The sentiments behind the right-wing 'backlash'

This piece on Liberal Conspiracy points to this article on the mentality of the right-wing "backlash" sub-culture in the US. Some of what is happening in the US is happening here in Britain as well, although taking slightly different forms given our different politics.

Elements of the modern Right seem to have become obsessed with the idea of their own supposed victimisation. As Sanchez says, "The secret shame of the conservative base is that they’ve internalized the enemy’s secular cosmopolitan value set and status hierarchy—hence this obsession with the idea that somewhere, someone who went to Harvard might be snickering at them."

As an example, Sanchez looks at what some right-wingers who own SUVs who view this ownership, not as morally neutral but as positively virtuous seem to think. He says "Apparently the “moralistic critique of their consumption choices readily inspired Hummer owners to adopt the role of the moral protagonist who defends American national ideals.” Note two things here. First, this is classic ressentiment: It’s not just that SUVs are great in themselves because they somehow “embody” some set of ideals. They’re good just because they symbolize an inversion of the “anti-American” values of critics. Second, think what it reveals that people feel the need to construct these kinds of absurd rationalizations—to make their cars heroic rather than simply denying that they do much harm. It betrays an incredible _sensitivity_, not to excessive taxes or regulations on the vehicles, but to the feeling of _being judged_."

This is an interesting psychological process - and this sense of supposed victimisation and the feeling that intelligent, well-educated 'liberal' people are looking down on them - fuels the resentment that is needed for the right-wing 'backlash' to gain support among certain categories of people. Being a psychological process, not a process motivated by concern over policy, it is not something that can be resolved when the Right wins elections - and even when they controlled all 3 branches of government in the US from 2000-6. As Sanchez says, "Even if conservatives retook power, they wouldn’t be able to provide a political solution to a psychological problem, assuming they’re not willing to go the Pol Pot route." .

However, of course, this presupposes that politicians and commentators who tap into this right-wing backlash actually want to provide a political solution. In fact, I suspect they want to keep their supporters angry so that they can motivate them to campaign and to vote. The psychological process is such that it can build up election-winning momentum but is not dissipated by the actual victory, since it is incapable of being resolved by mere election results or mere tax cuts or deregulation or incremental policy changes here and there. They still feel angry and this can then motivate them to go out and vote the next time too.