Endorphins and Politics: The Rush of Being Right. Er, Left.

by Keith Croes

Recent events for me precipitated bursts of pleasure as they happened — the Mar-a-Lago search, the midterms, the appointment of a Special Counsel, the ridding of a Special Master — episodes having the momentous glow of moral justice. Which seemed to originate somewhere deep in my bones. Like an itch I’ve been trying to scratch since 2015.

This may be attributable simply to endorphins, pushed along on the relentless journey of a Twitter algorithm. But these occasions were driven by American history and my own particular moral compass.

The scary thing is that about 30% of Americans, maybe more, may get a similar rush from events with quite the opposite polarity. Trump announcing his candidacy. Trump’s Truth Social blurbs on the Fraudulent Election justifying the termination of anything in the Constitution that would hinder his comeback. Trump’s ongoing support of antisemitic billionaire rappers and whiny Gen Z white nationalists. The MAGA crowd have enjoyed their own endorphin-filled episodes emerging as Trump throws his red hat in the ring for the second time.

The other day someone on MSNBC pointed out that, by raising the alarm about the globalist cabal of Jews, Ye undoubtedly felt that he was helping us (less-hate-filled people) out. And he probably got a little endorphin rush by doing so.

The central question here is whether both sides of the divide experience the same moral satisfaction from events with diametrically opposed political moment. Sadly, I think they might. So the way back is going to require a degree of deprogramming that seems beyond the realm of the possible. And then the question is, Which side will need to be deprogrammed? Fuck.

Originally published at http://kcroes.wordpress.com on December 6, 2022.