We are in 2024, an election year, a year I call “the Year of the Precipice” for our democracy. To better equip Americans to exercise their civic duty this year, we have begun a series in Democraticus examining important ways of thinking and belief systems that can have a major impact on our democracy’s future. Here we will begin to examine forces in our politics that are abnormal to democracy, but become “normal” to us.
Introducing “Democracy Destroyers”
There are so many negative forces and actors in place today, each of which is having a detrimental effect on American democracy. When one considers them in aggregate, it is not unreasonable to be concerned as to whether our democracy will withstand their assault.
We are going to spend time in the coming weeks examining these factors. I call them “democracy destroyers”. Some of these are simply “bad actors”. Some are government institutions, structures, and processes that, for one reason or another, have been “hijacked” and are now actively working at cross purposes with our democracy. Others are individuals or organizations (or both) that have a stated agenda or in some cases, a hidden agenda, to replace our democracy with another form of government. Let’s jump right in…
The Doobies Had It Right
In 1974, the Doobie Brothers were at what may have been the height of their popularity as a rock and roll band (although they seem to still be “going strong” today) when they released their fourth studio album titled “What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits”[1]. Were the Doobies prescient, or what? With the clarity of 20-20 hindsight, it sure seems as if they were.
Do We See It?
Now, I’m not going to try to convince you that the Doobies were focused on American politics when they titled that album. Maybe they were, but who knows? However, the idea certainly applies to today in any number of facets of our daily lives, politics included.
The American political scene is changing before our very eyes, especially since 2016 and the advent of the Trump presidential candidacy and his presidential administration. Much of that change is, or should be, very concerning for those who love democracy. Events, actions, and thoughts that were once considered abhorrent to American democracy are slowly creeping in and being accepted by Americans as “business as usual” or worse, “no big deal” and not out of the ordinary.
The Abnormal Facilitates Democracy’s “Slow Descent”
However, much of this change has been slow, occurring almost imperceptibly in the context of Americans’ busy daily lives. Yet, it has been happening, nonetheless. The question at hand for all Americans is- do we see it? Do we understand it? Most importantly, do we grasp what these abnormalities are doing to us individually and as a democratic nation? Based on events over the last several years, one has to wonder if we do.
Democracy expert Professor Larry Diamond argues most democracies do not disappear quickly via a coup d’etat or a revolution or some other major event. Instead, Diamond maintains most democracy’s die by “slow descent”. As Diamond describes it:
“Slow descents have a way of lulling us into complacency. Things aren’t so bad, we tell ourselves, they’re just slipping a bit. But we ignore gradual decay to our peril. In Ernest Hemmingway’s The Sun Also Rises, the freewheeling, hard-drinking Mike Campbell is asked how he went bankrupt. “Two ways,” he says. “Gradually and then suddenly.” The demise of democracy is often like that too.”[2] (emphasis mine)
Said simply, what is happening with American democracy is going on all around us, but make no mistake, it is not normal. Even worse, our becoming accustomed to this abnormality and the “slow descent” it represents actually erodes democracy and threatens to it. This happens because as we become complacent, we lose our capacity, ability, and willingness to express our disapproval of it. To paraphrase the Doobies 1974 album title “what were once vices are now habits”, when it comes to American democracy, “what was once abnormal, is now considered normal”. This acceptance of the abnormal, whether it is active, passive, or a complacent “business as usual” attitude, is not in our democracy’s best interests.
What Exactly Does “Normal” Mean?
Before going further, it is a good idea to have a clear idea of what “normal” is as in today’s society as it is a fluid, ever changing concept. Webster’s defines “normal” as “conforming to a type, standard, or regular pattern : characterized by that which is considered usual, typical, or routine.”[3]
Keep in mind, any number of things can move from seeming abnormal to us to eventually being considered as normal. After all, as human beings we use our minds to think (at least hopefully, most of us do). We think about words we read, spoken words we hear, images we see, behaviors we witness. We think about all the things our minds acquire and absorb daily through cognition- the “process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and our senses.”[4]
Moving to Acceptance of the Abnormal
This still begs the question, how does something in our lives that once seemed abnormal, perhaps even offensive or at least off-putting, begin to seem normal to us?
