There’s been some wild stuff going on lately, amirite?
We’ve seen lawsuits filed to suppress legally cast votes. We’ve seen accusations of voter fraud. We’ve seen vandalism and property damage. We’ve seen people using intimidation tactics against policymakers. We’ve seen people throwing around words like “enemy” to label people with political differences.
No, I’m not talking about the insurrection by Trump supporters at the Capitol on Wednesday. I’m talking about Howard County.
Two parents are suing to take away the vote of the Howard County Student Member of the Board of Education because they’re unhappy about how he votes. People have claimed that voter fraud is responsible for Jen Mallo’s re-election last November. During a recent BOE meeting, protesters showed up at a BOE member’s home to intimidate her because of her votes. This past week, someone smashed the front doors of the Howard County Board of Education building. And last year, the administrator of the Reopen Howard County Facebook page called a BOE member – the same member who had angry protesters show up at her home – “public enemy number one.”
Do you see it?
Do you see the parallels here?
In both situations, you have people who are angry because legitimate, democratic processes did not give them the outcome they wanted. Despite having participated in those democratic processes, they insist that their voices were not heard. They respond with conspiracy theories about corruption and fraud, they respond by seeking to disenfranchise those who voted the other way, or they respond with intimidation tactics that go beyond mere protest. And they label their political opposites as “the enemy” in order to justify crossing these lines.
What is it that makes them behave this way? What is the underlying pathology here?
It’s privilege and entitlement.
When you look at the vast majority of the people engaging in these situations, it becomes clear. Most of them belong to socioeconomic groups that have long held a disproportionate share of power and wealth in the United States. This is not a historically oppressed group rising up to fight for their human rights. Rather, these are folks who are accustomed to holding the power, who feel entitled to get what they demand, and who have the resources to throw at any obstacles. When power fails to serve them, they react by storming the Capitol or smashing doors or filing lawsuits.
In other words, their love of democracy is conditional.
My next post will discuss how these toxic political climates came to be.