check this out:

Trump and allies plot revenge, Justice Department control in a second term - The Washington Post

Excerpt:

Donald Trump and his allies have begun mapping out specific plans for using the federal government to punish critics and opponents should he win a second term, with the former president naming individuals he wants to investigate or prosecute and his associates drafting plans to potentially invoke the Insurrection Act on his first day in office to allow him to deploy the military against civil demonstrations.

And get a preview of what's ahead if too many voters get stupid. Think you got it bad now with mass shootings, inflation and the costs of eggs and gas? Wait until Trump and his traitors get in again! As one WaPo commenter put it:

"The idea of involving the military in domestic demonstrations is so horrific that I can't believe what I just read. And TFG leads Biden in the polls! Madness. Quite a few Americans WANT TYRANNY because a cable network told them day in and day out that 50 percent of their fellow citizens are evil. We stand on a precipice. We don't know how far "down" down is except that we will be in uncharted territory."

See Also:

Peace & Justice

America’s Anxiety Disorder

by Robert Reich | December 5, 2023 - 7:13am | permalink

— from Robert Reich's Substack

Excerpt:

Today I want to talk with you about an uncomfortable topic that needs much more open discussion than it’s receiving: America’s extraordinarily high level of anxiety.

A panel of medical experts has recommended that doctors screen all patients under 65, including children and teenagers, for what the panel calls “anxiety disorders.”

Lori Pbert, a clinical psychologist and professor at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, who serves on the panel, calls mental health disorders “a crisis in this country.”

Nearly 50,000 people in the U.S. lost their lives to suicide last year, according to a new provisional tally from the National Center for Health Statistics.

And: