The social neurology of party politics

The title of this article appeared spontaneously while subjectively speculating that many modern nation states slip into two party political systems. When there are more than two parties the others are small and special interest. The two parties can be viewed as being somewhere on a continuum reaching from left (socialist/ communist) to right (conservative/ fascist).

Given that the duality is common we might hypothesise that it is hard wired into our brains and that it therefore serves some social evolutionary purpose. This might link to the notions that ‘man is a social animal’, ‘no man is an island unto himself’ and that ‘it takes a village to grow a child’. There would be neurologically bounded belonging:

Me, my extended family, my community, my tribe

The social neurology would have first evolved during the days of hunting and gathering when there was very little division of labour and very limited hierarchy. The roots of our social being were therefore, presumably communitarian and egalitarian. The primeval ‘us’.

Note that (a) we were hunters and gatherers in bands of about 50 people for 4.5 million years, (b) we developed the beginnings of language 200,000 years ago, and (c) we did not develop sophisticated division of labour till settled agriculture began a mere 6000 years ago.

Settled agriculture produced so much food that some members of the collectivity were excused from working in the fields and division of labour took off.

But, amongst other things, these changes begged the existential question, “Why are we here?” Part of the social neurology involves story telling so as to answer the question and induce a state of cognitive consonance when the loose ends are tidied up. There is then peace of mind and a general feeling to support the status quo.

When we tell stories we reach out from the known to the unknown via metaphor. So the known ‘family patriarchy’ becomes the model for the ‘state patriarchy’ and by extension for the ‘cosmic hierarchy’. Myth and magic were, and still are, on overdrive. For example in the Christian tradition a self appointed elite set itself up as the good and great who are the collectivity’s elders and betters with the power to excommunicate the unbelievers and mount murderous crusades against the infidels.

Heavenly father; infallible pope; divine right of kings

It does not matter if the story is not true – all that matters is that it is convincing and securely lodged in the minds of the collectivity. This is relatively easily done using the elegant power tool that is hegemony.

Hegemony is the process whereby a few mould the minds of the many. Related words are training, education, socialisation, enculturation, indoctrination, brainwashing. The idea is that there is total acceptance of the established story. Excessive behaviour can result, for example:

• Human sacrifice to placate the Gods
• Youths acting as suicide bombers
• The burning of witches
• Death by crucifixion and decapitation
• Ritual regicide
• The Spanish inquisition

A hegemoner hegemonises hegemonees.

The hegemoner class forms an elite whose members believe in and adhere to the myth and magic which makes up the orthodox world view. For example neoliberalism and free market fundamentalism.

Hegemonising involves changing minds. The process is as much an art as a science. Evidence is not the main thing. If you speak a big lie loud enough and often enough people come to believe it. Think of war propaganda and the demonization of the ‘enemy’. It is not all that long ago that the Germans and the Japanese were the spawn of Satan. Nowadays they are friends and trading partners.

The main hegemonees are the popular masses who are in the thrall of the hegemoners. The main hegemonees are the people, the citizens, the salt of the earth, the voters, the consumers, the workers, and the cannon fodder that are fed scary stories and suffer austerities when there is an economic downturn when the right wing politicians are in power.

Note that there is a place for cynics, sceptics and spin doctors. They are a class of people who see through the orthodox myth and magic. They are sometimes kept out in the metaphorical or Siberian cold, “That man thinks too much, such men are dangerous”. But they form a phalanx of freelance philosophers that can be relied upon to generate heterodox variations in world views and thus to feed the mimetic process of natural selection and cultural evolution.

Here endeth a spontaneous subjective speculation. It came through my unconscious that has been hegemonised by recent interactions with cutting edge ideas from the fields of neurology, evolutionary psychology, politics and economics, and mindfulness meditation.

Note that I remain unclear about why I bother to write stories and put them on a blog. I could hypothesise - but that can be another topic for another day!