Originally published at crisis magazine
Since the election we’ve seen countless examples of unhinged, callow, hysterical emoting in which people disappointed in Kamala Harris’ loss have displayed on parts of social media behaviors that, in a more normal society, would bring out the folks with straitjackets.
I accept political dissent; but, as I have argued, this is not normal political dissent. Normal political dissent does not take the form of people bellowing like gored oxen on TikTok before an anonymous world as they shave their heads. I’ve argued that this behavior comes from a deeper, darker place: the sacralization of politics, turning it into an ersatz religion that fills the values void people who have lost their religion feel but refuse to acknowledge for what it is. “That’s me in the corner, losing my religion” is no longer just an R.E.M. song.
To me, the question is the relationship between these displays of narcissistic behavior and social media. On the one hand, I am loath to blame technology for what today might be framed as “abuse of human agency,” (i.e., displays of irresponsible public behavior). On the other hand, such behavior was not commonplace in earlier times, even if political polarization was. People didn’t take