The key to normalization is constant repetition or exposure. The movement of abnormal to normal is for us as human beings, a cognitive process with the first step becoming “desensitized”. According to Bryan Bruno, MD and medical director for Mid-City TMS, “…Desensitization is the process or treatment by which repeated exposure lessens emotional responsiveness to a negative, aversive or positive stimulus. Desensitization can occur with anything, including death.”[5]
Desensitization is used to treat phobias and fears as well as other mental health disorders. The process helps train “…your brain to remove the anxiety or fear that accompanies a trigger-inducing situation…”[6] But there is a “flip side” to the desensitization process that can be detrimental. Exposed to anything frequently and long enough, we can become “dulled to it”. One can be desensitized to events such as death, to violence, and yes, even abnormal events in the public square swirling around one’s government.
How a person manifests desensitization depends on the event or events as well as the repetition and frequency of exposure to the events. One’s reaction could be shock, or numbness, or apathy, or becoming less sensitive to others. It can involve losing the ability to empathize, or starting to behave in more aggressive ways.[7] Any of these things or a combination of them can be a negative outcome of desensitization. It can help us cope with a trauma, but at times desensitization’s consequences have a negative impacts for us, especially as a society participating in their democracy.
Normalizing the Abnormal
According to Amanda Ruggeri, writing for the BBC,
“…there’s another kind of normalization, and it’s one that many people are far less aware of. It’s less conscious, more pernicious- and can be harmful. This normalization of trends, situations and events that really shouldn’t be ‘normal’ at all. You also might hear it referred to as…”habituation.”[8]
As Ruggeri points out, this “habituation” (or normalization) can happen with shocking major events such as violent conflict or wars that suddenly break out. At first those events draw our attention, but as time passes and media coverage continues, our attention is less focused on it.[9] Desensitization has set in.
The same thing happens for Americans’ daily life. It can be with continued exposure to violence as with teens living in inner city neighborhoods who begin to accept that violence is normal. With social issues or issues related to politics, desensitization begins to happen with normalization setting in soon after. As we see and hear or witness things that we had known to be wrong, the less uncomfortable we become with it. As Ruggeri puts it:
“…Be exposed to anything enough…and that thing winds up being normalized. Even if it’s bad.” [10] (emphasis mine)
Violence and the “Normalized Abnormal” in the Public Square
Understanding this process of normalization (or being habituated, if you prefer), how have we seen it play out in American politics? Recognizing the fluid nature of the concept of “normal”, what is “normal” today in American politics?
The acceptance of violence to replace civil discourse and democratic dialogue between Americans is perhaps the most prominent example of “normalizing the abnormal” in American’s civic square. While we have had violence before, for example with urban race riots or anti-war demonstrations turning violent, today’s violence in American politics is coming from a different place- its political leaders, both as a candidate and later as president.
Political scientists Levitsky and Ziblatt observe that: “…Partisan violence is often a precursor of democratic violence…Trump not only tolerated violence among his supporters but at times appeared to revel in it…Trump embraced- and even encouraged- supporters who physically assaulted protesters.”[11] Campaigning for the presidency on February 1, 2016, in Iowa Donald Trump famously said:
“If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would ya? Seriously. Just knock the hell out of them. I promise you I will pay the legal fees. I promise.”[12] (emphasis mine)
Author Amanda Carpenter explains the effectiveness of this authoritarian leadership strategy of encouraging violence against the political opposition. The strategy is simple- anger begets anger. As more anger is generated amongst the leader’s followers, psychological researchers at the University of Arizona found that this anger and anxiety in the face of a perceived enemy increases a person’s sense of control and certainty.[13]
Further, Historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat contends that strongmen (in this case, Trump) predictably pursue what she calls a “cult of male force”, creating a “climate favorable to prosecution”. This is evidenced most clearly, according to Ben-Ghiat, in Trump’s identifying Latino migrants as a main enemy, branding them as a “…demographic and racial threat to American purity.”[14]
Once elected president, Trump showed, on more than one occasion, his comfort with taking the use of force and violence in this democracy to a new level. In an unprecedented move, he deployed Homeland Security forces to crackdown on protests and riots against police violence in cities that did not want this assistance. As reported by Reuters, “…Multiple videos posted on online showed camouflage-clad officers without clear identification badges using force and unmarked vehicles to transport arrested protestors…”[15] Not only was this a mission that no one envisioned for the Department of Homeland Security when it was formed after 9/11, but the brazenness of the federal government’s uninvited intervention into, what had been primarily the jurisdiction of local government, was unheard of.
