Cultural Survival Skills

The Psychology of Socialism #1 (Why So Seductive ?!)

Why is Socialism so resurgently popular around the world?!

How could this ever happen in America…”The Land of The Free and The Home of The Brave”?!

Why does it keep reoccurring in spite of Socialism’s countless failures?

Why does Socialism keep reoccurring in spite of its certain progress into tyrannical and all-controlling bloated central governments?

Why does it keep reoccurring in spite of the great tendency of Socialism to morph into an even more tyrannical and murderous  form of government, called Communism?  Read: “The Road To Serfdom”, by Friedrich Hayek. 

Why does Socialism keep reoccurring in the face of indisputable historical evidence that Socialism/Communism has caused the death of around 94 million citizens (some say 100 million)?! The statistics of these victims include deaths through executions, man-made hunger, famine, war, deportations, and forced labor. See Wikipedia, “The Black Book of Communism”.

Many answers to these questions are far from simple; but they are very clear and easily found within the Laws and Principles of the Science of Psychology. One of these main Laws is the “Law of Effect”.  The Law of Effect simply states that “Consequences Control Behavior”.  Read: “Elementary Principles of Behavior”, by Dick Malott and Co-Authors.

These basic principles were first observed with various animals, and were found to also greatly influence the thoughts, beliefs, emotions and behaviors of humans. 

Unfortunately, our sense of superiority and vanity has historically blinded many of our leaders and the rest of us to these critically important facts-of-life. Many don’t like to see our similarities to other animals. But, unless we wish to conclude that we are minerals, vegetables, fungi or bacteria, etc., we must accept the fact that we are animals.  This perception is actually a great advantage to us because it confirms critical aspects of our nature and points the way to understanding the social, cultural, and political systems that can strengthen our best human characteristics and avoid those that catalyze our worst. 

For individuals to improve themselves though cognitive behavior therapy it is important that they come to know and understand their own behaviors and the Psychological Laws and Principles of behavior that influence them. The challenge then is learn more healthy and adaptive beliefs, rewards and behaviors. Often, it is essential to fashion, or seek, healthier environments in which to live. All of this is no different with our entire societies and the political systems that govern them.

Given all of the above understood, let us return to the ultimate questions:  Why do humans, like moths, repeatedly fly into the destructive fires of socialism? Why do we repeatedly leap into the deadly Venus-Fly-Traps of both Socialism and Communism? 

The answers are contained within the fact that, like all other animals, we tend to work to obtain things and activities that are rewarding to us. Just as importantly, we tend to work to escape and avoid things and activities that are unpleasant, painful, demand  greater effort, or deprive us of rewards. We search (forage) to obtain, escape, or avoid such things and activities; just like other animals.

We forage to get, escape, or avoid such consequences and locations as fast and as conveniently as possible.

When we experience pain, or the deprivation of rewards, we may be motivated to remain where we are located and try to remedy our situation. We may read, google, or seek the advice of experts to do this. Or, we may move in search of safer and/or more rewarding environments to inhabit. For example, observe the current movement of America’s populations from high crime, high blight and high tax-rate cities and states to more rewarding/less unpleasant social and political environments.

We love our rewards to occur as immediately as possible (i.e., fast food, microwaves, faster computers, 5g phones, etc., etc.). We do not like it when rewards are terminated, reduced, or delayed; or we experience pain (i.e., pay checks, mechanical/technological failures; or job loss, friends lost, injury, sickness, death, etc., etc.).

Tragically, humans easily fall prey to behaving in ways that bring the joys of immediate rewards, but often lead to painful delayed consequences (gambling, lying, cheating, stealing, drug/alcohol abuse, gluttony, disloyalty in social relationships/marriage, “buy now but pay later” acquisitions, and other forms of immediately rewarding; but ultimately harmful impulsive behaviors. Behavioral Psychologists refer to this all to common behavioral trap as: “The Tyranny of Immediate Rewards and their Delayed Bad Consequences”. 

We easily fall prey to novel and addictive things and activities (sex, drugs, pornography, and gambling. We also become addicted to the stimulating adrenalin and dopamine highs produced by many of these and other activities such as fighting, war, rule-breaking and escape from various dangers.

Science and its developing Technologies has allowed us to experience all of the highly arousing harmful and addictive activities listed above, and more. Psychologist Albert Bandura and others have demonstrated, without a shadow of doubt, that one of the most important ways that humans learn their behaviors and appetites is through seeing the behaviors of people and and imitating them. All of this involves the psychological principles of Modeling and Imitation. We are more likely to imitate others who are attractive, very popular, have the rewards we want, and who have the power to reward or punish us.

By now, dear reader, you should be thinking about some of these powerful Laws and Principles of the science of Psychology and how they can help or hurt you and your loved ones, and the successful evolution of America. 

There is more of this analysis to come. 

V. Thomas Mawhinney, Ph.D., 1/3/2021

Tags: Addictive Rewards, Avoidance, Behavior Therapy, Black Book of Communism, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, communism, Cultural Analysis, cultural evolution, Deferred Consequences, Dick Malott, Escape, Friedrich Hayek, Human Foraging, law of effect, Moths to Fire, rewards, Schedules of Rewards, Science and Technology, Science of Psychology, Socialism, Socialism's Failures, The Psychology of Socialism (The People #1), V. Thomas Mawhinney Ph.D., Venus Fly Traps, VTM

This entry was posted on January 3, 2021 at 7:45 PM and is filed under Boiling the American Frog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.