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Two years ago, I wrote about the “gated-community” mentality that appeared to be both an underlying factor, as well as the culmination, of the current political climate (cultural civil war/political tribalization/confirmation bias) that Gibney writes about here. 1/ https://twitter.com/fir3hors3/status/1157215942683910145
An excerpt of what I wrote:
“In my observation, group formation, performance, and decline revolve around motivation, personal investment, commonality of interests or goals, unity, and purpose. When I think of group or institutional rise and decline,… 2/
“In my observation, group formation, performance, and decline revolve around motivation, personal investment, commonality of interests or goals, unity, and purpose. When I think of group or institutional rise and decline,… 2/
….I think in terms of the arc of the United States’ role as a super power post-WWII to the present. There’s a fine line between competition lifting people up to become the best version of themselves, and competition creating a form of toxic social cannibalization. 3/
This can partly be traced back to the United States’ slow regression from the height of the post-WWII reconstruction period. With the exception of the U.S.S.R during the Cold War (which incoincidentally motivated us to win the “space race” & put men on the moon),....4/
..…the U.S. suddenly found itself without much external competition due to the fact that 1) WWII was fought on foreign soil so U.S. manufacturing infrastructure was not damaged, and 2) much of the rest of the world was left in post-war shambles. 5/
As a result, the country increasingly started to tribalize and look toward internal competitors (within the U.S……each other). If you think about it, with whom do people often find themselves most in competition with, or most at odds with? 6/
Often it is the people we are most in proximity with (those who are most in our orbit), or who are most like ourselves: think “sibling rivalry”. 7/
We saw this begin to materialize during the 1960’s (Vietnam, civil rights movement, sexual freedom, etc.) when the culture war (that we’re still fighting today) erupted. This really seemed to take off once the U.S.S.R fell, and left us as the lone, unchallenged super power. 8/
It was at that point where the country really seemed to look inward for both competition, as well as an enemy. This is partly due to the fact that people often define themselves by their enemies (us vs. them), which not only results in a constant need to have/create an enemy…9/
……but it requires us to be in perpetual war, even if only symbolically (“wars” on poverty/hunger/crime/drugs/terror), because being at war with perceived “evil” creates a sense of moral righteousness in ourselves. 10/
But the problem is that the need/desire for self-defining enemies has progressed from abstract social problems (poverty/crime/hunger) and inanimate objects (drugs) to our fellow humans/citizens. 11/
When the “enemy” is human (culture war), it creates a sense of moral authority for people to engage in unethical/illegal/inhumane behavior where “the ends justify the means” because those *ends* further a perceived *moral* objective. But increasingly,..12/ https://twitter.com/Nick_Carmody/status/1147860995890483200
...the moral objective isn’t even about an ideological belief or disagreement with people with opposing views, but it's about defeating the enemy by any means necessary, with *principled ideology* not only becoming a peripheral weapon in the battle…..13/ https://twitter.com/Nick_Carmody/status/1147148909786984449
…..but in many cases *principled ideology* has become completely optional, if not discarded altogether…. 14/ https://twitter.com/Nick_Carmody/status/1101822790317989888
Bringing this back to the original premise of both Gibney’s book & this thread, the societal sociopathy,….particularly with the “Resource Class”, which I analyzed in this thread about social/legal systems’ failures to reign in Narcissists/Sociopaths….15/ https://twitter.com/Nick_Carmody/status/1128997650311761920
…..has evolved to the point where the U.S. possesses a dysfunctional “internal competition” against itself (with each other), as explained excerpt below, by what I call the “gated-community mentality”: 16/
“Unfortunately, a lot of Americans have embraced a *gated community* mentality. It seems as though as long as everything is right in their little world, they could care less what goes on outside of the their “gate” as long as they’re not financially burdened in any way. 17/
Public schools are going to hell? Who cares, my kid is in private or charter school. The infrastructure is dilapidated? Who cares, the roads within my gate, and my driveway are both smoothly asphalted. 18/
The water/air/food/ quality is shot to Hell in other communities/states? Who cares, I drink, breathe, and eat cleanly within my gate. 19/
But the problem is one of interconnectedness, even if it’s not readily apparent or visible. There’s a saying, “A high tide raises all boats”. Well, low tides descend all boats eventually. Even boats with gates around them.” 20/
Circling back to the fall of the U.S.S.R, a study of the quality of education/health care showed the U.S. ranked 6th worldwide in 1990 (Berlin Wall fell in 1989). By 2016, the U.S. had fallen to 27th......21/
It’s difficult not to conclude/attribute this decline to the dysfunctional internal competitiveness that has resulted in the “gated community mentality”….22/