And of course, possibly the best example of the normalization of violence in our politics occurred on January 6, 2021, when, as NPR reported, then President Trump said these words to his Stop the Steal rally on the Ellipse:
"…We fight hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore…”[16] (emphasis mine)
Soon thereafter much of the crowd at this rally, following Trump’s invitation, walked to the Capitol and assaulted it. They inflicted thousands of dollars of damages as they attempted to stop the peaceful Congressional transfer of power from one presidential administration to another. This was a first in American history. Time will tell if this violent behavior will also be normalized. There are already concerns that this type of encouraged violence will become the norm if one loses in future presidential elections.[17]
Is a Return to Normalcy Possible?
There are many forces at work that make stopping the “abnormal to normal” process difficult. As Rachel Kleinfeild, writing in the Journal of Democracy, describes many of them:
“…ideas that were once confined to fringe groups now appear in the mainstream media. White-supremacist ideas, militia fashion, and conspiracy theories spread via gaming websites, YouTube channels, and blogs, while a slippery language of memes, slang, and jokes blurs the line between posturing and provoking violence, normalizing radical ideologies and activities.”[18]
But there are indeed many forces that could counter this process of the abnormal to the normal now taking place in American politics, including public officials that are nurturing and exploiting it. It involves major reforms to our democracy. Many substantive reforms have been suggested, such as improving our elections’ credibility, dealing with the Electoral College, ending partisan gerrymandering, SCOTUS ethics reform, Executive Branch reforms to end nepotism and kleptocracy, campaign finance reform including ending dark money in American politics. The list goes on and on of meaningful reforms that would deal with the root of our democracy’s dysfunction, so it does not come to be accepted as “normal”.
But such reform requires change, and change does not happen until there is widespread dissatisfaction with the status quo. Have Americans as a nation reached that point yet? Have we realized the source of our democratic discontent?
Until we can answer those questions as a nation, our season of discontent with democracy likely will only fester. The good news is there is a way out of this morass with the destination of a better democracy likely being the outcome. What is required of us now is to seize that vision of building a better democracy than the one we received, and resolve to make it happen for our children, grandchildren, and future generations.
And as for me, I am tired of the abnormal being considered normal. I’m tired of the “democracy destroyers” desensitizing us using this” abnormalization process” to the detriment of our democracy. We need to call it out for what it is, as well as point out the destruction to democracy it causes.
I’d be willing to bet millions of Americans are “sick and tired of being sick and tired” about it as well. It is time to deal with it.
We will continue exploring topics like this that are not given near enough time and emphasis in our civic education efforts, if they are even taught at all. Democracy is so important. But it’s hard to keep, and it’s easy to lose. It’s up to us, and only us, to protect it. Support democracy, become a Democratist! Spread the word! Please share this Democraticus with others! For more information, go to www.tomthedemocratist.com
[1] What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits - Wikipedia
[2] Ill Winds, Saving Democracy from Russian Rage, Chinese Ambition, and American Complacency, by Larry Diamond, Copyright 2019, pg. 288, Ibid
[3] Normal Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
[4] cognition noun - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com
[5] Can You Become Desensitized to Death? (verywellmind.com)
[6] Can You Become Desensitized to Death? (verywellmind.com)
[7] Can You Become Desensitized to Death? (verywellmind.com)
[8] How the abnormal gets normalized – and what to do about it (bbc.com)
[9] How the abnormal gets normalized – and what to do about it (bbc.com)
[10] How the abnormal gets normalized – and what to do about it (bbc.com)
[11] How Democracies Die, by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, Copyright 2019, pg. 62, Ibid
[12] How Democracies Die, by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, Copyright 2019, pg. 63, Ibid
[13] Gaslighting America, Why We Love It When Trump Lies to Us, by Amanda Carpenter, pg. 110, Copyright 2018, HarperCollins Publishing, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007
[14] Strongmen, How they Succeed, How they Fail, by Ruth Ben-Ghiat, pg. 187, Copyright 2020, Ibid
[15] “U.S. Homeland Security Confirms Three Units Sent Paramilitary Officers to Portland”, by Mark Hosenball, Reuters, July 21, 2020 2:46 PM, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-race-protests-agents/u-s-homeland-security-confiorms-three-units-sent-paramilitary-officers-to-portland
[16] Transcript Of Trump's Speech At Rally Before Capitol Riot : NPR
[17] Two-thirds in US fear violence could follow election, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds | Reuters
[18] The Rise of Political Violence in the United States | Journal of Democracy