You’ve already heard it. Obama and McCain split the vote along social-demographic lines. The more education people have, the more likely they are to vote for Obama. But the more money they make, the more likely they are to split vote with Obama and McCain. The Republicans are not the party of money anymore. Increasingly people have noticed that the economy does better under Democratic presidents, and everyone benefits. The rich got richer under Clinton than under the Bush presidencies. So did the middleclass and the less-to-do. But somehow economics isn’t what has had voters aroused about Obama and Hillary, and now Obama and McCain. Well, at least until last week when even McCain had to admit the economy is tanking and that we’re not a “nation of whiners” but have a veritable problem.
But think about it: Why do you identity with Obama or identify with Hillary or McCain? When I try to understand these things, I use the help-a-stranger model. Why does a person suddenly help a stranger? Think about it and cave in? Out of duty to a higher cause? Buy off your guilt? No. It’s a millisecond decision because you identify with the person somehow. You’ve been there done that and the memory flashed through your unconscious and you’re keeping it down, or managing it, by handing out some help. That’s the help-a-stranger model of identification.
In Hillary, many people saw a political savvy woman who helped put her husband into office finally come close to getting her due. If you are a Hillary fan, you may have always wanted your due. It may have made you ecstatic to think about someone who is worthy getting hers—finally!
With Obama, many people saw a guy who started from the bottom without a silver spoon in his mouth and stood for integrity. Stood for hard work. Stood for what is right, and American. Stood for building a consensus, and win-win politics. And people said, “Hey, it’s about friggin’ time that someone who embodies all-American values steps up to plate.” If you’ve been constantly turned away by the gatekeepers, and had to work twice as hard for everything you got, then you might identify with Obama because perseverance paid off—finally!
With McCain, people saw what was billed as an individualist striking out his own way. Here was the war hero. Thunder and lightning strike when he rips open his shirt and takes to the sky pursuing evil. But lo— He got swept to the ground by the Texas tornado and the flurry of cash. But the superhero survived and—he’s back! If you identify with McCain, you may harbor the idea that you too could make a comeback or a super rescue or do something great before you die—finally!
So, back to the stranger asking for help. Do you identify with Obama or McCain from an unconscious motivation, or because one of them fulfils what you’ve always believed in or hope for?
Do you shout “Drill baby drill” like a sports fan in a melee of mirth knowing that your superhero can do anything imaginable? Even the impossible? If so, you don’t need facts. You don’t make pondered decisions. You’re an outer-directed person who knows it’s the other team than has to be smashed because they are just plain wrong. They’re wrong because they joined the wrong team! And Sarah—hoot … hoot! She’s not only a cheerleader but a straight shooter and she’ll track down those ugly donkeys and shoot ‘em from a helicopter. Just like how she’ll take on Putin over there in Russia ‘cause she knows where it is—East of Anchorage!
If you are an Obama fan, you’re probably an inner-directed person. You take responsibility for your own actions and don’t point the finger on everyone else. You don’t blame others to escape your own hang-ups and guilt. You don’t need to shout, but you prefer Obama’s thoughtful style and his win-win attitude. You believe that, yes, we can all make it and learn to live together. We don’t have to smash the other team in order to build ourselves up. After all, it’s a big world and someday we’re going to have to learn to get along with others. So why not start here at home. But now it’s time to stand up, you say, because, the super hero folks could get the power of the U.S. behind them and whack those who don’t believe in the magic of their superman. Because “drill, baby, drill” is what they’re gonna do to you!
Somebody wanted the bottom line on social networking. You know, I’m supposed to be the shrink with the answers. So, okay. Social networks keep a person in touch with people who can turn them onto new ideas, get them the job, or invite them to another country. A social network might even get you a text message on whom to get a hold of for a hookup or a danger date. If you take it all very seriously, you might be so concerned with staying in touch with everyone in your network that you upset your homeostatic inner balance and become ill.
It takes energy to push a network for your own ends. That is what stresses a person’s physical immune system until it’s out of whack. There is only so much energy in a system. A body’s energy devoted to a large social network is compensated for by taking energy from the immune system. The psychological system gets drained too. So, if you find yourself drained at the end of the day, and not really feeling satisfied, check to see if you’ve over-extended your social network.
A friendship network is different. The 21st century friendship network offers emotional support. It allows for bonding experiences that, added to the nuclear family bonding, help you deal with your anxieties and stressors. Modern life is all about chronic anxiety and stress. This raises the cortisol stress hormone level, and this attacks the hippocampus. The hippocampus under cortisol fire stops rejuvenating (neurogensis, or regrowth) and this makes a person have a slow-to-act or confused memory. Stress, if chronic, makes you stupid, but you can just keep going and going on caffeine and not think about it. Friendship compensates for all this if it is intimate, honest, and emotionally supportive, allaying anxieties and stress. So, hey, high-functioning people have high-functioning friendship networks. High-achieving people have large social networks. That's the difference between the two.
So, what about the concept of being friends and lovers too in a common friendship network? Anybody?
