The "9/11 Effect"

[Zinkovich]

The Ideological Animal We think our political stance is the product of reason, but we're easily manipulated and surprisingly malleable. Our essential political self is more a stew of childhood temperament, education, and fear of death. Call it the 9/11 effect. By:Jay Dixit Cinnamon Stillwell never thought she'd be the founder of a political organization. She certainly never expected to start a group for conservatives, most of whom became conservatives on the same day—September 11, 2001. She organized the group, the 911 Neocons, as a haven for people like her—"former lefties" who did political 180s after 9/11. Stillwell, now a conservative columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, had been a liberal her whole life, writing off all Republicans as "ignorant, intolerant yahoos." Yet on 9/11, everything changed for her, as it did for so many. In the days after the attacks, the world seemed "topsy-turvy." On the political left, she wrote, "There was little sympathy for the victims," and it seemed to her that progressives were "consumed with hatred for this country" and had "extended their misguided sympathies to tyrants and terrorists." Disgusted, she looked elsewhere. She found solace among conservative talk-show hosts and columnists. At first, she felt resonance with the right about the war on terror. But soon she found herself concurring about "smaller government, traditional societal structures, respect and reverence for life, the importance of family, personal responsibility, national unity over identity politics." She embraced gun rights for the first time, drawn to "the idea of self-preservation in perilous times." Her marriage broke up due in part to political differences. In the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq, she began going to pro-war rallies. <Insert rest of article here, can't post the rest in a meaningful manner due to post size limit. Please read the rest before responding, otherwise you won't get the full impact of the article>

I found this here on psychology today: Psychology Today: The Ideological Animal

Anyways, this article raises a lot of questions to me. One of the most important one is, considering that this was written in 2006- is this "9/11 effect" that caused so many middle-of-the-road liberals to side with conservatives wearing off? If we were to do the same study on 9/11, would the concrete association with death still be present?

I couldn't think of any questions to derive from the points about differences in personality between your average conservative and liberal brought up in the very large part of the article not mentioned in my quote, so feel free to do so to enliven discussion.

[PatrickHenry]

Too bad that the official story on 9/11 is still so effective in bamboozling those like Stillwell.

I pray that the actions of the malefactors in Washington, DC who really pulled it off, will become known.

[Apeman81]

Quote by: PatrickHenry Too bad that the official story on 9/11 is still so effective in bamboozling those like Stillwell. I pray that the actions of the malefactors in Washington, DC who really pulled it off, will become known.

Indeed! Radio controlled aircraft full of cadavers, piloted by interplanetary travellers vacationing at Area 51, having been trained in Israel, should not be able to sway our psychie in this manner.

The truth will out!

[Mr.Vicchio]

Quote by: PatrickHenry Too bad that the official story on 9/11 is still so effective in bamboozling those like Stillwell. I pray that the actions of the malefactors in Washington, DC who really pulled it off, will become known.

You're still on that kick Patrick? Come on man, give it up. Why can't You of all people accept that religious zealots did this?

[Milton Bradley]

Quote by: Mr.Vicchio You're still on that kick Patrick? Come on man, give it up. Why can't You of all people accept that religious zealots did this?

Oh, we do believe that religious zealots did this, except we think it was the Christian religios zealots.

[Zinkovich]

Aren't any of you intrigued by the idea that for the most part the source of one's ideology tends to come from personality rather than intellectual factors such as education?

How about the relationship between "9/11" and "death" in the experiment mentioned in the article? What conclusions can we draw from this?

[Osborn F Enready]

Zinkovich said: Aren't any of you intrigued by the idea that for the most part the source of one's ideology tends to come from personality rather than intellectual factors such as education?

Not at all when so many forms of education have become homogonized government schools.

ZInkovich said: What conclusions can we draw from this?

That when bad things happen, alarmists and opprotunists seize the day.

To quote:
“Facts must be distorted, relevant circumstances concealed, and a picture presented which by its crude coloring will persuade the ignorant people that their Government is blameless, their cause is righteous, and that the indisputable wickedness of the enemy is beyond question.
A moment's reflection would tell any reasonable person that such obvious bias cannot possibly represent the truth. But the moment's reflection is not allowed; lies are circulated with great rapidity. The unthinking mass accept them and by their excitement sway the rest.
The amount of rubbish and humbug that pass under the name of patriotism in wartime in all countries is sufficient to make decent people blush when they are subsequently disillusioned.”
-Arthur Ponsonby, Falsehood in Wartime, 1928

“It only stands to reason that where there's sacrifice, there's someone collecting the sacrificial offerings. Where there's service, there is someone being served. The man who speaks to you of sacrifice is speaking of slaves and masters, and intends to be the master.”
-Ayn Rand

[Mr.Vicchio]

Quote by: Milton Bradley Oh, we do believe that religious zealots did this, except we think it was the Christian religios zealots.

Right. Well as long as we know where you stand and why it makes things easy to understand your... Unique world view.

[Jack]

is this "9/11 effect" that caused so many middle-of-the-road liberals to side with conservatives wearing off?

After such a nationally traumatic event like 9/11, there's bound to be knee-jerk reactions that are modified on later reflection. A self-aware person guards against immediate reactions, waits until the purely emotional response fades then examines their reactions in the light of reason. 9/11 wasn't a left vs. right event, if anything it was an us vs. them event.

[grandpa]

Quote by: Isherwood After such a nationally traumatic event like 9/11, there's bound to be knee-jerk reactions that are modified on later reflection. A self-aware person guards against immediate reactions, waits until the purely emotional response fades then examines their reactions in the light of reason.

A lot of it has to do with education. People have to learn how to apply reason and to search for evidence. Unfortunately, what many fail to understand is that one can oppose something like Al-Qaeda and The US government at the same time.

Grandpa h.

[PatrickHenry]

Quote by: Isherwood 9/11 wasn't a left vs. right event, if anything it was an us vs. them event.

I would agree. I just disagree on who is the "us" and who is the "them."

I view "us" as being every day working stiffs. And I view "them" as being globalist control freaks, who have conspired to rule the bastions of power.

So maybe it's an issue of "them" vs "us!"

The question, as always, is "qui bono?"

[Boetie]

I read the article. Sheldon Solomon is familiar with Ernest Becker's book, 'Flight from Death' which uncovers death as anxiety as a possible root cause of many of our behaviors on a psychological, spiritual, and cultural level.

Over the last 25 years a team of researchers has conducted over 300 laboratory studies, which substantiates Becker's claim that death anxiety is a primary motivator of human behavior, specifically aggression and violence.

This death anxiety is perhaps the main reason so many marched behind clowns like Bush and Cheney. Marched right off the cliff.