Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Hip People Will Vote for Obama and Squares Will Vote for Romney

By Tom Kando (Warning: be light-hearted when you read this. It’s not really scientific).

Folks: I got news for you: The REAL choice before us this fall is between Apollo and Dionysus, Square and hip, soul and no soul, love and no love. On the face of it, the upcoming election is about the interests of the rich vs. those of the middle class, individualism and freedom vs. collectivism, free market capitalism vs. welfare state, taxes and public benefits vs. business profits and productivity, in other words, “liberal” vs. “conservative”policies.But I say, policy schmolicy.


At least when it comes to choosing between Obama and Romney, what most of us will base our vote on is not a well-informed  policy preference, but emotion.

Long ago, the anthropologist Ruth Benedict distinguished between Apollonian and Dionysian cultures and personalities. The former value reason, restraint, moderation. The latter are characterized by ecstasy and  emotion. Benedict gave the Zuni people (New Mexico) as an example of Apollonian culture and the Kwakiutl (Vancouver Island) as an example of a  Dionysian people. Of course, this distinction goes all the way back to ancient Greece, and Nietzsche and many others have used it as well, in various ways.

So one way to look at things is to say that there are these two kinds of people (with many in between, of course). Apollonian is square; Dionysian is hip, cool.  Also, other things being equal, young people are more  Dionysian, more hip than old people.

Dionysian has soul. By and large, blacks have more soul than whites. I don’t know why. Maybe because they have suffered more. And don’t get all huffy on me that I am stereotyping and that I am a racist, blah, blah, blah. Norman Mailer said it long before I did, in his classic  essay The White Negro. Who can deny that Obama has soul? Have you seen his rendition of Al Green? On the other hand, nice and handsome as Romney may be, “soul” is not the first thing that comes  to mind  when you look at him.

I’m not saying that soul is essential to be a good President. But let’s face it, some people  got it and  some  don’t.

So this is  my theory for today: as we begin to vote (early voting has already started), I believe that ultimately, many votes will not be determined by rational choice, but by whether you are more Dionysian or Apollonian, hip or square. THAT’s what will truly determine whether you vote for Obama or Romney.

Of course, many of you will disagree with my definitions. You will disagree that liberals and Democrat tend to be more  Dionysian, and that conservatives and Republicans tend to be more Apollonian -  even as ideal types.  Well, we can have a debate about this.

As to me? I am a little bit of both. I used to be somewhat hip when I was young, now I’m pretty square, but not as square as many other people. I like Obama  more than I like Romney. Pure emotion.
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