“We Don’t Like Him, But…” — Why That Sentence Deserves a Sociology Textbook

​Every now and then, you read a sentence that just rings in your ears like a struck tuning fork.
David Brooks dropped one of those in his Atlantic article, “The Voters Who Like What They See.” The line?

“Even if they don't agree with everything he's doing, he's doing something.”

There it is. Right there. That sentence. It's like overhearing someone say, “He’s not a great driver, but he sure knows how to crash through traffic.”

Let’s be honest: it’s not just a #47 thing. It’s a sociology thing. When large groups of people begin justifying erratic or authoritarian behavior because 'at least something’s happening,' you’re no longer in Kansas—or a democracy. You're in a moment. A movement. A slow sociopolitical tilt that deserves analysis, not just anxiety meds.

So let’s take a deep breath, put on our tweed jackets (elbow patches optional), and imagine we’re in an undergrad-level sociology course called: Populism, Perception, and the Psychology of Modern Politics.

Five Sociological Forces at Work (Beyond the Oval Office)

1. Behavioral Justification Theory
- Webster: A cognitive tendency wherein individuals excuse unethical or abrasive behavior in favor of perceived effectiveness or action.
- Boston American: “He may be a jerk, but at least he’s doing something.” That’s the vibe. When the system’s stuck, even chaos looks like courage. Morality gets benched as long as someone’s moving the ball—even if it’s into their own end zone.

2. Authoritarian Drift in Democratic Clothing
- Webster: The gradual acceptance of authoritarian traits within democratic systems, often motivated by a desire for clarity and control in unstable environments.
- Boston American: This isn’t about folks dreaming of dictatorships. It’s about people sick of indecision. In a crisis, a guy who shouts orders sounds more trustworthy than one who forms a committee. Doesn’t matter if he’s wrong—he’s confidently wrong.

3. Emotional Identity Politics
- Webster: A political dynamic in which individuals align with leaders based on shared emotional expression or perceived psychological resonance, rather than policy substance.
- Boston American: If they make you feel seen—or pissed in exactly the same way—you’ll vote for them even if they replace your healthcare plan with a sandwich coupon. It’s not politics, it’s therapy with flags.

4. Media Compression and Context Collapse
- Webster: The reduction of complex topics into overly simplified, decontextualized formats in digital and media environments.
- Boston American: Immigration bill? Now it’s a meme. Foreign aid? Now it’s a six-second TikTok. We’ve compressed the world into vibes and slogans. Context doesn’t just get skipped—it gets steamrolled.

5. Economic Anesthesia
- Webster: A sociopolitical phenomenon where delayed or obscured economic pain leads individuals to support policies or spending that contradict their immediate financial struggles.
- Boston American: Rent’s due Friday, but somehow you’re fine with a $2 billion border wall. Why? Because the pain’s postponed. That’s economic anesthesia—it numbs you long enough to buy a dream, even if you can’t afford dinner.

Smart People We Should Be Reading
- Arlie Russell Hochschild (emotional sociology)
- Zeynep Tufekci (tech + movements)
- Jonathan Haidt (moral psychology)
- Michael Sandel (merit and justice)
- Cornel West (socio-political philosophy)
- Shoshana Zuboff (surveillance capitalism)
- Yuval Harari (long-range societal observation)
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For teachers, mentors, and parents...

LERN MODULE:
Title: Sociology of a Movement
This LERN module isn’t about the current President. It’s about trends. It's designed to help students, citizens, and curious minds decode political behavior through a sociological lens.

Learning Goals:

• Identify and describe key social forces behind populist movements
• Practice detaching emotion from observation
• Learn how public sentiment, economic stress, and media environments collide
• Challenge students to explain WHY people support what they support—without defaulting to name-calling

Classroom Exercise: Build the Movement Map
1. Break students into small groups. Assign each one a 'force' (media, identity, economy, etc.).
2. Ask them to research how this force has evolved over the last 10 years in America.
3. Challenge them to connect their force to a recent political outcome (policy, vote, scandal).
4. Present to the class. Facilitate debate.
5. Reflect: what do all these moving parts suggest about where we’re headed?

Discussion Prompt:
“If someone supports something you don’t understand—what’s your job: to attack, or to ask why?”

Final Thought:
Democracy doesn’t die from disagreement. It dies when we stop understanding each other.
And that’s why we teach. That’s why we LERN.

#TheBostonAmerican, #LERNplatform, #SociologyOfPolitics, #ThinkBeforeYouVote, #PopulismExplained, #Votingand Sociology, #CriticalThinking, #ScrollSmarter, #HumansOverAlgorithms

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