Fear Is the Emotion at the Heart of Trump and the GOP

By George Lakoff, George Lakoff's Facebook Page

28 November 18

ear. It's the emotion at the heart of Trump and the GOP. Fear of immigrants. Fear of people of color. Fear of equality for women and LGBT people. Fear of religions other than Christianity. Fear of non-existent conspiracies. Fear of the media. Fear of social progress. Ever wonder why?

Republicans understand that fear activates conservative attitudes in the brain. So, they stoke fear.

John Bargh is a hero of mine and he wrote this in the Washington Post:

"Brain imaging studies have even shown that the fear center of the brain, the amygdala, is actually larger in conservatives than in liberals. And many other laboratory studies have found that when adult liberals experienced physical threat, their political and social attitudes became more conservative (temporarily, of course). But no one had ever turned conservatives into liberals.

Until we did."

I encourage you to read this piece and discuss it with your friends and family. We all need to be aware of how fear is being used to manipulate our politics. And what is the antidote to fear? How do we counteract the politics of fear in challenging and dark times?

Washington Post: "At Yale, we conducted an experiment to turn conservatives into liberals. The results say a lot about our political divisions."

UPDATE: For those who aren't Post subscribers or can't access the link, here's a direct link to the study.