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After the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, we see many people slotting the event into their preferred us-versus-them narratives.
For example, many Trump supporters fit this event into a narrative about the hatefulness and extremity of liberals. Some even speculate it might have been an inside job, or that the Secret Service was being purposefully lax.
Some on the anti-Trump side have also embraced conspiracy theories, suggesting the event was staged to increase support for Trump.
When big events happen that trigger intense emotions, it's helpful to imagine the situation being reversed.
Imagine someone attempted to assassinate President Joe Biden. I think many people, both liberal and conservative, would agree we'd see a reversal of the dynamic we're seeing now. We'd see many anti-Trump people talking about how the event demonstrates the true, dark, violent nature of Trumpism and MAGA. We'd see some of the more conspiratorial Trump supporters wondering if the event was staged.
Extreme conflict makes people read way too much into one-off events and behaviors. People slot the latest bad news into their preferred us-versus-them narratives—narratives based largely upon fear and anger. These visceral emotions explain why some events have such a powerful distorting influence.
Remember, America is a huge nation, with some 340 million people. There will be many bad, violent things of various sorts that happen, done by people with all sorts of political views—and even by people who are simply mentally unwell and not actually ideological. But our toxic divides make us, as a society, increasingly fragile, overreactive, and hysterical. We become increasingly prone to being destabilized by one-off events.
Many claim this shooting only proves how divided we are. But that also is not necessarily true. Even in a non-polarized and united country, unwell people can commit random violent acts. Of course our toxic divides make such violence more likely, but we should be aware of our tendency to form overly dark narratives of all kinds—including what such an event tells us about the state of our divides.
Right now, some Trump voters are sharing examples of anti-Trump people using extreme and violent rhetoric, often with phrases like, "When they tell you who they are, believe them." But of course we can find many examples of similar rhetoric from Trump supporters (including some prominent Republicans). If someone attempted to kill Biden, we'd be able to find many more.
Again, America is a big country, with a lot of individuals saying and doing all sorts of things—things that don't represent the larger political groups they may be a member of.
Right now, some Trump supporters are saying things like, "When you portray your political opponents as fascists and a threat to democracy, this is what happens. Liberals wanted this to happen. Their expressions of concern are false." But of course Trump and other Republicans have often portrayed liberals as posing an existential threat to America and to conservatives, and have often employed dehumanizing rhetoric. And, of course, one can believe Trump is a dangerous leader while also thinking assassination is bad—but such nuance is often lost in the emotional rush to arrive at us-versus-them stances.
In a complex world, it's easy to build all sorts of narratives. Some will be more true than others; obviously not all concerns are unfounded or irrational. But we must try to see how conflict deranges us—how it tends to make our views more pessimistic and paranoid.
Unreasonable animosity threatens to pull us into an abyss of chaos and dysfunction. We need more people to work against the most pessimistic and divisive narratives, even as they may also work towards their preferred political goals. We need more people to talk about how conflict deranges our thinking—how contempt and animosity only breed more of the same.
In a nation of 340 million people, bad things will happen, especially when so many of us are so angry and fearful. But we must see the wisdom of viewing our political landscape and our divides in more mature and nuanced ways. We must discover the wisdom of not letting our fear and animosity contribute to further maddening and destabilizing us.
Zachary Elwood is the author of "Defusing American Anger" and "How Contempt Destroys Democracy," and he hosts the psychology podcast People Who Read People.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
