Just Stop Wasting Time Reaching Out
Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs
One of the most annoying blindspots of some commentators is the belief that if you make a good faith effort to reach out to the other side, common ground can be found and a compromise can be reached. This desire for a “win-win” solution is unrealistic and shows an amazing lack of understanding about the people who support the Shrubbery.
The diagram represents a reality in groups. Any individual may be at variance with the model, and some who were have received honors and medals, but in general the model explains the behavior of a majority of people.
The bottom layer is essentially air, water, and food – basic essentials of life. For those that haven’t been paying attention: Rove and the Shrubbery operate on the second level, Safety, with their warnings of explosives in every Reebok and anthrax in every envelope. Resorting to fear to shake the feeling of safety and claiming to be the only answer is a very effective plan, and people will respond.
Katrina broke the spell for many people and offered an opportunity, but not if it isn’t exploited. This is why Dean was attacked when he said he didn’t think we were safer after the capture of Saddam: they couldn’t let people doubt.
The Religious Reich use Safety, Belonging, and Esteem. Welcome to our group; we are the “Elect”; you are going to Heaven if you follow our rules. The essential difference between these people and other religions is their aggression and lack of tolerance. They are extremely binary in thinking. Their way is the only possible way, and any deviation is heresy.
There is no compromise; there is only surrender. They ignore facts and reality. Their rules say the only purpose for sex is procreation, so there’s no justification for birth control or abortion.
These people don’t have a problem casting aside their basic rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights, so I don’t see them as a group to court. They lack the core values of Americans that are guaranteed by the first ten amendments.
