The Guardian recently published an article addressing the degraded rhetoric ushered in by MAGA and employed non-stop by Trump.
We all are familiar with the concept of “virtue signaling”–-defined as publicly taking progressive positions that can seem performative–efforts to burnish one’s moral credentials, or demonstrate “right-thinking” (with a lower-case r.) As the article says, it can be easy to lampoon. (When I purchased my first Prius, a colleague suggested that driving a hybrid fell into that category.)
Trump, of course, has exhibited the opposite–what the article calls “vice signaling”–a penchant for dehumanisation that is the opposite of decency. They’re not in the same rhetorical category. It began with his campaign launch, when he announced that he would build a wall between the US and Mexico in remarks the article described as ungrammatical with a vocabulary that was vague and repetitive. (The embarrassing third grade level characteristics of “Trump speech” that we have now come to expect.)
This is classic vice-signalling, breaking taboos in this case both general (against hate speech) and more specific (against falsely associating base or criminal traits with a race or ethnic group). He was signalling that he was prepared to go there –- say what the establishment would not allow, and assert himself as a politician who is authentic and courageous, who cannot be muzzled.
The recent video depicting the Obamas as apes was consistent with the racism he’s been signaling for decades. The linked article points out that such behaviors garner media attention and “break down established barriers to entry.”
What is far too infrequently discussed is what a society loses when civility of discourse is abandoned, and insults and hateful rhetoric displace respectful disagreement.
Research confirms that civil discourse leads to greater institutional trust– that tone strongly influences whether citizens view institutions as legitimate, even when they disagree with specific policies or outcomes. Without trust, compliance with the law declines and, as we are seeing, polarization deepens.
In “How Democracies Die,” Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt argued that democracy depends on “mutual toleration” and “forbearance”—both rooted in civility. Studies in social psychology show that civil environments increase people’s willingness to listen to each other and increase cross-ideological understanding—even when opinions don’t change.
Other research suggests that civility is economically consequential–high-trust, low-conflict environments attract investment, and reduce both transaction costs and regulatory friction. Social scientists like Robert Putnam have demonstrated that social capital–trust and reciprocity–leads to stronger economic growth.
There are also personal costs to marinating in an increasingly hateful and uncivil society. Medical scientists warn that chronic exposure to hostile rhetoric raises cortisol levels and increases anxiety; political science tells us that civility increases the likelihood of participation in civic life. Political science also tells us that rhetoric routinely delegitimizing elections, courts, journalists and civil servants leads to a greater tolerance of violations of important social norms, to institutional weakening, and ultimately, tolerance of violence.
As we’ve seen in our dysfunctional Congress, inflammatory rhetoric makes compromise difficult, if not impossible. It increases policy gridlock; worse, it creates a situation in which expertise is belittled and dismissed as partisan. (If you doubt that, just look at what RFK, Jr. has done to public health, or consider the consequences of Trump’s dismissal of climate change and embrace of coal mining.)
Civility isn’t silence. It isn’t the absence of protest or disagreement. It’s fundamentally a recognition of civic equality, in the sense that civil discourse implicitly recognizes that every citizen has a right to express an opinion. When discourse and even very strong disagreements are voiced in a civil and respectful manner, governments (and all institutions) benefit.
I’m not naive. I understand that individuals will often express themselves in dismissive or vulgar terms. (I am not exempt.) But when the people we have empowered–those we’ve elected to public office, or those whose celebrity means their comments will be widely shared–use demeaning and ugly rhetoric, “punching down” on those of lesser authority or status, the negative results don’t just fall on the people being demeaned. They are felt society-wide.
Every day, we learn of the profound, concrete damage this administration is doing. We learn of the corruption, the assaults on the rule of law, the efforts to reinstate Jim Crow…on and on. These assaults understandably consume our attention, but while we are compiling our lists of things we must correct once these horrible people have been ejected from our public life, we need to put “restoring civility” near the top.
Exhibit A: the number of middle fingers we get from passing cars when peacefully standing with a sign on a street corner. We are stubbornly aiming to unite, not separate (further); they are just so angry – yet they got *everything* they said they wanted. But the daily firehose of nasty rhetoric meant to divide keeps them miserable.
