They send in the Freudian Brigade

These are the deep mental thinkers of the academic elite. They appear now and then and claim the ability to identify dysfunctional political groups by tracing back to wayward family trauma. Persons, People, and Public Policy

What I am about to suggest is not often discussed in political discourse in this country. It might be heard on right-wing talk radio or Fox News when reference is made to latte drinking, electric car-driving left-wing elitists. Interestingly enough, this points to what is really happening. There is a flaring up of what has always lain below the consciousness of the American body politic; the presence of a hierarchical psycho-social structure which is denied and suppressed by the myth of the inherent equality of all citizens. This structure is about the development of an individual's capacity to deal with the self in relation to the culture. The capacity to see beyond black and white responses to threats to one's personal or group frames of reference requires the addition of internal abilities to tolerate ambivalence and toleration of differences in viewing the world. Too much developmental difference between people interferes in their ability to understand each other's world views. This is not about intelligence. It is about the ability to manage culturally induced anxiety, the mechanism by which culture balances the need for societal control of the person and the need for personal freedom. The constituents of culture, i.e., economics, religion, technical complexity, etc. determine the level that the average member attains. Regression in psycho-social development occurs when the anxiety within the culture increases. Less tolerance for difference, the organization of self against threat without recourse to contemplation and evaluation, and rigidity of rules lead to conflict with dissent.

First, it is mostly discussed in public political discourse, so do not be embarrassed about practicing amateur cultural therapy..

I believe this is what is happening to many in our present national culture as they objectify their discomfort at changes taking place as a result of economic and technological changes, the threat of dilution of Caucasian domination of the culture, and seeming loss of control over their future.

The political freudians bring race into it, though I never remember Freud mentioning the topic.

The tragic truth is that an angst-driven minority can dominate a well-meaning progressive majority through threats of disrupting the structures designed to maintain a stable social system.

Here is the truth about racism and anxiety. When racism is practiced by politicians in a country that is damn tired of racism, then the practicioners suffer anxiety for a very good reason. In California, the apartheid party is very nervous because any attempt at racism makes the minority Anglos more and more favored.

There is another cultural fable, projection. It says that racist Freudians are generally liberal, white supremecist delusionals who blame others for their miscalculations.