One of the most interesting comments I've seen on lbo-talk was WS's recent comment (April 9) on cognitive dissonance. (It was on the thread "NYblocks mayor's congestion plan" and I just the other day mistakingly deleted it along with the 2,532 others on that topic [not that the topic wasn't interesting], so I'm retyping this from a printout. If things get technical I guess we can got back to the archives.)
--------------------------------------------- [WS:] I think that the concept of cognitive dissonance can explain attitudes that many folk have toward many things in Amerika - not just driving. When encountering things that suck in this country - which are many, anything from health care and social safety net, to declining wages and advancement opportunities, to invasions of privacy and civil rights by corporations and cops, and to the abysmal failure in Iraq - they experience cognitive dissonance between their concept of Amerika as #1 democracy in the world and their unfavorable experience of life in it. --------------------------------------------- This struck me because while now divorced from the academic world, I have for many years frequented a quasi-redneck tavern in Ohio patronized by wage-workers, guys in construction, delivery drivers, machine-shop operators, etc, etc. What has always amazed me over this time is their enormous awareness of the issues of the days - of the lousy economy, of the negative effects of the war, of science even (one day I walked into a discussion of an article in Time on prions!) And yet, and yet, and yet....if Bush ran for a third term they'd vote for him! So forgive me if I take my extremely small sample and extrapolate it - into the statement that the working class in this country is far more intelligent than it would appear from their voting record. Cognitive dissonance would explain why it remains right-leaning, xenophobic, nationalistic, insular, etc. etc. (This is all vaguely reminiscent of Frank's argument taken from his study of Kansas voters that social issues prompt voters to vote against their economic interest.) The questions become ... How does one break through this defense mechanism? How does one counter this cognitive dissonance? Does out every-four-years "national debate" help or merely reinforce the existing dissonance? And I suppose, historically, that cognitive dissonance could also explain the demise of the radicalized worker movement in England from 1780 through 1850 into the weakened Fabian movement, and the failure of the German SPD to resist WWI nationalism and the rise of the Fascists. The failure, if you will, of "class consciousness". Has anyone written about this from a radical perspective? - Bill _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