Like scrolling by what you don’t like online, civility lies in just driving by if you disagree.
I’m afraid the “restoring civility” ship has sailed a long time ago. Probably when the Trump’s came down the escalator to announce Trump’s 2016 bid. Prior to that, Trump was an occasional nuisance with his racist slurs against the Obamas (if you noticed, the ape video on his timeline just magically appeared).
The bloviated mentor for JD Vance and Peter Thiel, has already claimed that, “Trump failed to level the bureaucratic state he started in his first 90 days.” He considers Trump’s administration an abject failure.
Nick Fuentes has recently made the claim that MAGA will be forever known as the greatest farce of all time. He wants to kick Trump to the curb and bring in a full-fledged Nazi. He really despises Israel’s influence and that sentiment is ripping through big swaths of MAGA/MIGA.
While all the local politicians signed a “civility pledge” last December, the new Republican-led City Council just made new rules that demean public input. They didn’t come out and say they don’t want people’s input, but that’s what the people heard and rightfully so.
I think we crossed the red line in 2016 of which we will never go return and will only get worse.
Addendum to the above, in the name of equal time: Not to say there aren’t those on *our* side who are equally unpleasant, angry, and who lack civility. It’s definitely a problem on both sides. But my experience is that it’s considerably less widespread with us. Maybe due to innate optimism (however misplaced)?
The first thing we all must consider and accept as “normal” is that Trump is a psychopath. All of the stuff written by the academics and really smart people about civil society vs. un-civil society means nothing to him. He doesn’t care about civil v. un-civil. He only cares about his own madness, ambition and self-aggrandizing glory.
Watch what happens if he decides to do Bibi’s bidding and bombs Iran. I’ll bet even the marginal MAGATS will give pause. But the psychopath president won’t care. He’ll see himself as a strong leader and Putin’s kin.
What a mess this world is right now. Kinda reminds me of what I read about the 1930s.
Todd has a legitimate suggestion to make above, and while respecting his right to voice it, I am hoping that he is wrong. I am hoping that Trump’s inevitable departure from the scene will be followed by a new “Victorian era” of sorts, with a public rejection of the lying, insulting, performative angry discourse that pollutes our public square today, and of the political, social, and religious (!) perpetrators who are doing it.
Three cheers for Sheila, for looking beyond the dreary present moment that we are enduring now, to envision a more civil future in which a purified form of democracy might become possible again. I’m just optimistic enough to imagine it might somehow be possible. Give us more of this creative imagination, professor! Bravo.
P.S….
Queen Victoria’s long reign ushered in a renewal of civility in large part because of her righteous civic dignity. Might the “Prince Andrew” disaster and his own cancer perhaps persuade Charles III to step down and let Kate and William give us an example to follow in the days ahead? Who else??
then theres the banners that trump has hanging on the dept of labor/justice.
looking down at ya. the above is a detailed look at how the discource is flowing. now to make that easy to digest in the voters of the working class.
the simple has made its way from right wing think tanks to social medias imperialism. to educate the magats to oppose any left wing voice. i can read and under stand the above,but to make it digestable to others who will vote.
theres a abundance, and its not in what the right or left defines it as. its too much focus on everything. there is a short time left to motivate the unwilling,lazy and those who are still missing the bus. educate by mentoring.
theres a in your face article naming names today in the guardian, ya may wanna read it, theres a refrence to a org in Indiana.
:texas congressional canidate with extreme views backed by hard right donors: By Jason Wilson..
name the names. and take notice, these people are the most dangerous in
America,,all of them…
id like to thank trump for his goal to eliminate jobs. as im finding in plain view,the truck stops are empty. that means,nothing other than human needs are being shipped. theres many a small trucking buisness owner who are barely keeping the insurance payments made.(otherwise,your outta buisness)
and i dont see no billionaire bailout for us. ive been here a few times. and this one is man made,by trump and his buddies to subdue the working class. spending is not the shape of the nation. shipping is. were dead. the infrastructure bill being killed,killed alot of road construction. im speaking of major work and employment. here in NoDak im not working again this year in this field. there is nothing to do. that has never been the case before trump..every contractor ive spoken with,has,little to no work this year.. that scowl on trumps face on the dept of labor has said enough. thats easy to digest. focus on that..
Al, to add balance to your Victorian era comments: The number of brothels in England was never higher than during her years as queen. Maybe there’s a way to connect those dots to civility too.
Jack, good article in the Denver Post this morning discussing how trade has changed. Your comments today illustrate the end game for the Trump tariffs and how this “readjustment” are impacting people like you and your colleagues’ jobs and businesses.
We can’t endure another 3 years of this monstrosity. The mid-term elections, if allowed to occur by the Traitor-in-Chief, won’t be enough to stem the horror of DHS, HHS, ICE and the FBI. Pam Bondi will still be there savaging our justice system as she continues to pathologically defend the monster. The new Congress must ignore the attempts by Trump and his minions to disqualify the election outcomes and impeach and remove Trump/Vance, et. al. so we can begin to rebuild the new America. Oh, Republicans will judge shop all day long, but some things are inviolate and reach beyond the sycophant whines of corrupt and appointed judges – you know like those corrupt 6 currently wasting air on SCOTUS.
The hundreds of thousands of years of human history is a saga of overcoming challenges to our survival. The few thousand years of written history are full of stories of people who believed in the imminent demise of humanity. We’ve been told “The end is near!” in every generation. Through it all, people just keep learning, solving problems, and flourishing. Trump thinks he is monumental but he’s just another speed bump. Or maybe pothole would be a more appropriate metaphore.
“When discourse and even very strong disagreements are voiced in a civil and respectful manner, governments (and all institutions) benefit.” Yes, but Trump is not interested in anyone benefiting other than himself, as Vernon wisely points out.
Civility started to seriously die when McConnell, and Boehner would no longer allow their people to even have a coffee, or lunch with the Democrats.
Sadly, the former gets away with claiming that Trump “is not fit to be president,” after he worked to defeat the impeachments of the Bozo’s first term.
Vernon… Indeed, the brothels were busy in Vicky’s day, & not just in the UK. My lumberjack home town in Michigan had the world’s largest concentration! Was that the MAGA spirit of the age going undercover, so to speak? Our goal should not be to eliminate coarseness. It will always be around. But delegitimizing it in the public square is a worthy goal.
The “oldest” profession should be unnecessary, but the rules of “modern” societies look askance at it. And yet … even the most “restrictive” societies have an underground sex trade of some sort. Must be something to that. Maybe Epstein was just trying to do a high-tech version of what the Babylonians did thousands of years ago.
Ah. But who are we to judge. If there’s a political advantage, then it’s to be used. The real crime with the Epstein scandal(s) is that young girls were terribly abused by the so-called rich and powerful before they could reach the age of being able to make their own decisions. Those who exploit that naivete’ are the real criminals. The rich and the powerful are running around like scalded cats protecting each other from this horror show. With Trump/Bondi they’ve found yet another shield to hide behind.
No wonder Jesus hated the money changers.
These sentiments about civility bring back Michelle Obama’s famous quote “When they go low, we go high.” We are now witnessing how well that bit of wisdom works. It doesn’t.
The sad truth is that reason and politeness do not win in a battle where one of the combatants is waging war from the sewer. For those who can stand the smell, it is time to pull on the hip boots and wade on in knowing that the stench will probably stick to you too. Unfortunately, that is where the battle is.
Our politics is a mirror of our greater culture….dare anyone to say it isn’t materially less civil and more crude now.
My first step towards restoring ability is to be more accepting of Trump supporters.
Recent revelations about the Epstein Class coupled with the knowledge of how Dark Money has planned its destruction of democracy for years confirms that we are all just pawns in their plans.
It is the ultra billionaires we need to direct our efforts towards stopping.
I’m becoming a fan of James Talarico. I will admit to having my doubts about him due mostly to his religious bent. He seems to be a model of civility, yet he spoke forcefully about our participation in the genocide against the Palestinians. He proposed that we stop providing offensive weapons to Israel. I’ve been waiting to hear that for at least the last three years.
Let me be clear, I dearly love Jasmine Crockett, but it’s Texas. The voters in Texas love a White Christian Male. Jasmine, if you read this, stay in the House for another term or two and and take on Ted Cruz. Just keep in mind that, if the weather gets bad in Texas you might have to debate him in Cancun